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A few weeks back, the new production company Tiger Style Media made quite the waves when they released their sizzle reel and intel on the first slate of martial arts action films that harkens back to the legit 90’s films that flooded video stores nationwide. Featuring real life bad ass fight talent, these films promise to scratch the itch for genre fans looking for no holds barred flicks that encompass punishing action design and characters that are larger than life.
Tiger Style Media, who has partnered with Paramount’s Republic Pictures to highlight this martial arts action brand, makes no qualms about what they are about. It’s all about the savage science here and the action direction and the plots are secondary and even emulate those of past films. Once again, I’m a fan of DTV actioners, especially the ones of the 90’s, so this production banner is right in my wheelhouse and even the ones that are below subpar, I still find something to like about them and they are essentially comfort food.
This past Tuesday, saw the release of the first film which stars Mortal Kombat’s Ludi Lin in a take on Bruce Lee’s iconic epic Enter the Dragon. Lin, who plays Liu Kang in the reboot as well as the upcoming sequel, is front and center here as a CIA analyst who just happens to moonlights as a kickboxer on the weekends who is tasked with infiltrating a master criminal’s tournament. Said criminal runs an elite martial arts training academy and tournament but also happens to dabble in arms trading to the highest bidder. Titled Art of Eight Limbs which is a reference to the martial arts discipline of Muay Thai as it utilizes all facets of the human body including fists, feet, elbows and knees.
This movie, from director Ryan Jaeger, doesn’t make any excuses for borrowing heavily from Lee’s 1972 martial arts thriller and that’s OK as Lin is tasked with traveling to the bombastic country of Myanmar to enter an exclusive martial arts tournament that is a front for the selling of VX Nerve Gas while hitting as many assailants as possible in the meantime. The plot is secondary as well as some of the acting, but the real test is if the fight sequences do what they need to do. Does Lin have what it takes to headline a fight flick as he has only really played a supporting role in the Mortal Kombat film.
The answer is yes and no and while Art of Eight Limbs does showcase some entertaining beatdowns, it’s mostly forgettable and while watching it, I was left wondering if the other three upcoming films would be any better. Lin does a serviceable job as the lead hero, and I do find it rather humorous that his character of Scott Schiff just happens to kick a little ass as a hobby so he can partake in this mission to save the day. It also doesn’t help that his father is a revered agent in the CIA and has left some pretty big shoes to fill. This adds to the drama that is mostly left on the sidewalk once the throwdowns commence.
Lin is likeable enough, but I felt that his screen presence was wanting, at least in this movie and I have a feeling that his future in action films would benefit more from ensemble films like the aforementioned Mortal Kombat. I want to stress that I’m not bashing on Lin, and I did like what he had to offer in the action department but as a lone hero, I’m just not seeing it yet. He’s got the look, the physique and the moves but with Art of Eight Limbs, the finished product is somewhat of a letdown as I believe I won’t revisit the movie in the future. I could be wrong but when the credits rolled, I tried to remember what I had just watched.
The supporting cast is workable too with Grace Vorananth stealing the show as a comrade of Schiff’s named Mae who helps him out. Vorananth is solid in the fight scenes and gets ample opportunity to deliver some ultra slo-mo brutality especially in the climax. She does her best in channeling a little Tony Jaa and even upstages Lin at various points. Veteran action baddie Ron Smoorenburg (Triple Threat) is also featured in a small role as a French Savate fighter but ultimately, he’s underused when all is said and done. I would have loved to see him throwdown with Lin’s Schiff towards the climax as there was a little tension between the two in the beginning but alas, he gets to execute one tournament fight and eventually loses.
Sahajak Boonthanakit is your standard cardboard cutout villain named General Thia and does his best to make fans remember Kien Shih who played the iconic Han in Enter the Dragon as that who he essentially is here. He’s not really menacing here though and even during the moments where he’s being really nasty, I started to think of others that did it better. The movie needs a bad guy orchestrating everything though and I guess he does what he needs to do but they should have used a more lethal onscreen fighter so Schiff could take him out like Lee did to Han in that memorable and iconic showdown.
The biggest thrill for me was seeing veteran actor Nicholas Hammond who plays a season CIA agent named Buckley and former friend of Schiff’s father. If you’re old like me, then you know Hammond as the original Amazing Spider-Man in the cheesy 70’s TV series. Think The Incredible Hulk with Lou Ferrigno but with probably an even lesser budget. Hammond does what he can with what he’s given but his character is disposable as well and doesn’t really filter into the finale. I was hoping for a more JCVD/Donald Gibb style relationship aesthetic but their shared screentime is limited.
In terms of on location shooting, the cinematography is gorgeous and really deploys a legit feel to the film as many of these types of movies back in the day were relegated to warehouses and factories. Not here as the landscape is used beautifully and gives the movie a shine to it that is needed. It definitely is one of the highlights of the movie and thankfully this isn’t your standard claustrophobic affair.
The tournament is secondary here unfortunately as there really isn’t any extended matches. I would have loved some longevity in the middle when it came to the fighting like Tiger Claws 2 which is a much lower budgeted 90’s film that boasts an insane amount of tournament action. If a cheap movie like that could infuse so much action into the runtime then I imagine a bigger budgeted flick like this would do better. Sadly, there’s more talk than ouch from opening to closing.
I’ve mentioned the action design a little but allow me to further explain myself when I say that a lot of it is underwhelming and unfortunately Lin isn’t given a lot to do before the inevitable showdown. Make no mistake that there is martial arts chaos aplenty here but more doesn’t always mean better and the finale is over before it really gets started. While watching the adrenaline spots of the film, I did enjoy myself and wasn’t bored and there are some really cool moments to be had with some pretty sick shots of Matrix style flying elbows with Lin being able to show off with one killer move. It was a little disconcerting that there is some wirework involved and is sorely visible in Lin’s finishing assault at the end and it would have benefited with a more realistic attack like the aerial elbow. This film company boasts real fighting from real fighters so don’t diminish it by resorting to wires or special effects. Let them do what they do best and do it practically for the finishing flair if this is a true homage to those classic English language fight pics of the past.
Schiff does tussle with the resident Chung Li of the movie named Kong (Punyaphat Boonkoonchanok) twice in the movie with the first being in the tournament, but he essentially wins the match making their secondary go around even less memorable as there is no real tension to be had because you know Schiff is the better fighter already. Like I said, I think it would have benefited for Lin to go up against Smoorenburg as he is a different kind of fighter with some devastating kicks, and it would have showcased a more memorable experience with the varying styles that both men displayed. Smoorenburg is even more formidable and imposing then the actor that plays Kong which would have made the end fight a little more rousing in its execution.
The filmmakers really could have paid the ultimate respect to Lee and his film by giving us a worthy adversary for Schiff similar to Lee taking on Chuck Norris in Return of the Dragon. I know actors’ scheduling doesn’t always gel but how glorious it could have been if say Iko Uwais made a cameo or even Joe Taslim. Hell, I have a laundry list of potential rivals to use but my opinion unfortunately doesn’t amount to much. My body just gets chills about the possibilities that will never come to pass.
Overall, as the starting point for the Tiger Style Media production banner goes, Art of Eight Limbs does an admirable job for crafting a throwback style tournament action film but faulters in most of its execution. I didn’t hate it, but I was expecting more and hopefully future installments from the company deliver a little more. Ludi Lin gets to show off more than he did in Mortal Kombat but at the end of the day he is underused as is most of the cast. The action is plentiful, shot well for the most part albeit forgettable and if you were to compare this one to Enter the Dragon then there is really no contest. For those fans looking for onscreen mayhem, this one fails to reach the finish line in my opinion and I’m just being honest but if you stack it up against past movies like Lee’s classic as well as some of the cheesy 90’s entries then ultimately Art of Eight Limbs fails to execute the knockout.
VERDICT: 2.5 Out of 5 Stars
Ludi Lin gets to channel a little Bruce Lee Muay Thai style, but Art of Eight Limbs ultimately fails to execute the knockout.
