Last year was a good year for martial arts movies. With more than two dozen releases to theater and DVD, few people will have the time and interest to screen them all–myself included! Rather than writing a review for each, I have decided to simply list those you cannot afford to miss.
The Best
Bodyguards and Assassins
Winner: 2010 Hong Kong Film Award, Best Film
Bodyguards and Assassins [IMDB rating: 6.9/10]
Starring Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Cung Le
14 Blades [IMDB rating: 6.3/10]
Starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Zhao Wei
Ip Man 2 [IMDB rating: 7.6/10]
Starring Donnie Yen, Darren Shahlavi, Sammo Hung
Ip Man 2
Ong Bak 3 [Amazon Blu-ray, DVD] [Netflix] [IMDB rating: 4.4/10]
Starring Tony Jaa
Reign of Assassins [IMDB rating: 7.0/10]
Starring Michelle Yeoh
Black Dynamite [Amazon] [Netflix] [IMDB rating: 7.4/10]
Starring Michael Jai White, Arsenio Hall
Black Dynamite
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen [IMDB rating: 6.2/10]
Starring Donnie Yen, Shu Qi
True Legend [IMDB rating: 6.3/10]
Starring Man Cheuk Chiu, Michelle Yeoh
The Karate Kid [Amazon Blu-ray, DVD] [Netflix] [IMDB rating: 6.2/10]
Starring Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith
The Rest
And these are some of the martial arts films I didn’t see, mixed in with a few I do not care to recommend…
- 12 with Mark Strange
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Beatdown
- Born to Raise Hell with Steven Seagal
- Circle of Pain with Kimbo Slice
- City Under Siege with Collin Chou, Wu Jing, Shu Qi
- Damage with Steve Austin
- A Dangerous Man with Steven Seagal
- Dragonball: Evolution
- Game of Death with Wesley Snipes
- Ip Man, The Legend Is Born with Ip Chun
- Jackie Chan, Kung Fu Master with Jackie Chan (but just barely!)
- Kung Fu Chefs with Sammo Hung
- Kung Fu Hip-Hop 2
- Kung Fu Master with Yuen Biao
- Legend of the Tsunami Warrior with Dan Chupong
- Little Big Soldier with Jackie Chan
- Martial Spirit
- Mulan with Zhao Wei
- Never Surrender
- Ninja with Scott Adkins
- Ninja Assassin with Rain
- Ninja’s Creed
- Undisputed 3: Redemption with Scott Adkins
Which of these was your favorite?
I totally thought The Karate Kid remake was going to stink, but it ended up being really, really good. This goes to show that you can’t judge a movie from its trailer or your prior expectations.
I’ve seen a lot of martial arts movies…I like that they make me keep my breath
Bodyguards and Assassins looks pretty good to me. Have not seen Cung Le in a movie. Will give Black Dynamite a miss. Cannot get my head around martial arts and comedy together.
Black Dynamite is a brilliant parody of classic blaxploitation kung fu movies: Black Belt Jones, Dolemite, Velvet Smooth, etc.
Nice overview of Martial Arts movies in 2010. Any updates on 2011, 2012 and 2013 movies?