The Avenging Fist

Nova and his family are the only practitioners of the martial arts style, known as Avenging Fist, which, when combined with the power glove developed by Nova's father, gives access to the superhuman powers within "God's No Access Zone" – the untapped 90% of human potential.

When Nova displays the Avenging Fist in public he attracts the attention of the evil Combat 21, who decides that he wants the power of the style for himself and his Red Dragon Army…

A disclaimer at the end of Avenging Fist states that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the video game Tekken.

Yeah, right.

Films based on, or "inspired by", computer games tend to be utter crap, or okay so long as one doesn't mind the absence of fundamentals, such as plot and characterisation. Avenging Fist falls into the latter category. There's little beyond the impressive eye-candy on show.

Co-director Andrew Lau, the man primarily responsible for introducing Hollywood-style CGI to Hong Kong, with Stormriders a few years back, is an impressive stylist. But even more than Luc Besson – whose The Fifth Element was clearly one of many inspirations for the look of the film, along with Blade Runner, The Matrix and Star Wars, to name only the most obvious – there's no substance to back up the style.

Put simply, Avenging Fist is soulless.

In the casting of old-school stalwarts Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Cecilia Yip one gets the impression the filmmakers hoped to engender something of a baton passing from one generation to the next. Unfortunately it backfires. The younger performers might look pretty, but largely lack the presence and Peking Opera chops of their older counterparts who, meanwhile, are given insufficient opportunities to show what they can do without recourse to all this computer trickery. Biao's features are hidden behind a colander-like mask most of the time, while Hung gets to be the butt of fat man gags per usual.

If you're the sort of person who prefers Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to Star Wars then The Avenging Fist might appeal. But if you want something more than just flashiness – the suprise success of The Matrix in taking mindshare away from The Phantom Menace demonstrates that many of us do – stay away.

This Region 2 DVD from Hong Kong Legends looks and sounds great. The 2.35:1 anamorphic enhanced widescreen image is bright, sharp and in pristine condition, while the Dolby Digital 5:1 Ex audio mix is full of detail. Right from the Blade Runner-esque opening, where CGI flying cars whoosh past to the strains of a Vangelis-like score, it's obvious that Avenging Fist is going to be not only a treat for eyes and ears, but also a pretty good showcase for the DVD medium.

Confusingly, there are differences in some of character names between the English dub and subtitles – Nova on the audio track is Kong on the subtitles, for example. Presumably only reviewers are likely to watch the DVD this way.

While there is not a commentary track, Hong Kong Legends have not skimped on the extras.

A 55 minute documentary, Dream Warriors: The Making Of The Avenging Fist, contains interviews with all the stars and filmmakers, except Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, telling you pretty much all you want to know about the conception and execution of the movie. Then there is a short six minute interview with starlet Gigi Leung, who talks about her career as a model/singer/actress, favourite performers and interests in travel and animals. Finally, we have a short piece showing the film's preview, all glamour and glitz, and the de rigeuer trailer archive.

Mention should also be made of the menus, which capture the video game ambience of the film perfectly.

All told, this is another very nice DVD package from Hong Kong Legends. The film looks and sounds wonderful, while the extras, though average rather than excellent, round off the package nicely for the enthusiast/collector.