Lady Bloodfight is a movie with a heart on its right place. But it is too hard to take it seriously in this day and age. Let me tell you why.
First of all, I had no problem with the story. I liked the training sequences. I liked to actresses playing in it, and this all taking place in Hong Kong, was nice to see. There were some references to movies such as Bloodsport and Kickboxer, and it brought me back to the times in which martial arts movies just needed to be bloody and people kicking each others asses. Later in the movie there are some (unnecessary) plot twists, but you can predict from the start where everything is heading to. I was surprised to see that in the end of the movie, they didn't show a scene of "everybody is kung fu fighting" in it, yes the movie is that predictable. Often goofy. There were many times I was laughing my ass of during scenes which were meant to be " touching" ?
But here (the movie being predictable) also lies a major problem: all the fight scenes in the movie, were merely ranging from "meh" to utterly bad. With movies such as the Raid and Undisputed series, it is nearly impossible to come up with standard fare anymore (especially if you realize that the movie was produced by Hong Kong movie legend Bey Logan and Kiss of the Dragon Director Chris Nahon). While a Hong Kong veteran stunt team was in charge of the fight choreography, the fighting was for most part fairly bland. Which is really a pity, as I see that many actresses in this movie do have the moves and talents. I really wonder why it didn't work out like this. Also, the uninspiring locations in the movie were a huge turn-off. Come freaking on, you are in Hong Kong but you let most of the movie take place in a container dock? This was really a missed opportunity. However, outside of the Kumite-sequences, there was some fairly nice cinematography – especially rural Hong Kong scenes.
We, Kickboxer and Bloodsport fans, don't have high standards. So you really need to mess up, if you want to make use unimpressed. While I did enjoy watching the movie to a lesser degree, the level of action, the sometimes goofy storyline, and uninspired cinematography left me yearning for watching a re-run of the JCVD classics.
Nice try though.
