Dragon Eyes (2012)

Director: John Hyams
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme,Cung Le,Peter Weller
Produced by After Dark Films
Genre: Martial arts, action, gang


DRAGON EYES, the much anticipated (at least in my eyes) martial arts - action film starring the debut of MMA fighter Cung Le as the lead and showcasing the return of Jean-Cleade Van Damme in a supporting role - fell a bit short for me. This hybrid street gang movie with a wild wild west feel at times in an outlaw town called St. Jude - meandered aimlessly with introducing us to the antics of the stereotypical gangs from the barrio to the brothers from another mutha, and to the badass Russian gangsters . The only saviour with holding this films jockstrap were the fight scenes. It was fun watching Jean-Cleade Van Damme throw out his bloodsport like kicking combinations in controlled fashion albeit in prison and even more fun witnessing Cung Le’s raw - no nonsense fighting style.  Le even showed us one of his real life - in the ring signature moves - the scissor takedown!  Le demonstrated his fluid but powerful kicking skills as well as throwing down joint locks, take downs, hip throws, & some WWE wrestling moves!

The beginning of Dragon Eyes follows in the footsteps of Michael Jai White’s BLOOD AND BONE where a man is incarcerated in jail, finds himself isolated with a whole subspecies of lifers and fisticuffs would soon start to erupt. Unlike BLOOD AND BONE where Jai White is already an established badazz in jail,  Hong (Cung Le) gets mentored by another lifer in prison, the one and only Jean-Cleade Van Damme. Similiar to both films though, the hero in the movie would make a promise to their confidants in jail that when they get released from prison to go back to their troubled city to get rid of all evil!  From here on in is where both of these films go their separate ways. We would get introduced to the gang bangers early in the film: the 6th Street Kings, The Eastsiders, and the Devil Dogs. Hong (Cung Le) also dubbed as the chino ninja drives up to the St. Jude barrio in his classic oldsmobile ride and some explosive exchanges will be in the calling! Riffs between the gangs and Ryan Hong will keep everyone at bay. The system of checks and balances in this quirky town would be overseen by a very sadistic Italian gangster named Mister V.  (Peter Weller).  Mister V will play the gangs against each other as he recruits Hong to maintain order in this sinful city.
 

For me, the story seemed to be one big jumbled up, unrealistic mess.  From the backdrop of how Hong got in jail in the first place to how he was able to master the art of kick ass’ery from the muscles from Brussels in such short time to how he was suddenly transplanted into this corrupt town battling the gangs in his lonesome with no guns.
 
What was the big winner for me were the fight scenes! There definitely were no fancy pants choreography here. People smashing through glass, bones crunching, limbs twisting beyond capability - just down & dirty uber violence! Many of the fight sequences would be filmed with increased frames per second in order to slow down the action to show off the devastation of the blow, a feature that might have been overused in this movie. Cung Le was able to showcase his onscreen fighting to the fullest, offering a lot of no-nonsense techniques - probably combinations that he would of used when fighting in the ring.  The most intense fight scene in the movie included the brawl between Ryan Hong and the Russian mobster who I nicknamed as “Cauliflower Ears”.  Having cauliflower ears usually indicates that the person has endured some serious battles in their time!  This Russian gangster was formidable!


As far as the best performance in the movie, Peter Weller took home the trophy with his crazy portrayal of Mister V. Cung Le seemed a bit stiff and dry with his first leading role, but his onscreen fighting is off the scale technique wise. I would say if you like violent martial art fight scenes conducted by pro fighters and/or if you happen to be a Cung Le or Jean-Cleade Van Damme fan then by all means go watch this!  I certainly enjoyed it with no regrets!


If you can't make it to the theatres to watch Dragon Eyes, you can get it via Video on Demand on Amazon.com here.