City Of Violence: Possibly The Only Korean Film I Own

As strange as it may seem despite America's natural obsession with violent film most kung fu enthusiasts would readily be qualified as nerds even as they pick up films that contain violence that would put most American action films to shame. Though part of it might be that they have to read subtitles to get into the story I believe most of the reason kung fu movies are so closely associated with nerdom is the extensive lengths someone would have to go to get a kung fu film for the last three decades.

With the exception of Enter The Dragon nearly every kung fu film is filmed outside of the U.S. and has required smaller artier studios like Miramax or Song Pictures Classics to bring it to forefront. If that wasn't the case a faithful collector would have to traverse the annals of their local library or used movie shops hoping to find a copy of the movie with dubbing at the very least and subtitles if we're lucky. Enter the Weinstein Company who has realized that kung fu nerds will spend a pretty penny on their beloved films and that much of the world has taken notice that fist fights are more interesting when they're not just enhanced boxing matches. With this knowledge in hand they created Dragon Dynasty a means of bringing the best in Hong Kong and martial arts cinema to their English speaking masses in restored video quality.

Today's film is City of Violence, a South Korean film that probably wasn't the first one people thought of when they asked for kung fu flicks but still an entertaining one nonetheless. The movie begins with a murder as an older man is killed after chasing down a pack of hooligans. His death brings four childhood friends together who aim to figure out who is responsible for their friends murder including Taesoo the local top dog at the Seoul police station. In their travels the friends find that one of them has betrayed their brotherly bond and what was a mildly violent detective tale turns into Kill Bill with two people who lack swords.

From a martial arts film stand point I can appreciate this film because of it's very different fighting style. Because the film was made in Korea the flying fists and kicks of typical Hong Kong kung fu are replaced with a more Korean martial art: Taekwondo (Tai-kwon-dough). This means that the fight scenes feature kicks, spinning kicks, flying kicks a brief intermission for large sticks and knives and then spinning flying kicks. As a style it might seem one dimensional but seeing how the two major characters move just to line up the kicks is fairly impressive.

I also have to say that the story for this movie is far more substantial than your regular martial arts fare which includes whitey attempting to take over china or some horde of bad warriors that need to be stopped by one man. The movie instead watches the childhood friends and sees how much they have changed since their childhood days and all the different directions their lives have taken them.

But a review isn't complete without complaints unless the film is perfect but this one isn't so lets verbally assassinate it. Being the student of kung fu films that I am the one thing that distinguishes these films from one another are seeing something entirely different and the moments when you watch someone do something that makes your jaw hit the floor in amazement. In the most extreme cases you will immediately attempt a similar feat just to see if human bodies can actually do that. As impressive and well choreographed as this film is it is certainly lacking in these moments. The one highlight that comes closes is when our detective friend flips over a bike that's thrown at him but that's the only notable moment.

That's the reason the greatest martial arts star are so distinctive. Donnie Yen will always throw in a kick that you're fairly certain defies physics. Jackie Chan will usually put himself through immense bodily harm to give you the stunt of a lifetime. And Jet Li will at the very least remind you of Bruce Lee for a split second as his hands and feet fly at inhuman speeds. Here the original style is there as well as the excessive violence but it's never impressive enough to make me believe it hasn't been done before.

So for those hoping for a revelation in the martial arts film this won't be your film. For those looking for a different kind of film style after seeing Kill Bill for the umpteenth time grab this one and root for the guys that are carrying the big sticks. For anyone unfamiliar with martial arts films this could probably best be used as an introduction. Most non-nerds need to be eased into this genre. Natural nerds will go out and search for more online after the first fight scene.......like I did after seeing Legend of Drunken Master.