Kung Fu Flid

Directed by: Xavier Leret

Starring: Mat Fraser, Frank Harper, Terry Stone, Fay Tozer

Synopsis: Jimmy Loveit (Fraser), born with shortened arms due to thalidomide, is a talented kickboxer despite his handicap. Ably coached by Ron (Stone), Jimmy is a formidable opponent for anyone in the ring. One night, whilst snuggling up with his wife and daughter, their apartment is attacked by two gangsters who’ve mistaken their flat for someone else’s. With his wife injured and his daughter missing, Jimmy starts a one-man war against the crime boss who sent the hitmen.



Review:

I honestly didn’t know what I was letting myself in for when I put the review disc in the machine. Starting with some stylish opening credits, we watch as a jogger, Jimmy Loveit, slowly approaches the screen. It took me a couple of minutes to notice the fact that his arms end at his elbows. What on earth? The movie’s title was starting to make sense, at least, but was this some sort of exploitation throwback to the grindhouse drive-ins? Then I saw Jimmy sparring, and could suddenly see how this crazy movie might just work.

Kung Fu Flid avoids three big pitfalls: first, it doesn’t try to make us feel sorry for Jimmy because of his arms. Second, it doesn’t try to gloss over his appearance either. It’s not as if people don’t notice how short his arms are! Jimmy even uses some self-deprecating humour at one point, doing an impression of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Thirdly, the story never relies on Jimmy's disability to propel the narrative.

Physical handicaps have always been a big part of kung fu movie history. Movies such as One Armed Boxer, Five Fingers of Death, One Armed Swordsmen, The Blade and Crippled Avengers all dealt with able-bodied heroes who are struck down (usually losing a limb, although in Five Fingers one of the main characters is blinded spectacularly), and have to overcome their loss and learn new techniques to compensate. Kung Fu Flid is the first movie however where the hero was born with his handicap and has learnt how to compensate for his lack of reach in the ring (thanks to the tutelage of his coach).

Xavier Leret’s script owes a little debt (and I do mean a little) to Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery’s scripts for Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers, in that he has cleverly lifted the idea behind two key scenes and reworked them with his own dialogue and his own characters. However I feel that, at times, Xavier’s script surpasses even Tarantino’s efforts. Take the scene with crime boss Barry (Frank Harper) when he exposes an undercover cop. It’s some of the best, intimidating hardman talk ever put on celluloid. It’s right up there with Marcellus Wallace telling Zed that he’s getting Medieval on his ass.

I was rather surprised by the level of violence and gore in this movie, which at times was on the same level as Hostel. There is a very disturbing scene towards the end, which introduces the character of Gregor , where Jimmy’s wife and another character are tortured, where the special effects were very well done.The main cast are excellent across the board. Mat Fraser has a good delivery of dialogue and can carry the emotion and pathos of his lines very well. Also, he’s a mean kickboxer. Fay Tozer, another member of Steps to try their hand at acting in an independent crime thriller (see Lee Latchford Evans in Ten Dead Men ), has a great role as the crimeboss’s WAG, Cristol, coming across as mean as a hundred soap-opera bitches. Frank Harper channels a little bit of Ray Winstone and Christopher Walken in his role as big bossman, Barry – a volatile man whose mood swings from philosophical to downright homicidal. Dan Poole puts in a great performance as Gregor the torturer – like Barry he benefits from some real choice dialogue from Xavier’s script.

There are a couple of things which let Kung Fu Flid Kung Fu Flid down. Firstly, some scenes drag on rather too long. One in particular sees Jimmy get a lift from a “Buddy Taxi”, a religious nut who sees himself as a good Samaritan. It seems that they drive all over town together in real time before we get to the next scene. The other is the ending, which manages to be both hilariously grotesque (Fay Tozer literally melting before our eyes) and horribly twee in the closing seconds. However neither of these niggles can take away the entertainment to be had from this flick.

Verdict:

Yes it’s a controversial movie and on paper it sounds like the worst idea ever but kung Fu Flid actually turns out to be a very entertaining thriller, full of martial arts, some great dialogue and heavy on the gore. If Quentin Tarantino had made Kill Bill straight after Reservoir Dogs, it would have felt a lot like this.

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

Kung Fu Flid is available exclusively at The Film Lounge (http://filmlounge.com/films/martial-arts/kung-fu-flid)