| Notable for apparently being the first time this film has been available anywhere in the world for the small screen, this release of 'Renegade Master' will be an essential buy for Carter Wong fans. For everyone else this is a pretty average movie that's probably not worth going out of your way for.
Carter Wong stars as the head of a group of revolutionaries forced into betraying his followers when his enemies kidnap his mother. There really isn't much else to the plot. The film really drags for the first half hour or so until the kidnap and the twist in the story is so obvious that it can be the only explanation for Carter's sudden change in character. James Tien is the film's villain who is trying to get hold of a list of names of all of the rebels (as villains in this kind of movie so often are). When Carter finally refuses to be used anymore against his colleagues it leads to a showdown.
Personally I like my fight action to have plenty of leg work but here the choreography is definitely of the more 'fisty' variety as Carter Wong plays a master of 'Iron Finger' kung fu. Some of his opponents show off some great techniques and acrobatics but these moments are too few and far between. The film has one weapon scene which sees Carter using a spear against a swordsman but this is really nothing special at all. On the plus side some of the films fight scenes are shot against some stunning Taiwan scenery such as the temple seen in 'The Mars Villa' but on the whole the fights themselves are rather unexceptional. |