cityonfire.com | Throw Down

	Throw Down "...thank God the late Akria Kurosawa isn't alive to see it... in fact, it probably would have been the cause of his death if screened during his final months." - Mighty Peking Man Throw Down (2004) AKA: Throwdown Director: Johnnie To Kei-Fung Producer: Johnnie To Kei-Fung Writer: Yau Hai-Noi, Au Kin-Yee, Yip Tin-Shin Cast: Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing, Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Lo Hoi-Pang, Eddie Cheng Siu-Fai, Choi Yat-Chi, Jordan Chan Siu-Chun Running Time: 95 min. Plot: Pub manager/band leader Sze-To was once the greatest Judo fighter around until he unexpectedly gave up the sport for no apparent reason. Nowadays Sze-To lives the life of an alcoholic gambler with no hope for the future, until... Cocky Judo enthusiast Tony shows up at the door and challenges Sze-To into a duel; Old foe Kong demands finishing the match that never took place years ago; Sze-To's mentor Master Cheng asks him to manage his rundown Dojo... All of a sudden, Sze-To's pub turns into an arena where the greatest Judo fighters show off their skills... Sze-To will take on his opponents with everything he's got. Reviews ALEXANDER'S REVIEW: No offense to practitioners of JUDO!, but I can't image a more boring martial art to feature in a film. I mean, judo amounts to little more than grabbing an opponent by the lapels and tossing them over your shoulder. If they get up, you grab their lapels again and toss them over your shoulder. Then you fall on them. Tumble. Repeat. I've even discovered (from watching Throwdown!) that the best defense against a JUDO! fighter is to go shirtless. They've nothing to grab onto. Imagine your opponent's confusion when they realize they can't grasp your shirt. Proceed to kick their ass. While JUDO! might be suitable for Olympic competition (as opposed to say, cage fighting) and Saturday afternoon demonstrations by the local dojo at the county fairgrounds, it's not quite "street" enough for a film featuring gang fights and bar brawls. In fact, watching a group of Chinese gangsters tussle JUDO!-style in Throwdown was akin to watching Puerto Rican gangs duel by singing and dancing. It's quite funny, really. I don't know if Johnnie To was aiming for humor or homage when he filmed Throwdown, because it's really, really hard to take a movie seriously when every single fight is done JUDO!-style. Seriously, whether it's two guys fighting one-on-one or an alcohol fueled free-for-all, EVERYONE does JUDO!. No punching. No kicking. No eye gouging. No Mexican stand-offs. Just...grappling. I initially guessed that Johnnie To created this shit on a dare ("I bet you can't make a movie about...judo!") I could't think of any other reason why he would waste his trademark visual flair and camera work on Throwdown. But To explains in an interview that the film is essentially a tribute to JUDO!, which is near extinction in Hong Kong. But still. The movie can't decide if it wants to play it straight ala A Hero Never Dies or a slapstick-heavy farce like Help!!!. Even To sounds confused in his interview, at first claiming Throwdown is a comedy that aims to appeal to the widest audience possible, then minutes later explaining that it's a "serious drama." And apparently, the movie's theme of "live for today" stems from To's rememberance of how carefree and simple life was in the 1970s. (With JUDO!) Whatever, To. While Koo, Kwok and a pointless-yet-smokin'-hot Cherrie Ying are charming and look fantastic, it's too hard to forget that they're in a movie about JUDO!. NOTE: There's a weirdly contradictory yet somewhat revealing interview with To included with the movie. It's thirty minutes long and worth watching, if only to hear To explain why he lights his films the way he does (which has become a trademark of sorts), why he opts for so many long takes, and how he elicits strong performances from his cast. Finally, the DVD case is shit, hinting in its teaser that the movie is a Fight Club-like actioner with plenty of brawls in Tony's bar. Even worse, there's a blurb claiming Throwdown is To's homage to Kurosawa which is complete bullshit considering there's a single overt allusion to Kurosawa in the entire film, an oft repeated reference to his movie Sanshiro Sugata. ALEXANDER'S RATING: 5/10 (Judo!) MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: Once Upon A Time In China... Sze-To (Louis Koo) is a former Judo champ has-been that operates an un-stable night club. He drinks, steals money from gangsters, gambles the money, loses it all, then drinks again... Tony (Aaron Kwok) is a cocky drifter punk who likes to go around challanging Judo champs. He has a Van Damme smirk on his face. Think of his character as Ryu from "Street Fighter" -- he's just looking for a fight to test and better his skill... Some girl (Cherrie Ying) plays a vagabond piece of ass hoping to go from Asian trash to Asian pop idol. She slurps noodles like a champ. The three collide in a city filled with Judo masters, video gaming-gangsters and a bunch of other shit that you'd have to be real fucking high on drugs to understand. From "All About Ah-Long" to "Fulltime Killer," Johnny To has proved that he's one of Asian Cinema's most talented and versatile filmmakers; even when he's pumping out 3 films a year, they look as if they were anything but rushed. Usually moderate in budget, his films seem rich in quality; their artistic camera angles (think crash course Chris Doyle) and wicked lighting techniques set the mood and hint that you're getting a feature packed with tender loving care and not some run of the mill cheapass Hong Kong flick. I was excited when I heard about "Throw Down," a semi martial arts film that centers around "Judo," a fighting style that we rarely see on film - and now I know why; because this particular style is a bore when put in movies (lots of throw downs, hence, the title). But these Judo scenes, no matter how uninteresting they are, it's far from being a major problem. The real problem is the film itself. IT SUCKS, plain and simple. Sorry to sound vague, but seriously, this has got to be one of the worst films I have seen in the last few years. I mean, what kind of fucking Tsui Hark wet dream is this? And what's this "A salute to Akira Kurosawa" crap (as mentioned in the film's credits)? Well, thank God the late Akira Kurosawa isn't alive to see this movie. In fact, it probably would have been the cause of his death if screened during his final months! Okay, there are a couple of situational scenes that are somewhat amusing and witty (one, involving bathroom stalls), but they come and go - then disappear for good - and there's no way they can hold this mess together. Of course, the leads (Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok and Cherrie Ying) give their all, but their performances are useless in a movie like this. I do appreciate all the style and pizzazz that warrants "Throw Down" as a hip Johnny To film; if I said the film didn't look fantastic cinematically, I'd be lying. But overall, anyone who thinks "Throw Down" is a great film dug waaaaaay too fucking deep for a reason. MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 3/10

Throw Down

"...thank God the late Akria Kurosawa isn't alive to see it... in fact, it probably would have been the cause of his death if screened during his final months."

- Mighty Peking Man

Throw Down (2004)

AKA: Throwdown

Director: Johnnie To Kei-Fung

Producer: Johnnie To Kei-Fung

Writer: Yau Hai-Noi, Au Kin-Yee, Yip Tin-Shin

Cast: Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing, Cherrie Ying Choi-Yi, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Lo Hoi-Pang, Eddie Cheng Siu-Fai, Choi Yat-Chi, Jordan Chan Siu-Chun

Running Time: 95 min.

Plot: Pub manager/band leader Sze-To was once the greatest Judo fighter around until he unexpectedly gave up the sport for no apparent reason. Nowadays Sze-To lives the life of an alcoholic gambler with no hope for the future, until... Cocky Judo enthusiast Tony shows up at the door and challenges Sze-To into a duel; Old foe Kong demands finishing the match that never took place years ago; Sze-To's mentor Master Cheng asks him to manage his rundown Dojo... All of a sudden, Sze-To's pub turns into an arena where the greatest Judo fighters show off their skills... Sze-To will take on his opponents with everything he's got.

Reviews

ALEXANDER'S REVIEW: No offense to practitioners of JUDO!, but I can't image a more boring martial art to feature in a film. I mean, judo amounts to little more than grabbing an opponent by the lapels and tossing them over your shoulder. If they get up, you grab their lapels again and toss them over your shoulder. Then you fall on them. Tumble. Repeat. I've even discovered (from watching Throwdown!) that the best defense against a JUDO! fighter is to go shirtless. They've nothing to grab onto. Imagine your opponent's confusion when they realize they can't grasp your shirt.

Proceed to kick their ass.

While JUDO! might be suitable for Olympic competition (as opposed to say, cage fighting) and Saturday afternoon demonstrations by the local dojo at the county fairgrounds, it's not quite "street" enough for a film featuring gang fights and bar brawls. In fact, watching a group of Chinese gangsters tussle JUDO!-style in Throwdown was akin to watching Puerto Rican gangs duel by singing and dancing. It's quite funny, really.

I don't know if Johnnie To was aiming for humor or homage when he filmed Throwdown, because it's really, really hard to take a movie seriously when every single fight is done JUDO!-style. Seriously, whether it's two guys fighting one-on-one or an alcohol fueled free-for-all, EVERYONE does JUDO!. No punching. No kicking. No eye gouging. No Mexican stand-offs. Just...grappling.

I initially guessed that Johnnie To created this shit on a dare ("I bet you can't make a movie about...judo!") I could't think of any other reason why he would waste his trademark visual flair and camera work on Throwdown. But To explains in an interview that the film is essentially a tribute to JUDO!, which is near extinction in Hong Kong.

But still.

The movie can't decide if it wants to play it straight ala A Hero Never Dies or a slapstick-heavy farce like Help!!!. Even To sounds confused in his interview, at first claiming Throwdown is a comedy that aims to appeal to the widest audience possible, then minutes later explaining that it's a "serious drama." And apparently, the movie's theme of "live for today" stems from To's rememberance of how carefree and simple life was in the 1970s. (With JUDO!)

Whatever, To.

While Koo, Kwok and a pointless-yet-smokin'-hot Cherrie Ying are charming and look fantastic, it's too hard to forget that they're in a movie about JUDO!.

NOTE: There's a weirdly contradictory yet somewhat revealing interview with To included with the movie. It's thirty minutes long and worth watching, if only to hear To explain why he lights his films the way he does (which has become a trademark of sorts), why he opts for so many long takes, and how he elicits strong performances from his cast. Finally, the DVD case is shit, hinting in its teaser that the movie is a Fight Club-like actioner with plenty of brawls in Tony's bar. Even worse, there's a blurb claiming Throwdown is To's homage to Kurosawa which is complete bullshit considering there's a single overt allusion to Kurosawa in the entire film, an oft repeated reference to his movie Sanshiro Sugata.

ALEXANDER'S RATING: 5/10 (Judo!)

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: Once Upon A Time In China...

Sze-To (Louis Koo) is a former Judo champ has-been that operates an un-stable night club. He drinks, steals money from gangsters, gambles the money, loses it all, then drinks again...

Tony (Aaron Kwok) is a cocky drifter punk who likes to go around challanging Judo champs. He has a Van Damme smirk on his face. Think of his character as Ryu from "Street Fighter" -- he's just looking for a fight to test and better his skill...

Some girl (Cherrie Ying) plays a vagabond piece of ass hoping to go from Asian trash to Asian pop idol. She slurps noodles like a champ.

The three collide in a city filled with Judo masters, video gaming-gangsters and a bunch of other shit that you'd have to be real fucking high on drugs to understand.

From "All About Ah-Long" to "Fulltime Killer," Johnny To has proved that he's one of Asian Cinema's most talented and versatile filmmakers; even when he's pumping out 3 films a year, they look as if they were anything but rushed. Usually moderate in budget, his films seem rich in quality; their artistic camera angles (think crash course Chris Doyle) and wicked lighting techniques set the mood and hint that you're getting a feature packed with tender loving care and not some run of the mill cheapass Hong Kong flick.

I was excited when I heard about "Throw Down," a semi martial arts film that centers around "Judo," a fighting style that we rarely see on film - and now I know why; because this particular style is a bore when put in movies (lots of throw downs, hence, the title). But these Judo scenes, no matter how uninteresting they are, it's far from being a major problem. The real problem is the film itself. IT SUCKS, plain and simple. Sorry to sound vague, but seriously, this has got to be one of the worst films I have seen in the last few years. I mean, what kind of fucking Tsui Hark wet dream is this? And what's this "A salute to Akira Kurosawa" crap (as mentioned in the film's credits)? Well, thank God the late Akira Kurosawa isn't alive to see this movie. In fact, it probably would have been the cause of his death if screened during his final months!

Okay, there are a couple of situational scenes that are somewhat amusing and witty (one, involving bathroom stalls), but they come and go - then disappear for good - and there's no way they can hold this mess together. Of course, the leads (Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok and Cherrie Ying) give their all, but their performances are useless in a movie like this.

I do appreciate all the style and pizzazz that warrants "Throw Down" as a hip Johnny To film; if I said the film didn't look fantastic cinematically, I'd be lying. But overall, anyone who thinks "Throw Down" is a great film dug waaaaaay too fucking deep for a reason.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 3/10