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Chop-socky movies, as martial arts films were affectionately called in the ‘70s, haven’t changed much since Bruce Lee Entered the Dragon. I know…that does sound vaguely pornographic—and, in a way, there’s something vaguely pornographic about Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s lackluster martial arts film, Flash Point (Dou Fo Sin).
By “pornographic,” I mean a perverse fascination with violently-imagined, drawn-out fight sequences and a slim reliance on a storyline that stimulates a certain excitement button. Not unlike a martial arts version of Debbie Does Dallas—except in Chinese. And although John Woo’s movies have far higher body counts and even more moments of gushing viscera, at least there’s still some intelligence in the way that Woo develops his characters and gives momentum to the narrative.
In Flash Point, Donnie Yen (who also directed the action sequences) plays rebellious and violent cop Ma Jun, who, along with his uncover partner, Wilson (Louis Koo), is trying to take down a gang of three violent brothers. When the mission goes awry and Wilson is injured, Ma Jun feels guilty—and even more rebellious and violent. When one of the brothers is arrested, the other two exact violent retribution in order to get their brother released. And when Wilson’s girlfriend is kidnapped by the mob, Ma Jun, in a sign of ultimate, rebellious friendship, attempts to help his friend get the girl back—with violence.
What ensues is a smack-down shootout that fills nearly 20 minutes of screen time. And even though some of the stunt choreography is kinetically filmed and impressively performed (in the final meat-smacking, bone-breaking fight, one can really feel the punches), none of it strikes a cord of originality. Jet Li and Jackie Chan have been chop-sockying their way through this type of spectacle with far more humor and panache for the last decade. With Flash Point, we care so little for the characters that we just want to see the aerodynamic footwork and mile-a-minute contact punches—and to hell with whoever comes out unbroken in the end.
A testament to the vacuous nature of this type of film, the DVD’s bonus materials center on the stunt work, in addition to giving a brief history of MMA (mixed marital arts), which has become hugely popular in the United States (this year’s Never Back Down and Redbelt both use this eclectic style of fighting). Some of the interview material is also repeated in a number of the different documentaries, which I always find irritating—because it’s like ten different editors worked on the material and never checked in with each other.
So while Flash Point may be bone-breaking, it’s by no means ground-breaking.
