Just a few remarks.
The main character is a girl, ill-tempered, vile, strong, and cute. The story is non-existent. Well, if you ask me, the trifle plots in numerous kung-fu flicks are irritating. Why not make a movie where the main hero is arrogant and beats everybody just for fun? Here you are. Brilliant. The Japanese have made something the others did not dare.
The fights are realistic. When Bruce Lee jumps 2 metres high in one of his movies, the reaction from my side is obvious: cut the crap. Here nobody makes anything "on the strings". Just pure karate moves. Simple and to the point. No big talks are present. Usually we have a lot of empty talking in action Hong Kong flicks. Here it's different. Every face-off is very psychological. A cruel glance, a wicked smile, an optimistic nod of the head, an artistic flick of the wrist... It's a ballet of emotions, quite cruel to boot.
Impressive fighting scenes are present which are often quite unexpected. For instance to me it was simply clear as day that the fight between the girl's teacher and the bad guy in the coat with the knife would be a lasting one: 5 minutes at least. But in reality it was a couple of seconds. Like in reality. Applause from my side.
Marvellous replays are here. Very often you want to re-watch certain kicks and punches - here you don't have to use your sticky RC - the filmmakers are doing it for you. Groovy. Every cool move can be witnessed twice and at a different speed.
It has mystery, if everything mentioned is not enough. Who are those "Destroyers"? Why are they this tough and youngsters are eager to work for them, not sparing their own lives? No answer to that.
Is there any moral lesson? Yes. The karate girl was too snobbish and as a result she is humiliated with her pretty face to the floor in front of the bad guys and her own teacher.
Finally, it's something absolutely different from the run-of-the-mill Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee flicks. The unknown to me little girl from Japan did something any Tony Jaa cannot achieve, however hard he tries.
Somebody mentions "Chocolate" in one of the reviews. No, "Chocolate" is much inferior on my scale, because it presents the unoriginal plot development, is absolutely unrealistic action-wise, and has that pointless clown-character-boy who distracts quite often. Besides, it has no mystery.
So, as a result, it's my favourite MA movie right now. Pure gold. Can't wait to re-watch this film again one of these days.
A 10 out of 10. Thank you for attention.
The main character is a girl, ill-tempered, vile, strong, and cute. The story is non-existent. Well, if you ask me, the trifle plots in numerous kung-fu flicks are irritating. Why not make a movie where the main hero is arrogant and beats everybody just for fun? Here you are. Brilliant. The Japanese have made something the others did not dare.
The fights are realistic. When Bruce Lee jumps 2 metres high in one of his movies, the reaction from my side is obvious: cut the crap. Here nobody makes anything "on the strings". Just pure karate moves. Simple and to the point. No big talks are present. Usually we have a lot of empty talking in action Hong Kong flicks. Here it's different. Every face-off is very psychological. A cruel glance, a wicked smile, an optimistic nod of the head, an artistic flick of the wrist... It's a ballet of emotions, quite cruel to boot.
Impressive fighting scenes are present which are often quite unexpected. For instance to me it was simply clear as day that the fight between the girl's teacher and the bad guy in the coat with the knife would be a lasting one: 5 minutes at least. But in reality it was a couple of seconds. Like in reality. Applause from my side.
Marvellous replays are here. Very often you want to re-watch certain kicks and punches - here you don't have to use your sticky RC - the filmmakers are doing it for you. Groovy. Every cool move can be witnessed twice and at a different speed.
It has mystery, if everything mentioned is not enough. Who are those "Destroyers"? Why are they this tough and youngsters are eager to work for them, not sparing their own lives? No answer to that.
Is there any moral lesson? Yes. The karate girl was too snobbish and as a result she is humiliated with her pretty face to the floor in front of the bad guys and her own teacher.
Finally, it's something absolutely different from the run-of-the-mill Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee flicks. The unknown to me little girl from Japan did something any Tony Jaa cannot achieve, however hard he tries.
Somebody mentions "Chocolate" in one of the reviews. No, "Chocolate" is much inferior on my scale, because it presents the unoriginal plot development, is absolutely unrealistic action-wise, and has that pointless clown-character-boy who distracts quite often. Besides, it has no mystery.
So, as a result, it's my favourite MA movie right now. Pure gold. Can't wait to re-watch this film again one of these days.
A 10 out of 10. Thank you for attention.