The Master
Review
Format: VCD
Stars: Jet Li, Yuen Wah, Crystal Kwok, others:

Being one of Jet Li's more realistic movies, I had to get it. Jet Li comes to America to find his master, Yuen Wah (who plays Uncle Tak), only to find that his shop has been destroyed. So Jet Li takes revenge on the American culprit not only to help get his master safely back into the medicine shop, but also to help some cops who want this American too.

I think that had EVERY single American besides the main bad guy, _____, can't remember his name so let's call him Billy, been out of the movie, everything would have been the same. The American actors were completely useless and didn't really hold the story in any way, with exception to the 3 Latinos that Jet Li trains, which is kinda neat. The three of them take on some thugs with sticks, Jet Li style too.

Yuen Wah (this is what I waited for) got some time of his own, good time too. In fact, he got 2 moments. One in the beginning, one at the end. In the beginning, he shows that he can do stunts, break through wood, jump through windows, do acrobatics, and fight without looking like the freak he was in Eastern Condors. His moves go very smoothly, and I only wish that he had a movie dedicated to himself so he could show people what he can really do. He performs some backhandsprings and other movements that, so simply, put great stuntmen to shame alone. And he gets a fight at the end against MANY different enemies, where he, again, shows how good he is. He does lots of joint locks and kicks, takes on 10 at a time, and yea if you watch this movie you'll wonder, "Why don't those 4 over there attack him now, they're not doing anything", just remember that these guys are American and can't do this stuff very well. Wah has to do his thing anyways. I was very happy. PLUS, he did something incredible at the end that I'll have to post at this site. He hangs from a small rope up on top of a skyscraper, swinging around, with the camera facing downward. No double. How do I know? No one except Wah would do it for Wah's character, simply put.

Jet Li gets his moments as well. The man doesn't disappoint here. He has 2 fights with Billy, one in the middle and one at the end. The one in the middle isn't so great. The American can't move too well and acts as though he HAS to do some moves, which makes the fight look overly choreographed. The one at the end, though, was great. I didn't expcet such a good ending fight. No special effects really. The two of them fight up on a roof, where the American begins to look more like a professional fighter than a choreographed robot. He does a move I've never seen too, where he swings his left hand over behind and over his head to hit. Didn't look very effective, but it seemed to work anyway. Then they drop down into some power room, where Jet has to fight with one foot in the air either because the other is stuck or he's on glass and doesn't have his shoe. It's well done and looks good. The American really impressed me in this scene. His movements were more fluid than they were before and he had his little moments where he'd jump off a railing to do a move or something neat like that. Oh and before I forget, Jet runs along 4 people, who are standing up, and kicks each one of them, and it didn't look like they used wires. That's something to marvel at.

The acting from the Americans was horrid, mostly because they RE-DUBBED their voices. Very VERY bad idea. This tends to happen a lot. I dunno why. Plus lots of their movements were jerky as I said before, and when they attack in numbers they just look stupid, throwing kicks at the air to look tough and they yell and open their mouths wide. Lame, but still the Latinos were impressive for being 3 little punks, likable punks I might add, and Wah and Li did a great job. Wah really needs to act more, but I doubt that'll happen again. Oh well.

I liked it. Had the Americans been in it less, and Wah had some more screen time and fights, and Jet had more fights too, then it'd get a 10, but since it was a little slow paced at times and I didn't really like many of the characters, I give it a 8/10.

UPDATE 10/9 - Rating System Change

4/5

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