7/10
The Street Fighters Last Revenge (in Japanese "Revenge! The Killing Fist")
22 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Perhaps the sixth and final movie starring Sonny Chiba during his watershed year of 1974? As many have said before, less Street Fighter more James Bond, although the character has the same name and profession as the earlier editions. By this time Sonny's character has mellowed into a more traditional heroic figure and is living in a flashy apartment with an automated sliding door, and the trademark black karate outfit has been dropped, instead he's sporting the black tie & white dinner jacket ensemble favoured by International Men Of Mystery. (But never fear, he's still able to summon up enough rage to rip someones heart out of their chest in uncut versions!) However his economical Japanese compact is not quite in the same league as the Aston Martin (Connery's Bond), Lotus Espirit (Roger Moore's Bond) or even the Volvo P1800 (Roger Moore's Saint). Once again the Yakuza try to stiff him for his fee on an assignment successfully carried out, and face the inevitable deadly consequences (will they never learn!) Sister street fighter wants to change sides and become his protégé, but Sonny is having none of it and by the time she finally convinces him of her value, she is dead. The villians include a Femme Fatale of dubious character to occupy Sonny's love interest. She's a bad, bad girl, but can Sonny show her the error of her evil ways or is she just playing him for a fool? The Yakuza first attempt to dispose of Sonny by hiring a bizarre laser wielding Cisco Kid look alike in a huge sombrero, who fails miserably on all levels (the weakest part of the movie). Fotunately for the audience, just when Sonny seems to have everything under control, a mysterious rival with superior martial arts skills appears, who outwits and outfights Sonny, to the extent he feels the need to go back to school and aquire some new and improved techniques. Even so this nemisis proves more than a match for Sonny, and takes him to the limit, and beyond, in the final showdown! With a double twist ending I won't spoil.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed