Batman: Soul of the Dragon

Happy Batman Day. The original Batman Day was celebrated on July 23^rd, to commemorate his Detective Comics debut, but it was subsequently moved to September, for marketing reasons. There have been many Batmans—Adam Westverse, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, etc., so maybe there can be multiple Batman Days too. This Batman Day, fans can celebrate with the 1970’s martial arts Batman, who fights evil with a Richard Dragon who now looks amazingly like Bruce Lee, in Sam Liu’s Batman: Soul of the Dragon.

Before he became the Caped Crusader, Bruce Wayne trained under the mystical O’Sensei in his hidden Himalayan sanctuary. He studied with five other disciples, Dragon, Ben Turner (a.k.a. Bronze Tiger), Lady Shiva, Jade Nguyen, and Rip Jagger (a.k.a. Judomaster). (If you are wondering, DC’s Karate Kid, who predated the 1980s movies, exists in a far-future timeline.)

Obviously, when Wayne returned, he donned the Batman costume to instill fear in criminals’ hearts, while Dragon became a globe-trotting secret agent. Some of their fellow disciples made disappointing choices, like Lady Shiva, who now controls the Gotham Chinatown crime syndicate. However, she still guards their old master’s sword, which also serves as a key to unlock the portal to the dimension of Naga, the apocalyptic snake god.

Ominously, the leader of the Kobra cult wants to do exactly that, so Batman, Dragon, Lady Shiva, and Turner must band together again to stop them. Although he is the last to join them, Turner is most familiar with Kobra, having targeted their criminal operations for years.

Soul of the Dragon lovingly recreates the look and vibe of vintage 1970s martial arts films, first and foremost, by deliberately designing Dragon and Turner to resemble Bruce Lee and his Enter the Dragon co-star, Jim Kelly. While not slavishly imitative, composer Joachim Horsley’s soundtrack also clearly evokes the vibe of Lalo Schifrin’s classic theme as well.

For further authenticity, genre fans will happily recognize experienced on-screen martial artists Mark Dacascos, Michael Jai White, and Kelly Hu (Sammo Hung’s Martial Law) supplying the voices of Dragon, Turner, and Lady Shiva. (You can hear White’s enthusiasm for the subject matter and the films that inspired Jeremy Adams’ screenplay in all his scenes. He was also familiar with the character, having played him on a recurring basis on CW’s Arrow.) Just as fittingly, James Hong (Rush Hour, Kung Fu Panda) adds the appropriate sage crustiness as O’Sensei.

Go Back to China (But Not Now)

Actually, this wouldn’t be such a great week for Sasha Li’s titular travel plans. However, her father’s toy factory would probably be reopened in accordance with Xi “Winnie the Flu” Jinping’s orders—public safety be damned, for the sake of his economic goals. It is during a much less contagious time, not so long ago in Shenzhen that Li reluctantly journeys to the Chinese home she hardly knows in Emily Ting’s Go Back to China, which opens tomorrow in New York.

The entitled Li has been blowing through her trust fund while waiting to magically land her perfect job in the fashion industry, despite her lack of work experience, until her wealthy father Teddy abruptly cuts her off. She has lived in America since her parents’ divorce, but now he wants her to come work in his tacky toy family and become part of his Chinese family. That involves getting to know her half-sisters: Carol who came before her and young Dior, who was the product of his third failed marriage (along with her brother, Christian).

Actually, Li rather likes getting to know her step-siblings better. She also gets used to doing the work thing. She even makes the best of provincial Shenzhen. It is her father’s arrogance and refusal to accept parental responsibility that keep fueling her resentment. However, she is not alone on that score.

Surprisingly, Ting presents a rather likable story of culture clash and family dysfunction that never peddles cheap “China is awesome” propaganda. She clearly critiques China’s vast economic disparities and the ostentatious consumption of its oligarchic class. In fact, it even shows signs the mighty Chinese economy is slowing down, pre-Coronavirus era.

Maximum Impact: The FSB and the Secret Service, Working Together

You would think the U.S. Secret Service would more likely deal with the Russian Federal Protective Service (FSO) than the FSB, the cosmetically revamped successor to the KGB, if it were tasked with protecting a top secret summit in Moscow. However, the FSB needs more good press, so Russian D-minus-list action star Alexander Nevsky duly plays a FSB agent in his latest outing. This time, he gets to partner up with Kelly Hu, but she can’t redeem Andrzej Bartkowiak’s Maximum Impact (trailer here), which opens today in select theaters.

Maxim Kadurin is built like a tank, but he is actually a FSB computer jockey supporting the deceptively small of stature Andrei Durov, a.k.a. “The Hammer from Hell.” However, a concussion forces the agents to swap roles right before the arrival of the American Secretary of State for a double-secret gab session with his counterpart. However, Sec. Jacobs’ granddaughter Brittany manages to stowaway on the State Department plane, so she can rendezvous with her internet flirtation, a Russian boy band idol.

When Kadurin foils an assassination attempt, the shticky pack of fedora wearing villains fall back on an improvised plan B: kidnapping the granddaughter. Since the two airheaded kids are weirdly competent at avoiding detection, it leads to much certainty regarding her status and safety. Fearing the worst, Kadurin and Secret Service Agent Kate Desmond to find and secure the wayward granddaughter before their bosses know she is missing.

Nevsky might be well-connected in Russia (he also represents the country in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), but his films just are not catching on anywhere else. To be fair, Showdown in Manila is not terrible, but Black Rose was just a lifeless mess. He is not totally unlikable on-screen, but comedy is clearly a challenge for him. That is a real problem, because the jokes and gags are much higher in Impact’s mix than it was for his prior films.

Kelly Hu gets to do a lot of kick-boxing to the extent of almost eclipsing Nevsky as the film’s primary action lead. On the other hand, she has to suffer the indignity of a bleach blond bowl-cut disguise. However, that is nothing compared to humiliating shtick forced on Mark Dacascos, playing Tony Lin, a former Z-list TV star now fronting the gang of mercenaries. However, there is plenty of additional embarrassment to go around, including Tom Arnold playing a senior Secret Service agent obsessed with his prostate and Bai Ling as Scanlon, the over-sexed Under-Secretary for Security. Only Eric Roberts seems to glide through unfazed as Sec. Jacobs.

Take it from someone who appreciates a scrappy B-movie: this is just a bad film. It is more like an employment project for Nevsky’s contacts than something anyone should actually watch. As a cinematographer, Bartkowiak shot classics like The Verdict and Prizzi’s Honor, but his work as a director has been less auspicious. Yet, in this case, most of the creative decisions were most likely out of his control. Not recommended, Maximum Impact opens somewhere today (9/28) and hits VOD next Tuesday (10/2).