Review by drngor

This movie has gotten a lot of mixed reviews. Some people have praised it and others have called it pure dreck. I really didn't know what to expect from this movie. Well, I found the plot to be slightly confusing. Well, I couldn't figure out what the whole modern day story was about. The flashback told about an amnesiac who returns to a village after WW2 and finds his lost love and some old enemies. A lot of brutal fighting follows.

The fight scenes are the calling card of this film. They're all fast and furious. If you take your eyes of the screen for a second you'll miss some stuff. It's all hyper-stylized, from the camerawork to the exaggerated gunplay and use of projectiles. There's a lot of speeding up, but it actually helps the fighting out; it makes it more intense. The martial arts itself is pretty good. Donnie uses his trademark kicks and also does a fair amount of Bruce Lee impersonating. His fight with the eagle claw guy is just astounding.

There is some fairly disturbing brutality in this film. The slaughter of the village and the scene preceding the final fight are examples. I guess it's supposed to make the movie more powerful.

In the end, I think the great fight scenes overshadow the sometimes confusing narrative and the brutality of the film.