Kung Fu Killer

"White Crane" (Kung Fu Killer) is to me classic David Carradine doing his legendary "Kung Fu" only he's older. If any of you remember his TV shows "Kung Fu" in the 70's and "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" of the 90's in which Carradine fights in a majestic and powerful way and shares with you his words of wisdom then you should love this, if you have been brought up on the films of Jackie Chan and Jet Li where they jump around like they are on something hitting their opponents a dozen times without defeating them but some how winning in the end then you may not appreciate this style of Kung Fu movie. Daryl Hannah does a good job as a 1930s singer and looks the part and Osric Chau is excellent as a young Kung Fu student.

Excellent. Only someone who is a fan of the genre would understand what the filmmakers wanted to achieve. C'mon, it's supposed to be dark and violent.Shanghai, 1935, get it? It's smart blend of action and film noir with fantastic tips of the hat to classic films like Five Fingers of Death. The opening is perhaps one of the most staggering (and yes, violent) in recent memory, and, like the the ending, trulyepic. This director pulled out all the stops and he shows an effortless mastery of action and emotion.

Carradine's performance is dark, nuanced, his fighting is ruthless. Now that's not to say it isn't flawed in some ways as most films are when they take these kinds of chances, but kudos to some really bold film-making. My advice to the naysayers is to grow a pair, bone up on this genre and appreciate good film-making.

Kung Fu Killer did seem interesting concept-wise and for the two most well-known stars of the mini-series David Carradine and Daryl Hannah. Execution-wise, Kung Fu Killer is very lacking and could have been much better but it isn't a complete waste of time. The best things about it are the scenery, the production design and Carradine. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and makes you wish you were there, the production design and costumes are equally handsome and give a real sense of time and place and Carradine plays his role with authority and dignity. Anya is very charismatic as well, and while not as memorable Osric Chau is above average as well. The same cannot be said for Hannah though, whose role is almost completely needless and she looks disconnected throughout, she has also looked much better than she does here. The choreography and violence is well-choreographed and exciting on the most part, but more finesse in the editing and less of a hard-to-take approach would have been welcome, parts did feel very unsubtle and too much. While the scenery and production look great, the photography is murky and the editing isn't always completely smooth. The music is not sluggish or forgettable as such, in fact there are some memorable parts and there is a sense of tempo, but it has an oft tendency of drowning out the dialogue and could have been toned down more. The dialogue isn't really all that much to write home about, a lot of it is corny and simplistic with need of more flow. Outside the concept and some of the action sequences the story isn't really all that engaging, it could have done with more tension and heart and it does have a dull and meandering feel to it. There are worse characters around, however more time could have been spent with getting to know them and relate to their situation, Carradine's is an exception, and then there are others who are pretty much irrelevant especially Daryl Hannah's(essentially a love interest and nothing more). All in all, there's definitely worse but a rather mediocre mini-series. 4/10 Bethany Cox

"Kung Fu Killer"'s main drawing card is that it reunites two big names from "Kill Bill" - David Carradine and Daryl Hannah - but let's face it, this is not the shining moment in either of their careers: Carradine is getting too old and static to participate in continuous action scenes, and Hannah has a rather thankless "object of desire" role. The real reason for which I would recommend seeing this film is the presence of Anya as a henchwoman. Apparently she had a near-fatal car accident in 2003, but she returned to her career, and despite a couple of remaining scars, she still looks stunningly beautiful. She also seems to have worked on both her martial arts skills (impressive) and her acting (arguably the best in the film - though her character suffers at points from poor writing, and it seems as if the writers wanted to suggest that she is lesbian but not go "all the way"). The story is kind of slow and plain, but the production values are passable, and there is some good fighting at certain points; I liked how the choreographers incorporated choking / grappling techniques in the fights - particularly when Lin Tong Hsu (the Head Siren) used them! (**)

It's good to see Carradine at his very best. The story is great and there is just enough violence (and when is violence not a part of the martial arts?) I love stories of old china and this one is great. It's also nice to see Carradine and Hannah together again after Kill Bill. The action shots are better than a lot of other martial arts films.

It looks like the director new his martial arts. I recognize the moves in the action, which gives it authenticity. There are millions of martial arts fans around the world starving for more of these types of quality films.

Carradine may be getting older but he plays his part well.