Black Storm (2024) IQiyi Qin Pengfei - Ashton Chen, Bao Bei Er

[laagi]

Hit and miss is the usual tagline for these chinese streaming flicks. This looks super violent and looking at the brief snippets of action seems to barrow heavily from it's big budget counterparts. Might be worth checking out

Edit: Qin Pengfei is also the director of the 'Fight Against Evil' duo-logy and this is interesting; he also directed the action in 'Eye for an Eye'. All starring Xie Miao!

 

Edited August 22 by laagi

[laagi]

I'll be damned! This looks great to be honest 

Knowing you're a fan of the director's previous work @Drunken Monk thoughts on this?

Edited August 22 by laagi

[Drunken Monk]

4 hours ago, laagi said:

I'll be damned! This looks great to be honest 

Knowing you're a fan of the director's previous work @Drunken Monk thoughts on this?

 

I haven't watched it yet but after watching this clip, I certainly intend to!!

[laagi]

Overall a rather positive surprise! Especially when it comes to the action. Director Qin Pengfei certainly seems to know what he's doing.

I'd go as far as saying 'Black Storm' is paying homage to classic HK action and especially Donnie Yen's style of fighting. 'Special ID' for some reason came to mind.

Appreciated that they used different locations, property damage, one vs one, two vs one, weapons etc. Kept the action for the most part exciting!

Unfortunately the story and most characters aren't all that interesting. It's here where the movie can drag quite a bit. It's not bad but also not too good. Adding various twists, side-plots and supporting characters just seems unnecessary.

Especially when none of it adds any real value whatsoever and rather distracts from the main plot. Also the villain (Bao Bei Er*) is pretty weak, despite him trying to be over-the-top violent and crazy. In regards to the violence it's pretty brutal at times which came as a bit of a surprise.

I did like our leading man (Ashton Chen), he has enough charisma and obviously the skills for the role. Also the henchman played by Liu Feng Chao was one of the noteworthy characters. Thankfully these two have one of the better fight scenes of the movie!

Overall the story could've done with a tighter script. But I won't deny that for the most part the action delivers! There's even a tease for a potential sequel at the end. All things considered count me in!

I'm curious to see what director Qing Pengfei will do next! He's certainly got the eye for action that's for sure. Recommended.

 

* a frequent collaborator of director Qin Pengfei for some reason

[Yihetuan]

Caught this tonight and yeah, it was quite entertaining. It definitely had a throwback feel to it. I think @laagi pretty much covered the "pros" & "cons" -- the pros definitely outweighed the cons for me. yes, it is a surprisingly dark and violent pic and some of the brutality bordered on horror - especially the aforementioned henchman/enforcer who uses a very particular tool to dispatch his victims. You'll see plenty of the red stuff flowing & up close shots of mangled bodies and bloodied faces that's for sure. There were a couple of nice set pieces including one in an elevator which was a highlight for me as was the one way mirror scene where Ashton Chen is looking at his reflection while there is a disturbing scene occurring on the other side of the glass. Overall, this film also gets my recommendation.

[Super Ninja]

Black Storm has well over 1 million views on YT, so hopefully this and the recent success of other web actioners means the future of MA action on Chinese streaming platforms is secured. This is not the version you want to watch though, it has blurred scenes (might be to hide the bloody violence) and irritating loud music in 2 or 3 places, perhaps to throw off those who thought of downloading it?

Ashton Chen is as charismatic as Xie Miao, a protector of justice making his homeland proud of its police forces. I enjoyed this movie as well as the action, and for me, it's up there with the best the web action has to offer: Fierce Cop, Fight Against Evil 1&2, Eye for an Eye 1&2, and Fearless Kung Fu King. Hopefully, Qin Peng-fei will continue delivering these dark, violent, brutal crime actioners, even if recycling the winning formula. Again, there's a hero policeman who's a saint in uniform fighting organized crime, a group of baddies up to their necks in illegal activities thinking they're above the law or can buy anything with money, and great martial arts action, often in confined spaces - this time it's the great 2-on-1 in the elevator. Former Hebei wushu champion Liu Feng-chao, who fought Xie Miao in the public restroom in FAE2,  is back as Tie Jun, a vicious killer with a meat hook, who fights Ashton Chen twice. Qin Peng-fei is the one to follow on the web scene, much like Yang Bing-jia.

Edited Saturday at 10:42 AM by Super Ninja