Kickboxer's Tears

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"I want some Doritos. Anybody try the Four Cheese kind in the orange bag? They're pretty good."

- Numskull


Kickboxer's Tears (1992)

Director: Shun Tai Wai

Producer: Lo Chia Po

Writers: Szeto On, John Tsang, Dick Lee

Cast: Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Wilson Lam, Mark Cheng, Jimmy Lee, Billy Chow, Ken Lo

Running Time: 89 min.

Plot: Moon Lee's brother is a kickboxer. Moon Lee watches her brother die in a fixed match. Moon Lee vows revenge. Moon Lee gets revenge. Moon Lee becomes target of Yukari Oshima, who also wants revenge. I want some Doritos. Anybody try the Four Cheese kind in the orange bag? They're pretty good.

Reviews

NUMSKULL'S REVIEW: Female empowerment martial arts fare with Moon Lee seeking revenge on the shady kick boxing promoters who had her brother killed for (ready for a major surprise?) refusing to throw a fight. She is assisted by the two guys her bro ran a gym with: Alan and Sammy. There's also a pickpocket who mends his ways in an attempt to win her over; this leads to a number of time-eating, throwaway scenes in which he embarrasses himself.

There are two grueling kick boxing matches of considerable length, the first pitting Moon's brother against Billy Chow; the second, Moon herself. Both matches have a meddlesome referee who gets between the competitors and says "break it up" every ten seconds. It's a FIGHT, for fuck's sake...legally sanctioned or not, I say just let 'em pulverize each other. Moon's face is marred by some nasty bruises following her hard-won victory (that's not much of a spoiler, trust me), but Yukari Oshima's character (Billy's cousin and the promoter's wife), honorless wench that she is, doesn't let that stop her from demanding a grudge match against her after kidnapping Alan. The two women square off and most of the other characters (the ones who are still alive, anyway) eventually join the fray in a surprisingly bloody and intense climax that deserves to be in a better movie.

The only DVD for Kickboxer's Tears (that I'm aware of) is a pan and scan dub from Tai Seng with Anglicized character names and an appropriately modest price tag. (Had I been able to watch the film properly, I might have knocked the rating up a point.) It's a decent time waster that will keep you fairly amused, if not amazed, from the beginning until the surprisingly downbeat ending.

NUMSKULL'S RATING: 6/10