Eagle's Claw: Quick Takes

Acclaimed Taiwanese director of indie kung-fu, Lee Tso Nam (The Hot, The Cool and The Vicious) certainly does only a little to deviate from set formulas but the attempts are notable. Eagle's Claw actually does attempt a surprising narrative with somewhat proper character depth and it's that desire that has made Lee's film a little bit more long lasting than others. Kung-fu historians will tell you that Chi Kuan-Chun (Shaolin Martial Arts) broke new ground here in a more darker role and Chi does portray his character descent into evil quite admirably well considering this really is very close to run of the mill genre filmmaking. Don Wong also displays good power as a fighter and decent chops to lead, in an independent kind of way.

Tommy Lee's action definitely benefits from Wong's presence and while fairly intricate, it also comes off as a bit stale and sluggish. No doubt, Tommy gets the job done but you won't find the polish and flair that someone like Lau Kar Leung could bring. But perhaps we shouldn't expect that either. Nonetheless, Eagle's Claw may look and sound like everything else but possesses enough depth to stand out. Something not all cheap martial arts productions were bothered with trying to achieve. Chang Yi co-stars as our white haired villain while Leung Kar Yan and Phillip Ko add fighting support.