Qing Guo makes a mediocre directorial debut in Crazy Fist from Well Go USA. After an opponent dies mid-match, a prominent MMA champion (Qing Quo) swore never to fight again. Instead, he retires so he can run his family’s international business. However, when his best friend dies under suspicious circumstances during another tournament, he has no choice but to step back into the ring to help uncover the truth.
I first want to point out that I am a huge fan of martial arts movies, so it always pains me when I have to give one a bad review. I do not even know where to begin with the atrocities in Crazy Fist. I will at least provide the film credit for a decent opening fight, where Qing Guo’s character takes on former bodybuilder Kai Greene. After their battle though, the film introduces us to a character portrayed by Steven Yoo.
Yoo is an undercover cop dabbling in cage fighting, who ends up fighting the best friend of Qing Quo’s character, possibly killing him and falling in love with the sister of Qing Quo’s character. Naturally, Qing Quo’s character comes out of retirement for a showdown with Steven Yoo’s character.
Usually, when I watch a martial arts film, I watch the subtitles as I can generally follow the plot. However, the script for Crazy Fist was all over the place that I ended up turned on the dubbing, which did not help matters. Director Qing Guo appears to try to combine elements from the Fast & Furious franchise with a martial arts movie, but he only creates a disjointed mess.
Outside of the opener, none of the fight sequences are impressive, which is shocking when you consider the supporting cast. The notable costars include Dragon Blade-alums Steve Yoo and Wang Wei, Collin Chou (Matrix II, III), Xiaoming Huang (Ip Man 2), and Wei Zhao (Mulan: Rise of a Warrior) are in the film but have a nothing to do in the movie.
Crazy Fist should have been a mindless Kung Fu action that I could recommend to my friends; instead, it just may earn a slot in my worst of 2021 list.
Final Grade D-
Crazy Fist is streaming on the Hiya network now. In addition the film is available on DVD and Blu Ray today
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