Tuesday, December 8, 2009

WHY I LOVE KARATE FLICKS

I have always, always, always had a passion for karate flicks. I grew up when Bruce Lee was the hottest action star smoking. Everyone wanted to be in one of his movies. I even took martial arts because of my obsession with his movies. You would think I would have outgrown him and flicks like that, but I haven’t.


One of my hobbies or obsessions, is to go to the local flea market and purchase karate flicks. I talk the vendor down to 4 for $25 because I go so often.


HOW IT’S INFLUENCED MY WRITING

I remember a beta reader, an older guy, telling me that he absolutely loved my fight scences. He commented on how real they seemed. He wasn’t the only one. Many of my beta’s said they loved my descriptions and the defensive moves my smaller characters made.


Well I get a lot of my material from all of those years watching those Karate movies and wishing I was in them. Hey, some of the moves I even tried out on my baby brother (shhhhh…. Don’t tell him I told you that).


NINJA ASSASINS – the most recent Karate movie I went to see


Now that you know all about my obsession, then you know why I went to see this movie. This movie had it all. Cool moves, blood, a little romance, and fighting. However, even for me – a gore queen – it was a bit over the top on the blood. I would have preferred more fighting without so much cutting or slicing. This movie made KILL BILL look like a walk in the park.

With that said, I still enjoyed it. I admit it, I have a tough stomach and I couldn’t stop watching it. I did notice though that some of the ladies in the theatre got out of there. When I did go to the bathroom, one lady asked me, “Oh my, it was too much for me! What about you?” and I looked at her and said, “Oh it’s violent, but I can handle it.” We both laughed and I went back to join my husband who has the same obsession.


My recommendations for this movie is, don’t expect it to win an award. If you like gore, fighting, skimpy romance with just a chaste kiss, then you just may enjoy this movie. If I was to rate it, I’d give it a 2 stars only because I’ve seen much better karate flicks than this one.

1 comment:

houndrat said...

You know, that's such a good point--it can be much easier to write stuff that you've actually seen! I mean, obviously, fantasy writers have to rely on their imagination quite a bit, but why not help yourself out when you can?

I think I'll be renting a few movies with fight scenes myself this weekend--all the better to hone my action sequences! :)