Mismatched Couples (1985)

Mismatched Couples (1985)- * * * *

Directed by: Yuen Woo-Ping

Starring: Donnie Yen, May Lo Mei-Mei, Yuen Woo-Ping, Anna Kamiyama, Kenny Perez, and Dick Wei











Eddie (Yen) is a happy-go-lucky guy who loves breakdancing and Martial Arts. He lives with his stern sister Ah Ying (Wong) and the cute Stella (Mei-Mei). He has a geeky friend named Mini (Woo-Ping), whose clumsiness and awkwardness is always getting him into some kind of wacky trouble. 

Seeing as Eddie loves the beautiful Anna (Anna Kamiyama, in her only film role), Mini loves Ah Ying, and Stella loves Eddie, many mishaps ensue in their respective quests to win their desired mate. Meanwhile, Eddie faces challenges in his two hobbies: Kenny (Perez) wants to beat him on the dance floor (and the tennis court), while the batty and maniacal Fight Champion (Wei) wants to fight Eddie in the ring. How will Eddie and  Mini navigate all this? Will everyone end up with who they want to end up with? Find out today!

It’s kind of hard to put into words just how awesome Mismatched Couples is. It’s loaded to the bursting point with upbeat, high-energy, colorful, happy, funny scenes that work overtime to try and please the audience. 

On top of that are highly impressive physical feats relating to the dance scenes as well as the Martial Arts scenes. Director (and co-star, as the bespectacled Mini) Yuen Woo-Ping, gets the most out of every scene, which, one after another, are just delightful escapades that are just wildly enjoyable. It’s easy to see why he’s well-known now. His skills are evident even in this early outing. The same goes for Donnie Yen, who is at his absolute best here.

We’re always championing Martial Arts movies as well as 80’s dance movies, and, amazingly, we found a movie that combines the two! In other words, this very well could be the perfect Comeuppance Reviews movie. The music alone is very entertaining (as are the sound effects). Add that to everything else, and you have a super-winner. 

In America, in the 80’s, we had comedies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), among the steady stream of  other John Hughes movies, among many other examples. Now cross that with Breakin' (1984) and Breakin' 2 (1984), and Mismatched Couples is in some sort of context. 'Couples should be ingrained in the minds of everyone as a solid, mesmerizingly 80’s comedy, and the only reason it’s not is simply because it comes from Hong Kong. It absolutely deserves to be in the firmament with all the others, as it preserves a very sweet moment in time, with no apologies.

There’s so much more we could say about this movie, but we want to keep things to a “Mini”-mum (heh heh) because we want you to discover the charm of Mismatched Couples for yourself.  We loved it and we know you will too. It gets our highest and most enthusiastic recommendation...just see it!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Kill Zone (2005)

Kill Zone (2005)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Wilson Yip

Starring: Donnie Yen, Jacky Wu, and Sammo Hung













Wong Po (Hung) is a big man, both literally and figuratively. He’s possibly the most ruthless and evil crime lord in Hong Kong, and he has a vast network of contacts, so he’s always been able to evade the law. But Chung (Yam) is a cop who is close to retirement, and as his final wish as a member of the police force, he wants to bring down Wong Po. So he assembles a team of top-notch cops to do the job. However, they step over the line just a tad, which sets in motion a deadly and irreversible series of events. Who will enter the Kill Zone?

Out of the THREE movies called Kill Zone now on this site (the others being the David Carradine and Fritz Matthews vehicles), this one is truly the best. Wilson Yip’s Kill Zone is shot beautifully, has style to spare, and features some exhilarating fight sequences. But the icing on the cake is that the movie easily could have worked without the fight scenes. It completely could have worked on its own as a straight drama. That really is the acid test for action movies: will they work as dramas in their own right? In this case, the answer is yes, and more movies should do this. In other words, the filmmakers made a good movie, then made the fight scenes. The result is fast-paced entertainment you can’t resist.

Plus Donnie Yen is cooler than cool. We’re huge fans, and his fight scenes with Sammo Hung and Jacky Wu are astounding. Yen worked as fight choreographer, and he outdid himself, with fights with “the old guy” and “the young guy”, with himself caught in the middle. We’re also big Sammo fans, and this is a great role for him. It would have been seemingly easy to forget about him or laugh him off at this point in his career, but it was a stroke of genius to make him the tough, brutal, older gangster. Like a Chinese version of Clint Eastwood, Sammo seems to get better and tougher with age.

Kill Zone is always interesting and always keeps your attention. It’s filled with rewindable moments, which are the sign of something special. Dragon Dynasty DVD’s are symbols of quality, and this one looks great and is packed with extras. Definitely check out Kill Zone, it’s a solid winner.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Tiger Cage 2 (1990)

Tiger Cage 2 (1990)- * * *

Directed by: Yuen Woo-Ping

Starring: Donnie Yen, Robin Shou, Rosamund Kwan, Michael Woods, John Salvitti, and Cynthia Khan












Alan Yau (Yen) is an ex-cop on the edge. After being kicked off the force for his rogue ways, his wife files for divorce. This would help explain why he’s on the edge. Leaving the law office after being served with divorce papers, he gets swept up in a violent robbery. During this encounter, he saves the life of lawyer Mary Chang (Kwan). (NOTE: these are the names of the two leads in the dubbed version that we saw. In other versions, presumably any subtitled ones, their names are Dragon and Mandy, not Alan and Mary.) 

Now on the run from amoral and unscrupulous gangsters, they go through many mishaps and misadventures, not to mention relationship woes. It turns out there’s a complex money laundering scheme at play and a lot of money is missing. But Inspector Yeung (Khan) suspects Alan and Mary are involved, even though they’re innocent. Meanwhile, the super-evil “Mr. Big”-type gangster boss Wilson Chow (or Waise Chow, depending on your international version), (Shou) wants the heads of Alan and Mary as well. So now they’ll have to fight - and fight and fight - to prove their innocence. Can they do it?

Tiger Cage 2 is pretty much an in-name-only sequel to the first film. Donnie Yen returns this time around, but as a different character. There’s good news and bad news here: the bad news is that plotwise, this is a silly comedy. The plot and characters are not as good as the first film, and since they’ve upped the comedic elements, there are silly sound effects such as overly-exaggerated “eating” noises such as crunching and soup-slurping. Plus the dubbing, should you see the dubbed version like we unfortunately did, is very silly, especially the guy who dubs Donnie Yen. And, Rosamund Kwan plays the stereotypical “complaining woman” that fights and whines all the way through her adventure. So those are the negatives.

The GOOD news is that the fight choreography is amazing. Perhaps even better than the first film. And that, after all, is the main reason anyone would watch Tiger Cage 2. There are non-stop, expertly executed fight scenes, and most memorably, there is a rockin’ sword duel between Donnie and John Salvitti. Salvitti is a real-life friend of Donnie’s, and he’s appeared in such classics as Private Wars (1993) and Shootfighter II (1996). Michael Woods, who played a heavy in the first Tiger Cage movie, here returns as “Black Henchman”. In fairness, Salvitti was “Caucasian Henchman.” fan favorites Robin Shou and the great Cynthia Khan also get in on all the high-kicking, bone-breaking action, making Tiger Cage 2 a must-see for HK action junkies.

Plus there are some great cliches at work, such as the climax in the abandoned steam factory, and the Prerequisite Torture of the hero. Granted, this time the torture is a bit more unorthodox, as Donnie Yen is tied to a stationary exercise bike’s wheel and Rosamund Kwan is forced to pedal into his chest! Talk about feeling the burn! Hey-o! There’s also the standard scene at the disco which we always like seeing. Speaking of which, the music in this movie is very enjoyable and keeps things buoyant.

The strength of this movie, and Yuen Woo-Ping, are fight scenes. So concentrate on what this movie really is good at, and you will truly appreciate what Tiger Cage 2 has to offer.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, A Hero Never Dies!

Tiger Cage (1988)

Tiger Cage (1988)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Woo Ping-Yuen

Starring: Jacky Cheung, Simon Yam, Carol Cheng, and Donnie Yen













Hong Kong detectives Fan (Cheung), Shirley (Cheng), and Terry (Yen), among others, are a select band of cops set up to be a hard-hitting narcotics squad. As they take down the drug-dealing baddies, they realize there is a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. It even involves police corruption at the highest levels. When it’s discovered that there is a tape that shows some of the illegal doings, all hell breaks loose as the forces of evil vie for the tape, while the good cops must protect it  - at any cost.

We absolutely loved Tiger Cage. If you love those classic Hong Kong police actioners from the golden age of the 80’s/early 90’s, this one is a killer. It’s fast paced, colorful, exciting, and has plenty of bone-breaking action. There’s tons of shooting in a gritty urban environment, but also some top notch Martial Arts battles as well. Donnie Yen’s big fight scene naturally stands out. Speaking of Yen, Tiger Cage is kind of like Flashpoint (2007) before Flashpoint. The stunt work is awesome, as many characters take a lot of punishment and keep on coming. The whole movie has that dynamism and infectious energy that makes these Hong Kong productions so addictive. 

This kind of violent, no-holds-barred style is like manna from heaven for action fans and makes productions from regions other than Hong Kong seem slow and dull by comparison.

It’s not just a mindless shoot-em-up, however. Interwoven are the timeless themes of honor, betrayal and loyalty. This emotional approach gives the film (as well as other HK productions) its unique flavor and gives the violent doings a reason to exist. There are characters you really, really root for, as well as some super-evil bad guys. You never lose interest in what you see on the screen. Adding yet another layer of greatness is the fact that VCRs play a pretty important role in the movie. So it gets in that 80’s flavor as well.

If you can see this on Netflix Streaming, do, because it’s a top-notch stream in widescreen with subtitles. But any way you see Tiger Cage, it truly delivers the goods.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up by our buddy, A Hero Never Dies!