I watched this a martial arts movie first, and will review it as such The scenes in this movie are explosive and expansive in type, there is less emphasis on technique, more on hard hitting and flash, with people flying through all types of object and with Donnie Yen looking for something to do a flying kick off most of the time.
The fight scenes aren't numerous, so you will have to wait around for them a bit, the problem I have is there was a huge opportunity missed in the middle of the film to throw a few more in.
The plot is sufficient enough, and while the visuals are great, I feel it doesn't go well with a martial arts setting, as any fight scenes seem out of place, especially in the opening scene, which sees Donnie Yen battle with about 20 German soldiers in France, who seem to forget they are holding guns when their fellow troops are being slashed and punched a few yards in front of them.
The final fight scene could have made up for the film, and while getting off to great start, disappointingly retorts to unclear and shaky visuals and stuff is more implied than directly shown.
In conclusion, MA fans should still check it out for the brief flashes brilliance from Donnie Yen surrounded by a decent enough film if you pay too much attention to the martials arts context.
Quality of martial arts: 7.5/10 Relative amount of fight scenes: 4.0/10
The fight scenes aren't numerous, so you will have to wait around for them a bit, the problem I have is there was a huge opportunity missed in the middle of the film to throw a few more in.
The plot is sufficient enough, and while the visuals are great, I feel it doesn't go well with a martial arts setting, as any fight scenes seem out of place, especially in the opening scene, which sees Donnie Yen battle with about 20 German soldiers in France, who seem to forget they are holding guns when their fellow troops are being slashed and punched a few yards in front of them.
The final fight scene could have made up for the film, and while getting off to great start, disappointingly retorts to unclear and shaky visuals and stuff is more implied than directly shown.
In conclusion, MA fans should still check it out for the brief flashes brilliance from Donnie Yen surrounded by a decent enough film if you pay too much attention to the martials arts context.
Quality of martial arts: 7.5/10 Relative amount of fight scenes: 4.0/10