The Avenging Fist (2001)
Reviewed by: Inner Strength on 2002-01-12
Summary: Tekken
Well, it's been done before...a little too much. We've seen the Street Fighters, the Mortal Kombats...they never work like one of the other reviewers said, BUT, this one is slightly better than those, based on the Japanese video game Tekken. It's certainly not the most original idea anyone has had, and when I first heard the rumours of this movie a few years ago, I didn't beleive it really would be done.

The cast list IS pretty impressive, I mean you have GIgi Leung, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, even Roy Cheung, and directed by Corey Yeun. It's a big cast list, but I think if a little more time had been spent on this, and a few cast members left out, then this might have been better. Sammo Hung does play his part well, but does look a bit over the hill now I must say. He's not left us yet though, just like Jackie Chan he has several movies in the back of his pocket still waiting to be made, so anyone who doesn't like him...tough, 'cus he's going to be around a lot longer (I do like him, unlike a lot of others).

I'm not usually into bootlegs or anything, but I got to see a bad copy of this a few days ago, and thought it wasn't bad. It would appeal to the younger viewers more I think, but it's great to see Yuen Biao & Sammo Hung in another movie together. I don't know what that other reviewer meant about Yeun Biao looking bad or whatever, because I think he was the best choice for the charcter he played.

All in all, considering it was a bootleg I watching, I'd say this is probably not a bad little movie to see, but I will await for the VCD release to be sure. Not many good action movies have been released for a while in Hong Kong, but this one makes up for it a bit.

Still, don't expect to see anything new in this, no new ground is broken. But if you get the chance to see it, go for it.

Rating: 3/5

(This rating is based on the year & genre, so don't think it's based as a comparison on new releases etc.)
Reviewer Score: 6