Crazy Uncle Rich’s Movie Nook Presents KUNG FU THEATER

When I was a teenager living in Connecticut, my favorite television was Kung Fu Theater.

It came on around noon on Sundays, and I would harass my parents about leaving church early enough that I could get home and watch. Yes, Crazy Uncle Rich watched TV before VCRs and DVRs.

Back in November, Big Mike Leeder (The Man from Hong Kong) wrote a series of articles about kung-fu movies that inspired The Man with the Iron Fist.

They, in turn, inspired me to watch a bunch of kung-fu movies (some from the RZA’s inspirations, and some from my Netflix recommendations).

Mixed results follow!

Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)

Less a kung-fu movie than an action movie layered over historic events, this is about Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his work to make China a democracy. I rented it because it stars the awesome Donnie Yen, but I was disappointed.

While it offers some interesting insight into how much the democracy movement meant in China in 1905, the characterizations are weak, the action isn’t fast or furious enough, and I know that it would all end in tears in a few decades, when the Communists took over.



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