Movie Review: The Paper Tigers (2020) on Amazon Prime

The Paper Tigers (2020)
May 7, 2021

Director: Quoc Bao Tran

Writer: Quoc Bao Tran

Cast: Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Matthew Page

Rating: PG-13 (Offensive Slurs|Violence|Some Strong Language)
Genre: Sports And Fitness, Action, Comedy
Runtime: 1h 48m

WELL GO USA ENTERTAINMENT
Three martial artists--notorious in their prime as "the three tigers"--have grown into middle-aged men one kick from a pulled muscle. But after their teacher's murder, they must juggle dead-end jobs, dad duties, and old grudges to avenge him.

I think it's important to understand some background on this film to really appreciate what they have done. All the info from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paper_Tigers

The director and producers had a strong admiration for martial arts and old-school fun martial arts films. Bao Tran used his friendships and classmates from when he studied martial arts as inspiration.

They had a male Asian-American main character in mind with a minority leading cast but they were worried about whitewashing by a studio...and guess what?! Hollywood producers offered them 4 million dollars BUT there could be no Asian lead character and suggested that Bruce Willis be the lead and a part for Nicholas Cage had to be added... 

I'll give you a moment to let that sink in...

Bao Tran and company said no and crowdfunded their movie. They raised $124k on Kickstarter in 2018 and then some private investors (including someone who learned under Bruce Lee) added one million dollars more. They made the indie movie in Seattle's Chinatown-International District. The local businesses offered free food and lodging and production studio space for the cast and crew.

Okay, history lesson over...

 The Paper Tigers is a movie about childhood friends, growing up and growing apart, and reconnecting. It switches between the three main characters' childhood martial art lessons with their shifu (Kung Fu master) and present day. The whole murder mystery is kind of flimsy. It is just a device to bring the three together. And it has a definite indie feel. The humor is predictable and cliche but the inclusion of Matthew Page's stereotype character is hilarious. There is also some great Kung Fu fighting. 

WARNING: This part is my personal opinion and doesn't represent other members of the I Smell Sheep staff.

If the director had had a studio budget and resources would the movie have been better? I some ways, yes. But in the most important way, no. Whitewashing is a systemic problem in more than just the entertainment industry and it makes me angry.

My husband and I enjoyed The Paper Tigers and give it

3 1/2 "poison fingered" Sheep

SharonS

 

Movie Review: The Man With the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) 

96 min
2 November 2012 (USA) 
Director: RZA 
Writers: Eli Roth (screenplay), RZA (screenplay)
Stars: Russell Crowe, Cung Le and Lucy Liu

On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins, and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers.

I am including the character names because they are so Kung Fu fabulous!

bad ass weapon!

RZA ... Blacksmith 

Rick Yune ... Zen Yi, The X-Blade 

Russell Crowe ... Jack Knife 

Lucy Liu ... Madam Blossom 

Dave Bautista ... Brass Body 

Jamie Chung ... Lady Silk 

Cung Le ... Bronze Lion 

Byron Mann ... Silver Lion 

Daniel Wu ... Poison Dagger 

Zhu Zhu ... Chi Chi 

Chia Hui Liu ... Abbott (as Gordon Liu) 

Andrew Ng ... Senior Monk 

Kuan Tai Chen ... Gold Lion 

Yoyao Hsueh ... Copper Lion (as Xue Jing Yao) 

Telly Liu ... Iron Lion 

sexy beast!

Woohoo! What a fun film! If you like Quentin Tarantino-style movies, then you will love this directorial debut by Rapper RZA who learned from the man himself. Here is a great article about the making of The Man With the Iron Fists (link). Hard to believe it was done on a $10 million budget. This is a 70’s style Kung Fu movie with a 90’s flair. There is gravity defying martial art moves, spurting blood, ninja prostitutes, a coat made of knives, snarky humor, and a ton of hair gel.

big hair band clan

There are four story-lines that converge in the small Jungle Village. The Blacksmith (RZA) lives in Jungle Village and is trying to buy his prostitute lover her freedom but ends up in the middle of a clan war and seeking revenge. Jack Knife (Russell Crowe) is an English soldier who shows up in the village with his own mission. I was surprised when I heard he was in a Kung Fu movie, but it works! His character is a drinking, whoring, killer with an awesome weapon that is like scissors on steroids. The X Blade (Rick Yune) is one sexy beast! I’d take him to the dojo any day ;) He comes to Jungle Village to avenge his father’s, The Gold Lion, death. He has a wicked coat of knives that is the cause of most of the blood 

spurting (there is a lot of blood spurting) and he has mad martial arts skills. 

My favorite character is Madame Blossom, Lucy Lui, and I’ve always loved Lucy Lui in her movies. Madame Blossom and her girls are not what they appear; they have an agenda of their own and use sex to achieve it. Lui is kick ass in this movie and she got to wear some beautiful costumes. The Silver Lion is the ring leader of the bad guys who all have 90’s style big hair. The Silver Lion looks like an Asian version of The Goblin King from Labyrinth. 

Brass Body and the Iron Fist showdown!

This is a violent movie, but in Tarantino style which means it is mixed with a big dose of humor. Most of the blood is obviously CGI, but they aren't trying to hide that fact. In the fight scenes, which there are many, the spurting blood is actually artistically choreographed into the action. While there is a lot of sex going on you never see any naughty bits and I don’t recall any foul language. 

Poison Dagger

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, my husband liked it but not as much as I did. It is exactly what it appears to be in the trailer so if you like the trailer than you will like the movie. If you thought the 2004 movie Kung Fu Hustle was awesome then this is your movie!

my favorite blood spurting scene (sexy beast)

5 “knocking your eyeball out of your head” Sheep

this is when the shit got real!

Sharon Stogner (edit Kalpar)