"I will destroy you - and look like a fucking stud in my leather jacket."
Why am I only now discovering Donnie Yen? (This is the reason.) If I had watched his movies when I was younger (though maybe not The Holy Virgin vs the Evil Dead), and if the ignorant kiddies hadn't pulled their puerile Karate Kid shit on me, maybe I would be on my way to being as kick ass as Donnie I-will-crush-you-and-sprinkle-you-on-my-cornflakes Yen. Alas, I opted for another Donnie, the Wahlberg variety, or rather his New Kids crew. There's no excuse really, but hey, they said they were hangin' tough.
Donnie Yen, meanwhile, has earned his hardened credentials by mostly avoiding movies featuring EEG's galaxy of stars, Twins Effect II and Dragon Tiger Gate being hiccups. This probably explains why I haven't seen many of his films, which fail to achieve the high standards of moronic fluff to which I regularly subject myself. Mr. Yen just doesn't seem to hang with the My Wife is 18 and Dummy Mommy without a Baby crowd. Instead, he makes movies about hurting people. I added another to my collection tonight - SPL (殺破狼) - and may review it at some point, like when it's not 4a. But for now, one of the better fight scenes I've seen in awhile - a fierce, stripped down battle between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing. As a so-called skater, I feel there is something deeply seductive about artful, deft, and polished choreography, whether on the ice with blades at your feet or in some HK alleyway with blades in your hands.....Or maybe my admiration has something to do with the fact that Donnie Yen is smoking in black.
