Review | Netflix movie review: Fistful of Vengeance – Wu Assassins spin-off reunites Iko Uwais, Lewis Tan for another martial arts feast
- This tale of a crime-fighting gang looking for justice in Bangkok, starring The Raid’s Iko Uwais and Lewis Tan, is let down by confusing and convoluted dialogue
- The action scenes, however, more than make up for it, with director Roel Reiné doing double duty as cameraman and making sure the film lands a punch or two
2.5/5 stars
Picking up sometime after the end of the show’s first season, Fistful of Vengeance sees the team head to Thailand looking for justice, after Tommy’s sister is murdered. Kao is joined by returning stars Lewis Tan, Juju Chan Szeto and Iko Uwais, as the titular wu assassin, imbued with the power of 1,000 monks and the last in a long line of chosen protectors.
On arrival in Bangkok, Kai (Uwais), Lu Xin (Tan) and Tommy are approached by the mysterious Dr Pan (Jason Tobin), who sends them after his spiritual twin sister, Ku (Rhatha Phongam).
Along for the ride come Pearl Thusi’s Interpol agent, who has a romantic history with Lu Xin, and Tommy’s local contact, Preeya (Francesca Corney).
Even this simple premise becomes unnecessarily convoluted in a script from regular writing team Cameron Litvack, Jessica Chou and Yalun Tu that’, bogged down with mystical exposition about amulets, deities, and ancient world-ending prophecies that its cast struggles to articulate effectively.
When they are permitted to shut up and get down to beating the life out of each other, Fist of Vengeance picks up considerably.
Reiné, whose past directing credits include sequels to both Hard Target and The Man with the Iron Fists, serves as his own cameraman, something from which the end product certainly benefits. It brings a fluency and coherence to the film’s numerous action sequences that the dialogue simply cannot match.
