Although I did not have high hopes for this film since it was a conversion from a computer game it still must be said that the film was of a bad standard. It is probably not the worst film ever, but it does not impress in any way. As has been said many times previously the plot is indeed whimsical and lame but this alone should not make an action film so poor. The greatest let down for any fan of the martial arts/ action film genre must be that the fight scenes are abjectly unsatisfying and fail to excite it any way.
It could well be said that the reasons why the fight scenes left the viewer indifferent were because the plot did not encourage you to care about the characters. This is true, the characterisation was slipshod at best, however, again, action can be interesting and amusing without reasonable characterisation sometimes. Perhaps then it is the fault of the script writers. The script was horrendously bad, marked chiefly by dialogue that simply did not fit in with the action taking place visually, and of course, sometimes contradicting the story. I am not sure if they really did employ script writers on this movie, or perhaps they were foreign and something was lost in the translation, but again action can be interesting even if the script is poor. The special effects were equally dismal with the 'Goro' character looking laughably silly waddling around, 'Kane's' head looking like it was stolen on trick or treat night and sundry other bizarre blunders. The whole film did have a distinctly tacky and silly look. The designs were pathetic, the film itself had an atmosphere of cheapness, and the enemies all looked uninnovative and unimpressive. The direction was bad with the main characters, and villain being shown in an amiable comic style. The action was unimpressive because when all of these deficiencies are taken into account there is nothing positive to say. The directing was particularly woeful, but the script writers too must accept a large amount of the blame for this waste of film. The acting did come over as being of a very poor standard as well, but I would refrain from criticising that since with that script, that plot, and that director, they never stood a chance.
It could well be said that the reasons why the fight scenes left the viewer indifferent were because the plot did not encourage you to care about the characters. This is true, the characterisation was slipshod at best, however, again, action can be interesting and amusing without reasonable characterisation sometimes. Perhaps then it is the fault of the script writers. The script was horrendously bad, marked chiefly by dialogue that simply did not fit in with the action taking place visually, and of course, sometimes contradicting the story. I am not sure if they really did employ script writers on this movie, or perhaps they were foreign and something was lost in the translation, but again action can be interesting even if the script is poor. The special effects were equally dismal with the 'Goro' character looking laughably silly waddling around, 'Kane's' head looking like it was stolen on trick or treat night and sundry other bizarre blunders. The whole film did have a distinctly tacky and silly look. The designs were pathetic, the film itself had an atmosphere of cheapness, and the enemies all looked uninnovative and unimpressive. The direction was bad with the main characters, and villain being shown in an amiable comic style. The action was unimpressive because when all of these deficiencies are taken into account there is nothing positive to say. The directing was particularly woeful, but the script writers too must accept a large amount of the blame for this waste of film. The acting did come over as being of a very poor standard as well, but I would refrain from criticising that since with that script, that plot, and that director, they never stood a chance.