Wu Assassins on Netflix: edgy martial arts show highlights Asian-American talent

Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the series pulls no punches with explosive action scenes
Supernatural elements, triads and a food truck chef make for an opaque, but entertaining, plot

Stephen McCarty

Published: 10:15am, 18 Aug 2019

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The spirit of Bruce Lee must possess more cinematic and televisual creations than that of any other actor. Of the current crop, Warrior, based on Lee’s own concept, is the most obvious of his spirit’s hang-outs. Quentin Tarantino, meanwhile, can be found channelling the master’s moves even when not casting an actor to play him.

With every flying fist, drop kick and one-inch punch, Wu Assassins , on Netflix, brings back thoughts of Lee – naturally, being set largely in San Francisco’s Chinatown. And no punches are pulled in the making of the action scenes, whether featuring Indonesian leading man Iko Uwais as the good guy; Hong Kong-American Byron Mann as Uncle Six, a triad boss and chief bad guy; Hong Kong-born Celia Au as Wu assassin Ying Ying, seemingly from another time; and JuJu Chan, ex-Hong Kong international taekwondo player as Uncle Six’s lethal-weapon bodyguard. Overseeing the commotion is Hong Kong director Stephen Fung Tak-lun – there’s a pattern emerging here.

More opaque is the plot. Uwais is chef Kai Jin, whose big ambition is to own a fast-food truck and whose concession to T-shirt humour is the legend: “Kung Foodie: Street Fusion”. But his career makes an unexpected lurch when Ying Ying drops by, as if in a dream, to tell him that he’s some sort of chosen one.

Handing him a glowing stone, she reveals he has assumed the power of 1,000 monks, who sacrificed themselves long ago to defeat a quintet of corrupt warlords. The infamous five “waged war against ancient China, leaving the land awash in blood” and now a new generation of evil incarnate is converging on San Francisco – although what exactly the city has done wrong isn’t immediately obvious. It’s up to Kai to vanquish the lot, so it’s just as well he’s also good at chucking knives.

What follows is a martial arts spectacular crossbred with a supernatural fantasy tale and garnished with a dollop of mob nastiness, embodied especially by Uncle Six. Superficially smiling and considerate, he is a sadistic executioner with otherworldly powers of his own – and turns out to be Kai’s stepfather.

“I’m not a killer, I’m a chef,” protests Kai in one of his goofier moments. “No, Kai – you are the Wu assassin,” Ying Ying assures him.

Will he choose the light or the dark side? Will he ever make sense of the barrage of personal agendas? Will he ever make another spring roll? There’s only one way to find out – all 10 episodes of series one are now streaming.

Apocalypse, now: season four of Preacher, on Amazon Prime Video

If you prefer your supernatural fantasy tales coated in giblets and reverberating to the screams of the damned, then Preacher is the spectacle for you.

The fourth and final season has landed on Amazon Prime Video and remains true to the show’s gospel of gristle and blood. But don’t allow that to put you off when there’s so much fun to be had dissecting organised religion.

Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) is a disgruntled, hard-drinking, small-town Texas preacher possessed by a demonic-angelic entity that gives him divine powers. Which come in handy when you’re tracking down the Creator to make him answer for his sins before the world can inconveniently end. Joining Jesse for his last stand are stalwarts Tulip, his murderous girlfriend; Cassidy, a vampire; religious figurehead Herr Starr; and hell escapee Adolf Hitler, who wants his old job back.

The absurd, surreal violence looks like it’s gone straight from the show’s graphic novel origins to the screen but there’s still room for jokes. Preacher could actually be a rabid Good Omens on mutant steroids. Apocalypse, now!

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