Comeuppance Reviews
arek (Merhi) and Linda (Rothrock) return as "New York City"* cops in this third and, thankfully, last installment of the Tiger Claws franchise. And what a franchise it was. This time around, an evil baddie named Stryker (Avedon) comes on the scene. While we have seen many guys over the years with the name Stryker, this time he mentions that his name is "Stryker Godunov". Okay. So, Stryker Godunov for some unknown reason unleashes three unkillable Martial Arts masters onto the streets of Toronto...sorry, NEW YORK, and all sorts of havoc ensues. Because Tarek is a bit slow in the head, it takes him a while to find the answer that will stop all the madness. Obviously, the answer is Carter Wong, just like in real life. Carter, as Master Jin, takes Tarek to the icy wastes of...New York...to train hard, Rocky IV style, to fight the bad guys that are Superman 2 style. With Stryker controlling the baddies, is anybody safe? Will Tarek rise to the occasion? Or will something truly stupid happen to screw it all up? Yes, as you may have noticed, there is a Tiger Claws THREE. Just why, exactly, is anybody's guess. We had a hard time sitting through TC3 (and if Billy Blanks is to be believed - and he usually is - there are only 1,997 sequels to go) for numerous reasons. Sure, it has some of the standard low-budget movie pitfalls we are more than used to and totally okay with: bad lighting, junky-looking cinematography, and acting so stilted it should be used by Uncle Sam in a Labor Day parade. The real crime here, if you can overlook the surface problems, is the minimal appearance by fan favorite Cynthia Rothrock, in favor of Jalal Merhi and the ever-unlikable Loren Avedon. Though, to be fair, he is well-cast as a pompous jerk bad guy.Why director Maunder thought axing the delightful Rothrock just so Merhi can clog up our screens like a hairball in a shower drain remains unknown, but maybe it wasn't up to him. Maybe Rothrock, wisely, said no more. Speaking of hair, and to be fair to "Tarek", Merhi's hair does look less painted-on than usual. But the lack of Rothrock isn't even the worst of Maunder's sins. Without giving anything away, there is a mind-numbingly stupid plot twist that, as a viewer, will likely make you feel angry and insulted. Again: why? And no amount of recycled Bolo Yeung scenes and "33% new footage!" flashback moments can paper over it.So while Stryker's need to take three 500-year-old outfits in a museum display and make them come alive and do wire-fu is not explained, neither are the methods used to combat it. Tarek prepares to combat the supernatural evil by attempting to snatch a piece of sushi hanging from a string by sticking his hand through a Price is Right-style moving wheel. That oughta show'em. Thankfully, however, the great Carter Wong is here to help us all, and his classic Hardcase and Fist-style delivery is still in full force. For example, when he says the word "Stryker", his super-thick accent makes it sounds like he's saying "Fraggle". Which leads to quotes such as "Fraggle is against me". Perhaps a Doozer would be more intimidating than Loren Avedon.There's the time-honored warehouse fight, a lot of yelling and grunting (mainly because the three baddies never say anything), and even a T.I.G.-style farmhouse fight. Even at the final fight, the jumping/alternating hitting the sides of the feet thing looks less like a battle to the death and more like the Kid n' Play dance. At one point, someone even says "they are fighting spirit" - perhaps a reference to the 1992 Loren Avedon movie of the same name? But, in the end, Tiger Claws III feels like a loser of a movie, if not a complete waste of time...and that thing we mentioned earlier is the straw that breaks the Tiger's back.*Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Perry Mercer (Blackace)
Where do I start. I think this is probably the worse Tiger Claw movie of them all. Why? For several reasons.1) Cynthia Rothrock is suppose to be the star, but Jalal Merhi ends up being the lead. Now go back to the cover of the box art. Who do you see? Cynthia Rothrock and the 3 freaky Superman 2 rejects, right? I don't see Jalal on the cover, so why is he the lead star? Cynthia appears at the beginning, in the middle (dream sequence) and at the end of the film. She only fights in the beginning and it's very lacklusted. Not to take anything away from Jalal, but he's no Jet Li or Jackie Chan.2) It good to see Carter Wong & Loren Avedon, but they are just totally wasted in this movie. Both are extremely talented martial artists. See No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (Loren Avedon) and Carter Wong's earlier work like, Hapkido, Kids of Shaolin or even Big Trouble In Little China. All these movies are better then Tiger Claw 3.3) Stupid plot. A student of a great master decides to resurrect 3 evil Masters from the undead to help him take over the underworld of New York. Extremely hokey!! Watch these Superman 2 type rejects deflect hundred of bullets from a bunch of underworld thugs was a big laugh. Special effects were even worse.4) Even with the story this bad, you would hope the fighting would be at least up to par. Nope!! Just awful. The choreograph was terrible. Richard learns Black Tiger technique from Master Jin (Stryker's Sensai) to stop the 3 evil Master. O.k., so why doesn't he claw them and leave bloody scratch marks on anyone? It's just stupid.I'm not sure how much Cynthia Rothrock got paid for this movie. It was quite obvious that she didn't want to do a 3rd movie, which is why she's barely on the screen. The producers knew it wouldn't sell well at retail unless she was on the cover or involved in some way, so that's why she's there. Bad move if you ask me. Many Rothrock fans will be totally disappointed and seeing her as a sellout for making this crap.Stay away from this film. Glad I watch it on cable and didn't pay a cent to view it.
conanobr
Where do I start? First, the three villains from Superman 2 come back to life to do this movie. But now they're asian! They still wear their black outfits and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting population, though.Second, this is a Cynthia Rothrock film, so you expect some female fighting action, right? Wrong. As a matter of fact, Cynthia Rothrock is barely in the movie.Third, this movie sucks in every conceivable way. I keep waiting for Cynthia Rothrock to do a decent movie. I'll be damned if I haven't been waiting for a long time. Now, they're putting her name on a movie simply as a publicity stunt. Next time her name appears on a movie, I'll wait for it to come out on cable.Fourth, I want my $3.50 back.
