A letter known Chuck Norris film from his heyday despite being made by a major studio, MGM, and having a quasi-well known director, James Fargo. It's not that bad - a simple story of revenge with Norris as a debt collector who avenges the death of his mentor.
It's set in Hong Kong which makes for consistently interesting visuals - crowds, skyscrapers, trips on yachts, etc. There's a solid amount of action, most of it kung fu orientated.
It lacks the moments of high camp we remember from classic Chuck films - it's too sensible - though there is some silly flashback stuff and narration which is introduced and then forgotten.
There's also an unpleasant rape scene - Norris' girlfriend (Mary Louise Weller) is raped and killed, and the scene where she's raped is dragged out (she struggles and slaps the guy for a bit)... and when we see her corpse she's nude, and it's just depressing. There's also an attempted rape of Camilla Griggs, a beautiful talent whose part should have been bigger. There's a third female role, a hooker who gives Norris some information - three women is a lot for a Chuck Norris film.
Although set in Hong Kong half the cast is white. There's a bizarre scene where Norris attacks a sleeping baddy in bed - he's in bed with his boyfriend, Norris suffocates the boyfriend in order to get the baddy to talk, but is careful to say "the best man I ever know was homosexual". I guess that's progressive...? In a way?
Richard Norton pops up in a small role. There's some stylish-ish moments like a kung fu fight shot in shadow against a giant neon sign.
No comments:
Post a Comment