Wings of Dread - Full Action Martial Arts Movie Set on An Airplane

This movie was released in Indonesian cinemas since last Friday. I was quite interested as the premise sounds promising plus it starred one of the most well known Indonesian action star. Unfortunately it only played in two studios of the biggest cinema chains which were far located. However, it did play in the other cinema chains but also at very limited studios and time. Anyway my wife and I finally got the chance to watch this yesterday afternoon. OK then, I'll get right on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

Gu Chao Yang (Ashton Chen - Detective Chen, Heroes TV series etc) was an air marshall who decided to go onboard the plane where his girlfriend, flight attendant Dong Lu (Nita Lei - Mojin: Return to the South China Sea, Here We Met Again TV series etc) was on duty. The flight was almost fully booked with a lot of passengers including criminal Du Jiu Lin (Tao Hai) who was being escorted back to China by the police, mysterious woman wearing cap (Qu Jing Jing - The Whole Truth TV series, The Body Guard etc), a soft spoken psychologist (Iko Uwais - Mile 22, Wu Assassins TV series etc), the influencer Li Jie (Yu Mu Lin), the disability guy with walking stick (Liu Feng Chao - The Butcher's Blade, Black Storm etc) and plenty others.

(TV SERIES) Song of the Samurai Season 1 - An Entertaining Series With Plenty of Well Crafted Sword Fights Albeit A Bit Too Much Details on the Historical Part

I knew about this series since it was promoted on HBO Max a couple of months back. It was something that really interest me but as it was released one episode per week, I decided to wait till it's complete last Sunday to start watching. It took me longer than expected but last night I finally finished the whole season. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

Story was set during the late Edo period where Hijikata Toshizo (Yamada Yuki - Godzilla Minus One, School Police TV series etc) the poor son of a farmer was searching for someone that could make him stronger till he finally met Kondo Isami (Suzuki Nobuyuki - Prince of Legend TV series, Revenge Girl etc), the master of Shieikan Dojo. Toshizo became the latest disciple of Shieikan together with several others including the sword prodigy Okita Soji (Hosoda Kanata - A Kiss Lasts Forever TV series, Bullet Train Explosion etc), the academically intelligent Yamanami Keisuke (Nakamura Aoi - Tokyo Refugees, Tokyo Salad Bowl TV series etc), Nagakura Shinpachi (Uesugi Shuhei - Land of Tanabata TV series, Windbreaker etc) who was excellent in using his hands and others with their own specialties.

Blades of the Guardians - Very Entertaining Martial Arts Movie with Some Brilliantly Done Fight Sequence

I have been highly anticipating this movie ever since I found out about it more than a month ago. But since it was released while my wife and I were away on holiday, I only got the chance to see it four days after it was available in Indonesia. Without further ado, here's more on the second of our movie marathon day. 

Brief Story Line

Set during the Sui dynasty era, Dao Ma (Wu Jing - Meg 2: The Trench, Wolf Warrior 2 etc) was a well known bounty hunter who himself was actually the second wanted man in the country. One day he was asked by his benefactor, the chief of Moji village Lao Mo (Tony Leung Ka Fai -  Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants, The Lover etc) to escort the most wanted man Zhi Si Lang (Sun Yi Zhou - iPartment series, This is Not What I Expected etc) to Chang'an capital. Despite his reluctance, Dao Ma fulfilled the request and went there together with the child under his protection Xiao Qi, Lao Mo's daughter Ayuya (Opera performer Chen Li Jun) and her bodyguard Ani (Xiong Jin Yi - My Sassy Deskmate TV series etc).

Karate Kid: Legends - A Nice Addition to the Beloved Long Running Franchise

Few months ago I saw the teaser of this movie which immediately excite me and my wife. Although it was public holiday on Thursday (a day after it was released in Indonesia), we were having other plans and ended up only seeing the film yesterday. OK, why don't I just get to it then?

Brief Story Line

Li Fong (Ben Wang - American Born Chinese TV serie etc) had been practicing Kung Fu with his great-uncle Master Han (Jackie Chan - Ride On, Skip Trace etc) despite the disapproval from Li's mother, Dr. Fong (Ming-na Wen - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV series, Push etc). When Dr. Fong and Li decided to move from Beijing to New York, both had to adjust with new culture. Li Fong later befriended with Mia (Sadie Stanley - The Sleepover etc), the daughter of Victor Lipani (Joshua Jackson - Dawson's Creek TV series etc) owner of a pizza restaurant. But their friendship was disturbed by Mia's ex boyfriend Conor Day (Aramis Knight - Into the Badlands TV series etc) who was the champion of Karate tournament called Five Boroughs for 5 years in a row.

Invincible Swordsman - Another Adaptation of Jin Yong's Popular Martial Arts Novel

Few days ago, I watched this Chinese movie that I have also been eyeing when it was released during vacation with my wife. It was very challenging since very few cinemas left showing the film. In fact it was no longer available in Indonesia from yesterday. Anyway, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Ling Huchong (Tim Huang - The Forbidden Depths, Captain Han TV series etc) was the Huashan sect disciple who always had mind of his own and dislike following rules of martial arts world. Due to some reasons, he was expelled by his teacher Yue Buqun (Zhang Lu - Undercover TV series etc) but later become the direct student of Grand Master Feng (Sammo Hung - Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Mr. Nice Guy etc) and learnt even greater skills.

Uprising - A Pretty Entertaining Martial Arts Movie with A Familiar Plot

Yesterday there was this new South Korean movie released on Netflix which made me interested as it looked promising with some martial arts involved. So even though I was in the middle of another series, I opted to watch this first before finishing that one. OK, let's dive into it then.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the Joseon period where slavery was still in place and focused on Cheon-yeong (Gang Dong-won - The Plot, Train to Busan: Peninsula etc) who had been serving his master Jong-ryeo (Park Jeong-min - The 8 Show TV series, Dr. Cheon and The Lost Talisman etc) since childhood and became very good friends. When war erupted due to invasion by Japanese army led by one of its General Genshin (Jung Sung-il - Project Wolf Hunting, The Glory TV series etc), the country was in turmoil and King Seon-jo (Cha Seung-won - Believer, The Tyrant TV series etc) had to flee, leaving the people to fend for themselves. 

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In - Highly Entertaining Hong Kong Martial Arts Movie that Should Satisfy Fans of Its Genre

This movie was promoted in the social media of one of the cinema chains in Indonesia quite frequently and I also saw its trailer once before. Since it looked very interesting, I was looking forward to see it as soon as I could. Luckily during last weekend, there were more studios playing the movie compared to its first day release. So my wife and I had slightly better option to see this as we had another movie marathon day. All right, why don't I just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the 1980s Hong Kong where a lot of gangs were fighting over power in Kowloon Walled City, a very densely populated place inside the city, until Cyclone (Louis Koo - Warriors of Future, Chasing the Dragon II: The Wild Wild Bunch etc) and his boss Dik Chau (Richie Ren - The Sniper, State of Divinity TV series etc) were able to unify and put order into the place. Cyclone was now assisted by his right hand man Shin (Terrance Lau - Beyond the Dream, Leap Day TV series etc) and AV (German Cheung - Rob & Roll etc) who was sort of a doctor. Both of them were very close with Twelfth Master (Tony Wu - Weeds on Fire etc) from a different gang but was very respectful towards Cyclone.

John Wick: Chapter 4 - An Even Grander Action Movie than its Predecessors

My wife and I were highly anticipating this movie as we loved all the three movies before, so we were really looking forward to see it in the cinema. Unfortunately though, it was released during our holiday trip. We thought we could see it in the country where we went to, but it was scheduled to be released only after we left. So we ended up seeing this more than 10 days later, after our return to Indonesia. OK, without further ado, lets get to the movie.

Brief Story Line

After the events of Chapter 3, John Wick (Keanu Reeves - DC League of Super Pets, The Matrix Resurrections etc) went to hiding at Intercontinental hotel in Osaka, managed by his old friend Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada - Bullet Train, Mortal Kombat 2021 etc), although it was against the wish of Koji's daughter Akira (Rina Samayama).

Meanwhile the High Table had appointed Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård  - Barbarian, Castle Rock TV series etc) to take care of John Wick, where he enlisted retired assassin Caine (Donnie Yen - Sakra, Big Brother etc) to kill him. Things gotten complicated when a mysterious person with ulterior motive who called himself Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson - Awake, Stowaway etc) managed to track John.

Sakra - The Latest Movie Adaptation of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils with Some Spectacularly Done Fight Scenes

I have seen the poster of this movie in the Coming Soon section of the largest cinema chain in Indonesia and also noticed it was going to be released before the Chinese New Year. As a major fan of Donnie Yen and martial arts movie, I was really looking forward to it. Which is why when the movie was released yesterday, I immediately asked my wife to accompany me seeing it. Well without further ado, let's get right on it.

Brief Story Line

Set in the Song dynasty period, Qiao Feng (Donnie Yen - Come Back Home, Chasing the Dragon etc) was the famous leader of beggar clan and highly respected by everyone in the martial arts world. However, he was then accused of murdering official of the clan by Madam Wang (Grace Wong - A Fist Within Four Walls TV series etc). The situation worsened by news that he was said to be descendant of Khitan, the enemy of Song. Qiao Feng was later stripped off his position but vowing to find out the truth.

Side Story of Fox Volant - One of the Best Adaptation of Jin Yong's Works

I do not usually write a martial arts/wuxia series as I prefer to reserve my opinion or views to myself. But I think it's about time that I start writing such series as well, if not for others to read, at least to remind me in the future why I loved this one. So without further ado, I will get to it now.

Brief Story Line

The story focused on a young man with strong sense of justice named Hu Fei (Qin Jun Jie - Curse of the Golden Flower, Noble Aspirations series etc) who had been orphaned since baby. As he was roaming the world while trying to be powerful enough to beat his nemesis, the great swordsman Miao Ren Feng (Lin Yu Shen - Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre 2019 series etc), Hu Fei experienced a lot of trial and tribulation. 

Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning - The Beautiful and Engaging Love Story of Kenshin that Serves As Wonderful Finale of the Series

As I said in my earlier post, I watched this movie immediately after I finished watching the 4th movie: Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. This 5th and said to be the final installment of Kenshin movies was released on Netflix almost a month ago. So it's not a really brand new film, but still something that excites me. Now why don't I get to it?

Brief Story Line

Story was set in 1864 Kyoto, where there was revolutionary movement to end the Tokugawa Shogunate reign. Hitokiri Battosai aka Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh - Ajin: Demi-Human etc) was an assassin who worked for Choshu clan with their leader Katsura Kogoro (Issey Takahashi - The Lies She Loved etc) and usually got the assignments to kill people who supported the Shogunate. Himura who felt disturbed after his recent killing, saved a young woman named Yukishiro Tomoe (Kasumi Arimura - Erased etc) from being harassed. As gratitude, Tomoe worked at the inn where the clan hid and she started to grew close to Himura.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Final - The Fourth and Still Exciting Live Adaptation Movie of the Popular Manga Series

Rurouni Kenshin movies were something that interest me but I did not get the chance to see them years ago when they played in Indonesian cinemas. So when the first film was released on Netflix, naturally I gave it a try and I loved it. However, I was disappointed after I found out the 2nd and 3rd movies were not shown on Netflix. Hence when this film was released, I hesitated to watch it as I prefer to have seen the predecessors. Yesterday though, I decided to watch this movie and continued with the 5th and final film. All right, I'll head on to it now.

Brief Story Line

Few years after the event of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, the wanderer Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh -  Inuyashiki etc) was still living at the Dojo owned by Ms. Kaoru (Emi Takei - For Love's Sake etc). Together with the warrior Sagara Sanosuke (Munetaka Aoki - Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai etc), the Doctor Takani Megumi (Yu Aoi - Hula Girls etc) and the young Yahiko (Riku Onishi), they were enjoying the peaceful life in Tokyo.

(2021) Mortal Kombat - Good Enough Adaptation of Highly Popular Fighting Games

I have been hoping that this movie would be available on cable TV soon and I would not be too far behind with other audience who have seen it in theater. So when there was notification from Catchplay+ that it premiered on 20th May, it was a very pleasant surprise for people like me who are still not comfortable yet going to the cinemas. Anyway, I will just go straight with this movie which I watched together with my wife.

Brief Story Line

A professional MMA fighter named Cole Young (Lewis Tan - Wu Assassins TV series etc) found himself caught in the middle of the war between Earthrealm and the Outworld led by its leader Shang Tsung (Chin Han - Skyscraper etc) who wanted to rule both worlds. Shang Tsung assigned his ruthless assassin Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim - The Swordsman, The Night Comes for Us etc) to kill Cole who seemed to have important role in the latest tournament to the death between the two worlds, called Mortal Kombat.

(2020) The Swordsman - Cool Martial Arts Movie with Some Amazing Swords Fights Scenes

After a while not checking on new films on TVN Movies channel, I decided to find out few days ago. Then I saw this movie which already premiered on 2 January 2021. The movie itself was released in Indonesian cinemas since October 2020 and as my wife and I were still not comfortable going to the cinemas due to the pandemic, we skipped it and hoping for it to be released on TV soon (which it did). Anyway, enough of that and I'll just get to the good part.

Brief Story Line

Tae-yul (Jang Hyuk - Volcano High, Windstruck etc) said to be the best swordsman in Joseon (kingdom of Korea) had retired and living with his daughter Tae-ok (Kim Hyun-soo - Solomon's Perjury TV series etc) in the mountains. When Tae-yul's eyesight became worse due to previous injury, both of them went to town looking for medicines. However, the Qing dynasty of China led by their representative, the great martial artist Gurutai (Joe Taslim - Warrior TV series, Hit & Run etc) and his group of thugs were wreaking havoc and sadly Tae-yul and Tae-ok were caught in the middle. 

(TV SERIES) Warrior Season 1 - Superbly Done Action Series Based on the Writings of Bruce Lee

I actually have seen the first 3 episodes of this series some time ago when it was released an episode every week on Cinemax channel. However, as it was hard to wait and I got distracted with other series that have completed, I forgotten about this one. Not until few days ago when I browse for something new on HBO Go apps that I saw there was going to be a second season coming soon. Hence, during the weekend I quickly finished the first season so I could write about it.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the 19th century San Francisco, where the Chinese were enslaved by the Americans for cheap labor work which resulted to lots of turmoil in the state. In Chinatown, there were few gangs (referred to as "Tongs") occupying the city with the biggest ones Hop Wei Tong led by Father Jun (Perry Yung) and Long Zii Tong led by himself and his young wife Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) along with their strong enforcer Li Yong (Joe Taslim - The Night Comes for Us, The Raid etc). 

(TV SERIES) Wu Assassins Season 1 - Iko Uwais' First Attempt in a Western Series

Before my long holiday, I started to watch this series as it had Iko Uwais name as the lead role. But sadly I was unable to complete the series and it dragged until last night when I completed the last 3 episodes. Well anyway, let's get on with the series now.

Brief Story Line

Kai Jin (Iko Uwais - Stuber, Triple Threat etc) was a half Chinese half Indonesian chef who had been living in Chinatown San Francisco from his childhood years. He was raised by Uncle Six (Byron Mann - Skyscraper, Crying Freeman etc) who was a ruthless Triad leader. Jin was also best friends with Lu Xin Lee (Lewis Tan) who had some shady business,  a restaurant owner Jenny Wah (Li Jun Li - The Exorcist TV series etc) and her drug-addict brother Tommy Wah (Lawrence Kao) who loved to hang out with the Triads.

Triple Threat - A Quite Well Done Martial Arts Movie Albeit not too Impressive in Other Areas

I have been eyeing for this movie for quite a while since I saw the poster as it had 3 martial art actors in 1 film. But I did not get the chance to see this one until last night. As it did not look like a movie that my wife might have enjoyed, I decided to see it by myself. And so what was the movie about? Let us get into detail below.

Brief Story Line

Payu (Tony Jaa - xXx: Return of Xander Cage etc) and Long Fei (Tiger Chen - Man of Tai Chi etc) were mercenaries hired for a special mission into the forest of Thailand. During this mission a lot of complications arose and they met with an Indonesian security named Jaka (Iko Uwais - The Night Comes for Us etc). 

Master Z: Ip Man Legacy - A Nice Enough Spin-off from the Ip Man trilogy

At first when I read the title to this movie, I thought it was just some kind of film that used the fame of Ip Man and try to gain audience by adding his name. But when I saw the trailer, I realized it would be interesting. Will go into that more below. OK, so let's start with it.

Brief Story Line

After beaten by Ip Man, Cheung Tin Chi (Max Zhang - SPL II: A Time for Consequences, The Brink etc) decided to leave town and stop being teacher of Wing Chun martial arts. Together with his young son, they opened a small grocery shop. But his peaceful life would soon be ruined when he was involved in altercation with the gang led by Sai Kit (Kevin Cheng - Ghetto Justice TV series etc) who were trying to collect money from Nana (Chrissy Chau - An Inspector Calls, 29+1 etc) and her best friend Julia (Liu Yan - Badges of Fury, Martial Universe TV series etc).

Wiro Sableng Pendekar Kapak Maut Naga Geni 212 - A Good Adaptation of the Popular Indonesian Martial Arts Novel

After spending more than a week's holiday with my wife, we were trying to catch up with movies that we were not able to see for a while. Hence, yesterday during a public holiday, we managed to have a movie marathon and saw this one as our second movie of the day. It had been playing quite some time and fortunately the film was still playing in Indonesian cinemas. So let us go on with the movies now.

Brief Story Line

Wiro Sableng (Vino G. Bastian - Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss Part 1 & its sequel, Chrisye etc) was saved & taught martial arts by his teacher Sinto Gendeng (Ruth Marini - Sebelum Iblis Menjemput etc) since his childhood. When he had grown up, Wiro was told by Sinto to look for and capture the leader of the dark forces and her former student named Mahesa Birawa (Yayan Ruhian - Beyond Skyline, Star Wars: The Force Awakens etc).