That fact becomes abundantly clear as the film moves toward its conclusion. When the opening credits pop up, you may notice that the full title is Fist of the Condor: Chapter One. (Out of nowhere one of the Zaror brothers has a family in a thread that’s supposed to create emotional oomph, but mostly peters out in unsatisfying fashion.) And the pace does flag for a time in the middle, focusing on a few overly long, admittedly silly training montages and a handful of underdeveloped subplots. It’s often sparse and threadbare and held together with stray bits of wire the filmmakers scraped together. Like the films it emulates, and like previous Zaror/Espinoza team ups, this is low-budget, working-on-a-shoestring filmmaking and comes with pitfalls inherent in these circumstances. The quality of the action and the dexterity and expertise of those involved in the on-screen fisticuffs is what this movie is all about and more than makes up for any shortcomings. (There’s a good reason he pops up on John Wick 4 among so many other genre luminaries-those in the know, know.) A chiseled specimen-it’s abundantly clear how he was able to once stunt double Dwayne Johnson-his intricate, elegant, high-flying skills are among the best currently working in martial arts cinema. Zaror, who also handled the fight choreography, puts his physical attributes on full display. And isn’t that why we decided to watch this in the first place? It’s simple, straight-forward, to the point, and, most of all, effective. The story hits tons of familiar beats, there’s the quest, betrayal, revenge, a blood feud between siblings, a martial arts school on top of a mountain, rigorous training montages, and, of course, fights galore.Īlso liberally sprinkling in spaghetti western tropes, this all essentially serves as a delivery system for Marko Zaror’s spin-kicking badassery. Zaror, as El Guerrero, leads this charge against his estranged twin brother, the current caretaker of the manuscript. Various interested parties-some with pure motives, others with greedy corrupt ones-hope to acquire said book for their own ends. There’s a secret text, handed down from one warrior guardian to the next, which contains a mystical technique. Plot wise, Fist of the Condor lifts from countless classic kung fu movies. (Unless he’s facing off against Scott Adkins.) And their latest venture, Fist of the Condor, delivers just what fans want and expect. When this Chilean duo gets together, we get movies like Kiltro, Mandrill, and Redeemer, among others, and rarely does Zaror get to shine as brightly as he does in these films. When star Marko Zaror and writer/director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza team up, you damn well better believe we’re paying attention.
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