Death Fighter

To be honest, I was not expecting much from this movie. Though I love martial arts films, I only watched this one because I live in Thailand, and enjoy Thai movies. Having studied martial arts, I was amazed and quite pleased with the fight scenes in this! That said, kudos to the camera-men for capturing it all so well, and editing crew. I had never heard of Director Toby Russell, but will be looking out for more of his work. The Thai language sequences have English subs, but the Thai is beginner level. It's extra amusing if you speak any Thai, and listen to actor Matt Mullins chop the language, speaking the feminine version of hello, in imitation of the woman he would impress... 'ka' instead of 'kup'! A Thai might speculate about whether he identifies as the third sex: a lady-boy, trans-gendered person etc. Death Fighter is only 88 minutes, and feels like less. It's a fun, easy to follow little film. I thought it was slightly under-rated, having nothing overtly wrong with it. A few laughs, lots of great fights. If that's not your thing, don't watch it. But I would rate it a 7.5, leaning towards an 8/10.

This is a mildly entertaining movie if you are a martial arts movie fan. The acting is mediocre at best but its nostalgic quality does make it a bit more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been. The fight scenes are so so -- some of them pretty bad to the point of being funny. Not a horrible movie but not very good either --

Right, well a movie released in 2020 that starred both Don Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock? Well, I can't exactly say that I had much of any expectations for a movie such as this, as both those had their peak back in the 1990s.

But still, I was given the chance to sit down and watch "Death Fighter", so of course I did, as I like to watch movies that I haven't seen before. And on the chance that the movie would be surprising, why not watch it?

Turns out that "Death Fighter" - a title that makes absolutely no sense to the plot of the movie - was mediocre at best. It definitely felt like I was watching some action movie that was made in the 1990s, for better or worse.

The storyline was simplistic, to be truthful. An American is in Thailand to help catch some criminal, and ends up enlisting the help of two locals to take down a vicious crime syndicate. So it is the stereotypical arch of a few good guys against a great number of bad guys.

One thing that always amuse me in movies such as "Death Fighter", is how the good guys (or heroes) can easily shoot goons and minions left and right without even blinking, taking down one per bullet. But when they are shooting at the main bad guy, they can't hit water even if they fell from a boat. It is just stupid.

This is an action movie mixed up with martial arts elements. It had plenty of both, for sure, but it wasn't action sequences or martial arts sequences that made me go "wow", not even in the least bit. The action was adequate, but the martial arts scenes were scripted and it showed on the screen.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, and was moderately entertained. At least enough to rate "Death Fighter" a mediocre five out of ten stars. However, this is hardly a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I would rush out to recommend people to watch.

Matt Mullins, Don The Dragon Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock. This movie was made by peoples very passionate about the martial arts movie industry and it show.

Obviously this is a low budget movie and it is totally aimed at the fans of those main actors listed above. Is it good? Yes it is. Is it perfect? Nop...

Matt Mullins plays a very credible and lovable lead. Don Wilson plays a decent "sidekick" and both of them show they can still kick major asses ! Matt look just as young as 10 years ago and still move like it while Don obviously has aged but still does much better than Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme combined despite being of similar age.

Cynthia Rothrock plays on the villain team this time around and to keep this spoiler free, i will only say that her screen presence is limited but more of a simple cameo as some of her most recent roles. She does fight on screen.

The fights are pretty good. There is a few jump cuts and camera angle changes at times, a little more than i had wish for, but overall they still immerse you very well in the movie and even tough not "Boyka Level" they do are way above most western movies i see in that budget bracket.

The story is probably the weak spot of the movie. The context that start the movie leaves you a bit wondering and even tough the characters motivations are clearly stated afterward, i had trouble getting behind them a little. Its not that there acting is not convincing, its really just how the story is borough up. At times i was like "cmon ... lets have some fight now please" . Thanksfully the third act has plenty of them and they are rather satisfying.

It is worth mentioning that i had no idea who was Prasit Suanphaka and Chiranan Manochaem and they deliver some kick ass action ! Overall i feel this is movie made by peoples passionate about the martial arts industry FOR the lovers of those. Its not great by any mean and at times the small budget does show, but yet the peoples involved managed to work around that to deliver a very decent and enjoyable movie. Pretty much a love letter at the fans of low budget Martial Arts movies.

Boyka's crown is easily safe, but a solid effort !

Overview: This film is worth watching for the exotic locale, straightforward plot and realistic fight sequences.

I think that "Death Fighter" marks the successful return of Cynthia Rothrock and Don Wilson to high-quality martial arts cinema. This is my first Matt Mullins film, but he is highly skilled and trained.

The plot is quite familiar and we have all seen the characters before, but film does an excellent job at leveraging the beauty of the Thai jungle and the rawness of the streets.

I think the film appropriately approaches the ugly reality of human trafficking by using a fast-paced plot and focusing on the interactions between the characters.

Having visited Thailand, lived in Manila and studied kung fu in China, I can honestly say that the martial arts sequences were excellent and well-choreographed.

There are excellent fight scenes in congested spaces with multiple opponents that pay homage to the masters of Hong Kong martial arts cinema.

This film won't win any Oscars, but it has won a place in my highly selective movie collection.

Note: this film reminded me of other recent, excellent martial arts filmed in the SE Asia, two of which also raise important awareness about human trafficking.

-Dolph Lundren/Tony Jaa in "Skin Trade" -Scott Atkins in "Hard Target 2" -JCVD in "Pound of Flesh"