Death Grip Review

[One Armed Boxer]

It gets the thumbs up from the guys over at fareastfilms....

http://www.fareastfilms.com/reviewsP...-Grip-2509.htm

[One Armed Boxer]

Ok, this arrived in the post for me today...and for the first time since I can't even remember when, it went in the DVD player a mere matter of minutes later...and the next few hours where spent checking out the movie, and everything else the DVD had to offer.

To do it justice, I'll give it the full review treatment, so apologies if this gets a little long!

My expectations for 'Death Grip' were uncertain....I, like many others on here, initially discovered The Stunt People through their 2006 feature 'Contour', and proceeded to be blown away by what I saw. In between we've had 'Detective Story' and 'Dogs of Chinatown'...the first sticking close to the 'Contour' style of comedy mixed with fighting, while the later was a departure into a more serious role for Jacobus, but with most people agreeing neither of them quite reached the heights of 'Contour'.

When I heard that 'Death Grip' was also going to go down the more serious road, I was a little concerned of how it would hold up. As much as the trailer for 'Dogs of Chinatown' had me sold, I didn't really enjoy the movie so much, mainly as when there was no fighting on screen, it seemed to just consist of Jacobus wearing a terminally depressed face for 90 minutes with no humor whatsoever.

Skip to 'Death Grip', and thankfully my fears were unfounded, in fact all of my concerns were unfounded. But that's not because the perfect balance of ferocious fighting and a decent level of acting has been found, while they have, it's also for something much more. Indeed it's an injustice to simply call 'Death Grip' just a martial arts movie, because it blatantly isn't. Jacobus has made a very daring move and essentially made what's a character study between two brothers, with the fighting being secondary to plot and characterization.

In a world where there are so few decent action crews around, and knowing what the Stunt People can do, I'm sure if I was reading those words I'd be holding my head in my hands muttering "Why, WHY!?". But somehow that's not the case here, 'Death Grip' is a very unique movie, and I'd dare to say some of the techniques and ideas in it have never been seen before.

Perhaps due to my adjusted expectations, unlike Lionclaw I found the use of 'Kenny Vision' to be a stroke of genius, and it's integration into the plot isn't just used as a gimmick. Vital moments in the story and the buildup of tension hinge on it, giving the action sequences a realism and intensity to them that is rarely found in action cinema. We've all probably imagined ourselves being a kung-fu hero at some point, as does Kenny, however the situations he's in present a very real danger, so when the technique is used and it skips back to reality, the scene has a fresh sense of immediacy to it as suddenly you realize how vulnerable he is, and that things arn't going to work out the way he imagines they will.

For this reason, 'Death Grip' is a much more bloody and dirty affair than any other Stunt People production you've seen, by the end of it Jacobus is bloodied, bruised, slashed, torn, shot, and completely exhausted, and he nails the acting down to a T. Of course in the action department itself, he's ably helped by many familiar faces from the 'Contour' crew....Ray Carbonel & Edward Kahana Jr. are both in the mix, and there's a vicious knife fight with Alvin Hsing, which is the most choreographed fight of the movie, and then of course, there's the draw of Jacobus facing off with Johnny Yong Bosch.

Yong Bosch is playing the leader of the cult which wants the coin that Kenny's brother has in his possesion, and he & Jacobus compliment each other well in the 2 showdowns they have with each other (another 2 can be found in the extras, one is a deleted scene, and the other a fun short of them fighting 'Matrix' style). Other highlights which further show the amount of originality on display are a fight in real-time slow motion (don't worry, they're not in a fish tank a la 'First Strike'), and a fight in a pitch black room were neither opponent can see each other.

Despite quite a dark story, the whole movie has quite a brooding and grimey feel to it, there are still many instances of smart humor in there that really go to show how much effort has gone into making such a well rounded production. While some people will no doubt complain about the action not being as in abundance as it was in 'Contour', and others may not be into the dark tone, I think the majority of people who watch this will appreciate what a unique entry it is into the action genre, my only hope is we don't have to wait another 6 years for their next feature length production!

[DarthKato]

@One Armed Boxer

Nice review. I don't really know why I was mentioned,as I have never reviewed this film.

Where you talking about Lionclaw by any chance?

[stuntpeople]

I'm stoked by that review, thanks.

It's pretty interesting, the variance of responses so far. They're either in the ballpark of "good story, mixed action in well, new ideas" or in an entirely different field saying "not enough of a full-out action flick, dream sequences annoyed me". I dunno if I could please both crowds equally, perhaps that's a future endeavor :D

[Lionclaw]

Originally Posted by DarthKato

@One Armed Boxer

Nice review. I don't really know why I was mentioned,as I have never reviewed this film.

Where you talking about Lionclaw by any chance?

he probably was

[One Armed Boxer]

Where you talking about Lionclaw by any chance?

Ah...apologies, yeah I was referring to Lionclaw, my mistake! Post amended!

The dream sequences pose bigger questions, like "If you're fighting 15 dumb, thuggish cult members, how do you win?". The solution is an obvious one that I've only seen once before.

I'm curious, where did you see it being used once before?

There's even an entire hidden plotline. I talk about it in the commentary, if you care. I'll happily supplement hints via email.

I'll listen to the commentary at some point, but in the meantime I'd be very up for reading some hints on the hidden plotline.

It's pretty interesting, the variance of responses so far. They're either in the ballpark of "good story, mixed action in well, new ideas" or in an entirely different field saying "not enough of a full-out action flick, dream sequences annoyed me". I dunno if I could please both crowds equally, perhaps that's a future endeavor :D

When you take a chance on something which people have their own expectations of, it's always going to split them down the middle. There are other examples of movies within the genre were directors or actors have taken a chance on something a little different, and they always tend to generate as much positive feedback as they do negative for exactly the same reason. Off the top of my head I can think of Tony Jaa in 'Ong Bak 2', Donnie Yen in 'Wu Xia',and even Jackie & Sammo in 'Heart of the Dragon', which I think must have had some influence over 'Death Grip', even up to having a couple of deleted fight scenes which will have a few people begging for them to be put back in! But after some time has passed it always tends to be the positive which gets remembered, and I'm sure this will be the case with 'Death Grip', once people realize they're not just going to get another 'Contour', I'm sure they'll be able to appreciate what you've done.

[DarthKato]

Originally Posted by One Armed Boxer

Ah...apologies, yeah I was referring to Lionclaw, my mistake! Post amended!.

No problem, figured that's what it was.

[stuntpeople]

I'm curious, where did you see it being used once before?

Attack the Gas Station.

I'll listen to the commentary at some point, but in the meantime I'd be very up for reading some hints on the hidden plotline.

Here's a thread at the SP forum with some spoilers. http://forum.thestuntpeople.com/view...=6333&start=25

When you take a chance on something which people have their own expectations of, it's always going to split them down the middle. There are other examples of movies within the genre were directors or actors have taken a chance on something a little different, and they always tend to generate as much positive feedback as they do negative for exactly the same reason. Off the top of my head I can think of Tony Jaa in 'Ong Bak 2', Donnie Yen in 'Wu Xia',and even Jackie & Sammo in 'Heart of the Dragon', which I think must have had some influence over 'Death Grip', even up to having a couple of deleted fight scenes which will have a few people begging for them to be put back in! But after some time has passed it always tends to be the positive which gets remembered, and I'm sure this will be the case with 'Death Grip', once people realize they're not just going to get another 'Contour', I'm sure they'll be able to appreciate what you've done.

It's definitely been interesting to see the differences in opinion. All the opinions are perfectly valid too, which makes it a challenge for filmmakers like me to take an educated guess at the market!

[blue_skies]

just cut-and-paste from the other thread in the modern martial arts section…

My thoughts on Death Grip…

I have to say the movie didn't disappoint being a thoroughly enjoyable action flick but it certainly wasn't the film I was expecting. It was darker, more brutal, having more characterisation and story than The Stunt People's other movies I've seen (Contour and Immortal). However I found the story engaging and characters interesting adding to the overall enjoyment of the film, as much for the martial arts fights. Plenty of laugh out loud moments and "ouch" that's got to hurt, feeling for the character. But overall I was impressed with the huge step up in production values since Contour (does the new release look any better than the old one?), having a very professional look and feel to everything. While I wouldn't say the action blew me away, I was thrilled and riveted to the screen. I was also thinking why can't Hollywood make an action film like this? Then I was pondering over Hong Kong and while there's a smattering of very good movies, I can't think of any HK in recent years that has entertained me as much as when I first watched Contour and now Death Grip. The action wasn't as plentiful as I was expecting but was very good throughout the movie. The knife fight and Kenny versus Johnny Yong Bosch's characters fight being among the highlights for me. Yet throughout there was a good intensity to the fight sequences with the soundtrack adding that extra omph as every kick and punch hit with a satisfying, bass filled thud… Maybe too much so but that's a tiny gripe.

I found the action contained within the "Kenny's vision" blurring reality, tended to keep the viewer (or at least myself) on their toes wondering what actually happened/is happening and is it real. But nevertheless I found this an interesting twist and often providing a good hearty laugh, either within the sequence or as reality flashes back. In fact the humour really disguised the darkness of the movie.

In the end I decided to opt for the DVD and can say that the picture quality was very good on my TV. The disc was jampacked full of extras and unlike most DVDs I actually watched all of them, or just about in the subsequent days after enjoying the movie.

It's been around three weeks since I saw the movie and my memory is pretty bad otherwise I would comment further, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience and one I'm looking forward to enjoying over the coming years every now and again. Eric, please make the next movie sooner!