Review of Birth of the Dragon (2017) by Jason K — 05 Sep 2017

Please ignore the dreary, self-righteous PC police and treat yourself to a thoroughly enjoyable example of the kung-fu movie genre! Yes, horror-of-horrors, there is a white dude cast in this San Francisco-based movie but his role is perfectly suited to be the foil (and sometimes comic relief) for the two kung-fu masters to educate the audience.

Phillip Ng and Xia Yu are well cast and engage the audience as they spar both verbally and physically over their diametrically opposed approaches to life and kung fu. The fight scene between the two masters was beautiful and reminiscent in ways of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The final fight scene was less cinematically engaging but provided the emotional payoff for the movie.