Review of Dragon Tiger Gate (2006) by James T — 24 Jan 2008

If one film could be classed as "Live action anime", it would be Dragon Tiger Gate. Based on the Chinese comic "Oriental Heroes", Dragon Tiger gate is about three young fighters: Tiger Wong, a member of a martial arts school sworn to protect the downtrodden, his brother Dragon Wong, who had left the school after the death of his mother, and Turbo Shek, a wandering fighter who seeks to master every martial art.

The fight scenes are very reminiscent of an anime (yes, I know anime is Japanese but it's very similar) with each of the fighters possessing unique powers and near superhuman strength. The cinematography is also decent, with rich contrasted colours used in every shot. The plot has its flaws unfortunately, and the final battle seems to come far earlier than you expect it. Could have done with some more character development beforehand.

All in all, a decent film if you're into comics, anime, or martial arts in general.