Let me start by saying that I love martial arts movies. I
couldn't begin to tell you the number of times I've watched ENTER THE DRAGON
but it is in the double digits. I've enjoyed the new comers to the genre when
they began like Steven Segal, Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme. I've
liked the more current round of stars like Tony Jaa and Gary Daniels. That
being said there is something that folks should realize when looking for a new
martial arts film.
The films made overseas in the Far East sometimes lose
something in translation. Some don't like the historical martial arts films of
the past. A few of the police films featuring some top fighting sequences lose
something. But the ones that lose the most are those that are based as much in
humor as in fighting. They lose tons in translation. What is funny in one
country falls flat in another.
That being said, THIS GIRL IS BADASS loses almost everything
in translation. The film offers martial arts that are fairly weak and should be
the foundation of the film. Instead we have a girl using her bicycle as a
weapon and not believably so. But let's get to the plot first...if I followed
it correctly.
Jukkalan is a bicycle courier who speeds around town
delivering items for various people. Currently she's been assigned to transport
some packages for some underworld types who then want to take back the money
they paid her after she delivers their package. Why they would risk so much for
so little is beyond me. Instead of dying though she uses her aforementioned
martial arts/bicycle skills to take down the gang sent to dispose of her.
Then she gets another job to transport another package for
another mobster. The first one apparently wants to sit back a while before
tangling with her again. Once more she's attacked after delivering the package
and yet she continues to work the same job. Not only that but she's been
lifting a portion of the profits from each delivery.
If this wasn't enough of a plot we have a few others as well.
One involves her uncle, a man in love with the woman who lives next door and
who does laundry. But her uncle has some sort of shady past we don't find out
about till near the end of the film. Then there's the boy next door, a goofy
looking guy who is in love with Jukkalan. But she's in love with the hunky guy
who lives nearby and sits around playing guitar all the time.
The plot lines in this film are as lame as they can be and
the mixing of one storyline to another fails miserably. The acting is one of
two things, either really bad or simply so unlike that seen in other countries
as to appear terrible. Perhaps these would be unnoticeable in the country it
was filmed in but here it's the main thing we see. The worst sin of all though
is the fighting sequences which seem forced at best and lame at worst.
There is nothing I can say that would make this film an
enjoyable experience. It was truly a movie I wouldn't waste time on. I would
only recommend it to those who feel the need to watch every single martial arts
film ever made. Myself, I'll watch the good ones over again.
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