There is a particular kind of person I desperately want to watch a great martial arts movie with. Somebody who thinks the fighting is just there to interrupt the story. I want them to see two men spend an entire duel deciding whether they can bring themselves to kill each other. I want them to notice a fighter’s expression when he realizes his opponent is considerably better than he expected.
And I especially want them to understand why a perfectly executed kick means absolutely nothing unless the filmmakers have given us a reason to care where it lands. I will happily watch an outrageous action sequence ten times, but usually for something different each time. The first viewing belongs to the excitement. The second reveals the choreography. Eventually, you start noticing the acting happening inside the violence. Here are the 7 finest martial arts movies released since 2010.
7
‘Kill’ (2023)
Kill begins with a situation that practically begs for conventional action-movie heroics. Then it starts asking what happens when a perfectly trained soldier discovers there are limits to how much violence he can control. Indian Army commando Amrit (Lakshya) boards a train to New Delhi with his fellow soldier Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan), hoping to reunite with Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), the woman he loves, after her family arranges her engagement to another man. Their plans collapse when an enormous gang of armed thieves begins robbing passengers.
Unfortunately for everybody involved, one of those thieves is Fani (Raghav Juyal), an impulsive psychopath who turns what should have been a quick robbery into an increasingly personal confrontation. The film’s extraordinary achievement is its escalation. Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, who wrote and directed it, initially allows Amrit to behave like a disciplined professional attempting to contain the danger. Then a devastating personal loss completely changes the nature of the fighting. The delayed appearance of the title suddenly feels like a threat. Lakshya becomes almost frightening to watch as Amrit tears through the compartments, using the train’s cramped dimensions and practically anything within reach to overwhelm the attackers. When I recommend Kill, I usually warn people that the first half has given them absolutely no preparation for the second.
6
‘Ip Man 2’ (2010)
Ip Man (Donnie Yen) has relocated to Hong Kong with his family and hopes to establish a Wing Chun school, but the city’s established martial arts masters are hardly delighted to discover another teacher competing for students. Ip Man 2 initially concentrates on his rivalry with Hung Chun-nam (Sammo Hung), a powerful local master who demands that Ip demonstrate his abilities before earning the right to teach. Their confrontation on a circular table is tremendous fun. The fighting becomes an argument conducted through footwork, precision, and balance, with two immensely capable men discovering exactly how difficult the other is to intimidate.
I have enormous affection for what happens to that rivalry. Hung initially seems like another obstacle, but gradually reveals himself as a proud man carrying considerable responsibilities. When the arrogant British boxer Twister (Darren Shahlavi) humiliates the Chinese martial arts community, Hung accepts his challenge despite his age and declining health. His refusal to surrender, even as his asthma threatens him, transforms everything that follows. Yen has this confrontation with Twister that has an emotional weight of a fight undertaken on somebody else’s behalf. Watch Ip’s strategy change when his opponent’s physical advantages become obvious. Wing Chun’s characteristic efficiency suddenly has an entirely different dramatic purpose. And despite everything that has happened, Ip’s concluding words concern mutual respect rather than racial superiority. Precisely the kind of dignity you want this character to possess.
5
‘The Villainess’ (2017)
Somebody is tearing through a building full of armed criminals, and we are watching almost everything through that person’s eyes in this film. Guns appear, ammunition disappears, blades replace firearms, and the violence keeps advancing through rooms that offer practically no opportunity to recover. Then the perspective changes, revealing Sook-hee (Kim Ok-vin), the extraordinary fighter responsible for the carnage. The Villainess subsequently follows her recruitment into a South Korean intelligence agency, where she receives a new identity and the possibility of an ordinary life with her young daughter.
Naturally, the people controlling that opportunity have their own plans, while Sook-hee’s past remains considerably more complicated than she understands. That outrageous opening announces director Jung Byung-gil‘s willingness to treat the camera as another stunt performer. But I would actually show somebody the motorcycle chase to demonstrate how inventive this film becomes. Sook-hee and her attackers engage in sword combat while racing along the road, with the camera swinging around the moving motorcycles in ways that seem to defy reasonable expectations of filmmaking. The action has this thrilling disregard for conventional shooting positions. Amazing film.
4
‘The Night Comes for Us’ (2018)
I genuinely believe Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais were put on this planet to fight each other in movies. Their confrontation in The Night Comes for Us is particularly satisfying because the characters actually have a history worth fighting over. Taslim plays Ito, a ruthless Triad enforcer who betrays his organization after refusing to participate in the murder of a young girl named Reina. Protecting her brings him back into contact with former associates, including Arian (Uwais), an old friend whose ambitions now place him on the opposite side of the conflict. Arian has an opportunity to advance within the criminal organization. Unfortunately, seizing it involves killing somebody he once cared about.
There is an absolutely demented fight inside a butcher’s shop, but the confrontation I insist everybody experience involves the mysterious Operator (Julie Estelle) battling two assassins, Elena and Alma. The performers are astonishing, and the choreography keeps changing its physical vocabulary as different weapons and fighting styles enter the encounter. Director Timo Tjahjanto approaches these sequences with an appetite for extraordinarily graphic violence, although the climactic confrontation between Ito and Arian ultimately requires something more interesting than another spectacular death. Their bodies are practically destroyed by the time the fight concludes.
3
‘Rurouni Kenshin: The Final’ (2021)
Himura Kenshin (Takeru Satoh) was once a feared political assassin responsible for countless deaths. He now carries a reverse-blade sword and has sworn never to kill again, although his considerable skill continues attracting enemies. Rurouni Kenshin: The Final brings Yukishiro Enishi (Mackenyu) into his life, a man determined to avenge the death of his sister Tomoe (Kasumi Arimura), whom Kenshin once loved.
Enishi orchestrates devastating attacks across Tokyo and threatens the people closest to Kenshin, forcing the former assassin to confront consequences that his years of peaceful living cannot erase. Please watch how differently Satoh and Mackenyu move. Kenshin’s fighting is extraordinarily precise, with his movements frequently directed toward disabling opponents while respecting his commitment to preserve life. Enishi seems to attack from a place of uncontrollable resentment, making their confrontations feel personal even before the swords connect. Keishi Ōtomo (The Vulture) helmed the film.
2
‘The Raid’ (2011)
A twenty-man Indonesian police unit enters a Jakarta apartment building intending to capture notorious crime lord Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy). The building is effectively a fortress populated by criminals, with surveillance cameras monitoring movement throughout its floors. After the officers’ presence is discovered, Tama announces that anyone who kills them will receive a reward. Their escape routes disappear, their numbers rapidly diminish, and rookie officer Rama (Iko Uwais) discovers that surviving the mission will require considerably more than following orders. That is the wonderfully merciless premise of The Raid, a film that somehow makes climbing a staircase feel like entering increasingly hostile territory.
The first time I watched Rama confront the machete-wielding attackers, I practically forgot there was supposed to be a larger story. But revisiting the film makes me appreciate how carefully director Gareth Evans establishes the geography of every confrontation. A corridor becomes a disadvantage. A doorway provides a temporary escape. An apartment that appears empty might offer protection or conceal another attacker. Then Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) enters the picture, a man who seems genuinely offended by the suggestion that somebody might prefer using a gun. His confrontation with Sergeant Jaka (Joe Taslim) is extraordinary, and the later fight against Rama and his brother Andi (Doni Alamsyah) is an astonishing demonstration of what happens when three performers commit completely to the physical demands of a scene. Every blow seems increasingly difficult to deliver.
1
‘The Raid 2’ (2014)
Rama survives the original film’s disastrous police operation only to discover that exposing the corruption behind it requires another assignment. He must enter prison, establish a relationship with Uco (Arifin Putra), the ambitious son of a powerful crime boss, and infiltrate the organization responsible for protecting some of Jakarta’s most dangerous criminals. The Raid 2 expands the original premise into an elaborate undercover crime thriller where competing syndicates, family rivalries, political corruption, and personal ambition gradually propel the city toward open warfare.
All Rama wants is to protect his family and complete the assignment. Unfortunately, everybody around him has considerably more elaborate ambitions. I remember thinking the prison riot was surely going to be the movie’s defining action sequence. The mud, the rain, the sheer number of combatants struggling for traction while attempting to survive an increasingly desperate confrontation. Then the film introduces Hammer Girl (Julie Estelle), Baseball Bat Man (Very Tri Yulisman), and a spectacular automobile chase that somehow accommodates intricate close-quarters combat inside moving vehicles. Gareth Evans returned as director and approached this sequel with a seemingly endless collection of ideas. After all the political betrayals, spectacular chases, and increasingly elaborate confrontations, two extraordinarily skilled men are left fighting in a kitchen with almost nothing separating victory from death. I have watched that fight an unreasonable number of times, and I still find new details to admire.
The Raid 2
- Release Date
-
March 28, 2014
- Runtime
-
150 minutes
- Director
-
Gareth Evans
- Writers
-
Gareth Evans
Leave a Reply