Kung Fu Killer

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre action Starring David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Jimmy Taenaka, Lim Kay Tong, Osric Chau Directed by Philip Spink Publisher RHI Entertainment

David Carradine is a jewel. I mean, the man BLEEDS Kung Fu. Whatever color Kung Fu is, you cut David Carradine, I swear he’ll bleed that color. But good luck cutting him, because time and again he proves himself to be pretty much one of the most hardcore people on the planet. Kung Fu? Check. Kill Bill? Check. Kung Fu Killer? Not a different story. Carradine’s characters’ presence on film demands respect, the way he carries himself, his far of looking that seems to say, “Yeah, I’m thinking of something deep and mind-boggling that you cannot possibly and never will fathom.” I have yet to receive the pleasure of meeting Mr. Carradine, but I’m sure his persona MUST be something similar. His character in the movie Kung Fu Killer is a martial arts master named White Crane, so you can assume before the movie even starts that this is a man not to be messed with. He proves so in the beginning of the movie when his Wudang monk clan is attacked and his teacher is murdered. Only Lang Han (Osrich Chau) and White Crane survive, Lang by playing dead (he’s an amateur, after all) and Crane after being shot by a crossbow and being cared for by a couple local women.

When he comes to he travels to Shanghai and assumes the abbreviated name “Crane,” and promptly exacts a rather lengthy – but necessarily long – revenge. Daryl Hannah comes into play as Jane, an American singer in the area that is the apple of Khan’s eye (Kay Tong Lim) who happens to be the opiate warlord responsible for the attack on the Wudang. An unnecessary foray into chemistry and biological warfare come into play, mostly to set up an action scene, but by and large the film is enjoyable. That is, if you like David Carradine and his overly-wise and simple statements. Even if you did like Daryl Hannah at one point in time (she doesn’t look bad in Kill Bill!), it’s difficult to buy her as the sexy American woman part. I know she’s American and all, and not bad looking, but, in my opinion, there are plenty more attractive woman for Khan to fall for. BUT the plot must go somewhere, ergo we have this “romance.” Chau plays a pretty decent scared, nervous, but still incredibly dangerous monk-in-training, and Kay Tong Lim is an okay warlord, but in the end the movie suffers from an over-all sense of blandness.

As I have stated before in many other reviews, some films have a plot to justify the action. Those tend to be bad. This film actually has a plot, and to some degree a message, with action built into it as the obvious jewel of the film. It almost brings the movie down a notch. The dialogue is crummy, some of the events that take place seem like quite a stretch for any sort of international community to not take notice (it’s the 1920s, not the 1780s), and the camera work often has this strange glittery glow to it. It’s obvious this movie won’t be competing in any sort of box office competition. I give the film two stars…or rather I give Mr. Carradine two stars, oh master of the Kung Fu flick.