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Yamakasi - Les samouraïs des temps modernes (2001)
Very entertaining and educational movie with good action and humour.
There's no many movies about parkour, B-13 is sure the best out of them, this comes next with very good story, action, likable characters and awesome music, the movie is also full of good messages and quality sense of humour.
I don't understand why many people criticized it as a bad movie, is not even close to bad, is better than most of the mainstream multimillion dollar crap Hollywood films. Some people just don't get it or they have bad taste.
As a traceur myself i found this movie very entertaining and educational, it captures perfectly the how people sees the traceurs vs how they really are, some people think that traceurs is hooligans with no respect but we are just athletes who does something different than usual. Like the athletes in the movie that wasn't even their fault that the kid fell from the tree and still they offered help, that's the true spirit of parkour.
10/10.
Mulan (2020)
Is not great but here's the thing...
I know this movie don't deserve 10/10 but i just wanna support Donnie Yen's and Jet li's part on it and make the snowflakes who trying to boycott it triggered, i understand if they don't like the movie of course but trying to boycott the movie because of their own personal reasons is just too immature.
I'm not a fan of the remakes in general and i believe a remake can't beat the original project, only sometimes a remake can be better like PJs King kong but is not happens often.
Of course the original animated Mulan will always be better and nostalgic but i don't hate the remake, it is what it is.
Freerunner (2011)
Is not as bad as people say, it deserves better.
I'm surprised of how low this movie is on ratings, is not a very popular movie either, is good for what it is, not a multimillion dollar blockbuster and still does a good job with action. The main reason you gonna watch this movie is for the action, the free running, the acting was not the best but i appreciate it because there's not many movies about parkour and free running, is not every day you see a movie like that.
I appreciate this movie especially for the amazing free running scenes and soundtrack that is on point and very underrated. Sean Ferris also tried his best but he was better at never back down as a MMA fighter, he still don't disappoints as a free runner.
That's the point of the movie after all, is a movie about free running deathwatch, if you're not into free running you can just skip this.
Banlieue 13 (2004)
Finally a good action Parkour movie.
This movie right here is very important for the action genre and cinema in general, there's not many movies like that, taking the 2 masters of parkour David belle and Damian Walters in a criminal world about drug dealers and sellout cops that's the perfect recipe of an action film.
The fight scenes as well is very well made and performed, David belle is a legend himself and the original founder of parkour, giving us one of the best parkour chase scenes in the history of the cinema including the manpower gap spot, who was the first person who really jumped the manpower gap in real life, that's in a whole different level of awesomeness.
This movie is a perfect example that the new action movies should take lessons from, just pure skills, creativity and original story. The story as well has some good points and hints that is interesting if you pay attention, David by the criminal side of the city and Damian by the civilized side of the city but in the end they realise both districts can be dangerous and tricky.
I need to give some credit to the person who made the soundtrack he did incredible good job, just perfect for this movie.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Another bad MK movie.
After the 2 disappointing mortal Kombat movies i really didn't expect something better from the new, is a total mess with a new boring teenage character out of nowhere that has nothing to do with the mortal Kombat franchise.
It's a shame for such a huge video game franchise to have some poorly made movies and directed by amateurs that haven't made any other movie before.
The CGI this time was very good and with some creative ideas, some fight scenes were okay and some other just boring, the story was confusing even for those who are fans of mortal Kombat, if the story was more simple it would work better.
The only good characters in this movie was Scorpion, Sub zero and Jax, especially the actor who plays Sub zero Joe Taslim is very talented actor and martial artist he carried the whole movie but againhe couldn't save the mess they put him in.
Tekken (2010)
Not too bad not too good.
For a movie based on a video game it does very good job with the choreography of the fights and the costumes, some characters are very alike the prototypes but some others are just completely different persons. Eddy is literally the best character in this movie because of Lateef Crowder, the guy who born to play as Eddy and does Capoeira in real life, he have played in better movies like the warrior king with Tony jaa.
The scenario was pretty basic, nothing interesting at all, the beginning was good but the ending was a mess, the flirt between Jin and Christie was just cringe, they really didn't need to add something like that especially these two characters that never had interest for eachother in the game, there's was also another cringe scene were Kazuya had sex with anna and Nina, all these scenes was just waste of time and pointless to add in a movie that is about fighting.
Talking about fighting, the fight scenes were impressive and the soundtrack very good by sick puppies, instead of watching the whole movie i can just watch only the fight scenes and I'm alright.
Never Back Down (2008)
This is NOT karate kid.
Seriously, how this movie is connected with karate kid? I see people keep saying that is a karate kid copy when the movie does not trying to be karate kid, is a simple plot but effective, someone would say is a revenge story but is not. Personally i think this is better than karate kid in terms of choreography, characters, soundtrack, especially the soundtrack wad very good and on point, the training scenes was enjoyable to watch combining with good music.
Is not a movie to take too seriously or a deep scenario but is a very fun movie about MMA, entertaining in some points, it does good job with the character development of both the main character Jake and the "bad guy" McCarthy.
It's a movie after all that i always wanna go back and rewatch it because of the nostalgia and how inspirational it is, it reminds me of my young self practicing martial arts and making mistakes like Jake.
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Jet gonna give to ya!
This movie was like Jackie Chan's rush hour but better than rush hour in my opinion, i liked rush hour but cradle 2 the grave had more enjoyable fight scenes and one of the most iconic scenes in martial arts cinema where jet li dominates a bunch of real MMA champions in a underground cage fight, it was not realistic but fun to watch. Both DMX and jet li did a great job performing in martial arts, if you take this movie too seriously you just shoot yourself at the foot, it's a comedy action martial arts movie but even that sometimes is getting serious when setting up important things about the movie like DMXs daughter being kidnapped and held by a dangerous man or even the final fight scene.
The soundtrack was amazing too, the intro song still gives me good memories by watching this as kid.
Ip Man (2008)
A perfect combination of history, drama and martial arts.
Ip Man is not just a Kung Fu film, is a history war film with a lot of drama that has a reason to be there. In the beginning of the movie everything seems normal, there's some funny moments too, you see Ip man living a normal life with his family and everyone (almost) is happy but that soon changes. The fights getting more wild after every fight from the beginning when Ip man barely hits the master because it's a friendly fight and in the ending he nearly kills the Japanese general Karateka.
To this day i see the Ip Man movie and Donnie Yen gets a lot hate from MMA elitists and China haters, a message to these narrow minded people from a person who loves martial arts:
If you don't like the movie then don't watch it, nobody forces you to do, is very childish to spread negative comments about a movie you don't understand and don't like in first place, is like going to a Chinese restaurant when you don't like Chinese food but you still eat it and give negative comments about the food, is not everything for everyone. As for the Donnie yen haters, grow up, if you don't like him as person then his movies was never for you but you can still enjoy them without caring what he does in his personal life, is none of your business what he does in his personal life anyway. He is a incredible actor and person.
Man of Tai Chi (2013)
Good choreography, Good story, good actors, the perfect combo.
Why this movie has so many negative reviews? I found that movie very entertaining and fun to watch, i liked Keanu reeves as a villain he does that very well, Tiger chen also played his role very good, i have to give also a credit to the amazing Iko Uwais even if he was in only one fight scene.
As always Kung Fu, wushu, Tai chi movies has good messages to deliver because is all about respect that's the point, this movie don't want to show that Tai chi is better than other martial arts (it's always depends on the fighter) but shows us how a man with clear mind and spirit being trapped and becomes a violent underground fighter who is forced kill other fighters.
Somehow we all have the evil inside us, we only have to choose if we gonna feed our evil or good side, that's what the movie is about in my point of view.
Merantau (2009)
One of the most Inspirational and relatable martial arts movies
While many people complain about the story or the fact that this movie try to be like ong bak, there's some messages and hints that makes it unique of what it is and not many people capture them, I'm sure all the people who had dreams and plans but never made it, just like Yuda, can relate to this movie, the sad truth of reality that people can't always follow their dreams and do what it takes to survive instead of what they choose to do for living.
Of course is not only messages that makes it unique, is also the choreography and stuns that is in another level, made by real Silat masters, Iko did a great job especially for being his first ever movie delivering the action and impressive fighs.
The ending was something I didn't expect but for a movie that has to do with slave trade and living issues it fits to the scenario, with Yurda giving his life to help others in need even if he don't know them, that's what real people should do, not all movies need to have happy ending.