Lot of things to love, lot of things to hate.
I imagine John Carpenter got the idea one day high out of his mind. The pacing and direction is reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon. As the year was 1986, it was also racist, with the damsel in distress being an Asian woman with green eyes (as mentioned in the movie, “How Exotic”). However, the wire-fu filmed throughout was not bad. Probably the best Western interpretation until The Matrix.
Unfortunately, because of the frantic pacing the characters don’t develop beyond stereotypes of the genre. Pretty sure Suzee Pai (the damsel in distress) only had 4 lines throughout the runtime. That's a problem. Even in 1986 female roles were advancing beyond speaking when spoken to.
Ultimately though, Mortal Kombat characters (Raiden, Shang Tsung) were influenced by the movie. So it can’t be that bad.
First screening April 10, 2022 via special help.
