Now that Miao Xie is hot (see The Furious) I must update this.
Fight Against Evil 1
I was doing some research into Miao Xie for last week’s screener (which I’m very excited about). Xie heads two franchises - Eye for an Eye and these Fight Against Evil flicks, of which there are two or three - there’s definitely a sequel which I’ll watch soon.
Xie was the kid who starred alongside Jet Li in My Father is a Hero and The New Legend of Shaolin, both films I remember fairly well and recently revisited. He was also in The Thousand Faces of Dunjia.
In Fight Against Evil, he plays Li Hongji, a ‘little policeman’ who is, of course, a totally kick ass fighter. In the opening scene, he stands solo between to gangs and kicks everyone’s ass. Then he’s sent on leave, where, of course, he gets involved with another gang extorting the community. More ultravi ensues.
The fight choreo is simple - mostly one shot/one action, but it’s brutal hardcore stuff. There’s a great fight inside a cramped empty bus, and another against a brain damaged hulk of a gangster brother that’s exceptional. It’s good stuff. Xie can move, a former child wushu champ IRL who has honed his fight choreo skills over the years - he can sell a punch. Loved the action.
Also love the modern PRC vibe, the squalor, the vibe, a lot of eating scenes, and drinking of baijiu, which reminded me of a wulin banquet I was at a few weeks ago .