Tiger Claws [VHS]

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Price: $529.01   

Tiger Claws [VHS] Review

Enter "Tiger Claws", a run-of-the-mill outing for former Hong Kong action queen Cynthia Rothrock, another chance for premier Cantonese muscleman Bolo Yeung to prove that he makes a good villain, and the breakout vehicle of B-movie bit player Jalal Merhi. Consider the case of that last name, a man known in some circles as 'Beirut's Steven Seagal': while this is just another film for the careers of established stars Cynthia and Bolo, Merhi's first exposure to the world of low-budget fight flicks was practically the only sound entry in an acting career regularly derided for its mediocrity. Just check out some of his later starring flicks, like Operation Golden Phoenix or Guaranteed on Delivery, and you'll know that it probably was for the best that Merhi gave up acting about four years ago. For all its faults, "Tiger Claws" is a passable action film, with Merhi at his best in giving the impression that he had potential as a martial arts star, but like the movie itself, that was a short-lived affair.

The story: ace detective Linda Masterson (Rothrock, Above the Law) is assigned to the case of a serial killer targeting champion martial artists via a deadly fighting style (Yeung, Bloodsport). Against her will, she's teamed up with suspended vice cop Tarek Richards (Merhi), who recognizes the killer's style as the Fu Jow - the tiger claw system, a style most difficult to master and resoundingly deadly in practice. Together, the two of them must survive the tough streets of Chinatown if they wish to end the case with their lives intact.

Undoubtedly, the film's strongest points lie in its sound production values. This is a movie from a time when even the smallest of film studios were doing their darndest to stand up to the productions of big-budget Hollywood, and the effort here really shows through the smooth cinematography and authentic-looking locales. Sadly, the nominal accolades stop there. Though the story progresses decently for a straight-to-video film, the movie suffers from remarkably bad acting. I'm not talking of so-bad-it's-hilarious acting a'la No Retreat No Surrender, but just a general lacklusterness that you'd expect from any high school drama production, and that's not yet considering Cynthia's trademark whining and Merhi's Van Damme-isms. Most of the actors had never acted in a film before, and even those who had or would are hardly worth pointing out; no one besides the three leads is worth mentioning. Cynthia and Jalal do have a limited chemistry between eachother, but even their dramatic scenes are worth falling asleep for, which is a shame since not a lot of the action scenes are eye-opening, either.

There are about seven fights in the film that top thirty seconds in length, peppered among several more encounters that only last a few moments. Depending on whom you're a bigger fan of, it's easy to conclude that either Yeung or Rothrock have the best fights. A minor dream matchup takes places when the two of them get to duke it out with swords and a kayak paddle in two fairly tit-for-tat encounters, but it doesn't get any better than that, since just about every fight is a practice in unoriginality. Jalal Merhi has been accused of being a strict poser, but his intricate katas and weapons-handling shows a penchant for forms that counter the nay-sayers; but sadly, these skills don't really carry over to his actual fights. Some of this is undoubtedly the fault of the overzealous editing, but the lauded tiger style itself doesn't look all too great on film; it probably would have made for more interesting fights if everybody wasn't hung up on making clawing gestures with their hands.

In the end, this movie is worth adding to your Rothrock collection and is probably the best way to introduce yourself to Jalal Merhi if you so wish, but only buy it if you know how to appreciate the little things of movies like this.

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