It’s as if director Ben Ramsey wants only to portray White (the titular Bone, no last name, no discernible backstory) as a quasi-spiritual Hand of God, commissioned by untold powers to strike down all who do us dirty with magnificent fury and efficiency. We begin with the silhouette of Michael Jai White, an impressive specimen of man, and we end on the same silhouette, though this time festooned with a quote from Genghis Khan: “I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” In between, White defines that silhouette, hardly going a scene without absolutely pummeling one brute after another, rarely if ever showing any sign that he possesses such human attributes as weakness or doubt or moral compromise or even the urge to dull his martial prowess with vice (sex, drugs, technology, food, water). Stars: Michael Jai White, Julian Sands, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco, Nona Gaye, Shannon Kane The realness Tran weaves into his story is welcome, but the smart filmmaking is what makes The Paper Tigers a delight from start to finish.- Andy Crump We need more movies like The Paper Tigers, movies that understand the joy of a well-orchestrated fight (and for that matter how to orchestrate a fight well), that celebrate the “art” in “martial arts” and that know how to make a bum knee into a killer running gag. Amazing how showing the actor’s reactions to taking a fist to the face suddenly gives the action feeling and gravity, which in turn give the movie meaning to buttress its crowd-pleasing qualities. Tran’s use of close-up cuts in his fight scenes helps give every punch and kick real impact. But Tran balances the meat of the genre (fight scenes) with potatoes (drama) plus a healthy dollop of spice (comedy), to similar effect as Stephen Chow in his own kung fu pastiches, a la Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, the latter being The Paper Tigers’ spiritual kin. It’s about good old fashioned ass-whooping too, because a martial arts movie without ass-whoopings isn’t much of a movie at all. That’s The Paper Tigers in short, a martial arts film from Bao Tran about the distance put between three men and their past glories by the rigors of their 40s. So you grab your fellow disciples, put on your knee brace, pack a jar of IcyHot and a few Ibuprofen, and you put your nose to the ground looking for clues and for the culprit, even as your soft, sapped muscles cry out for a breather. Your teacher’s suspicious passing can’t go unanswered. It doesn’t matter if you’re a young man or if you’re firmly living that middle-aged life. When you’re a martial artist and your master dies under mysterious circumstances, you avenge their death. Stars: Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Roger Yuan, Matthew Page, Jae Suh Park, Joziah Lagonoy
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