Notable Cast: Amy
Johnston, Muriel Hofmann, Jenny Wu, Kathy Wu, Jet Tranter, Ng Mayling
Having tempered expectations when going into straight to
home video action flicks is usually the smart approach to appreciating the
genre. Not that the style doesn’t have its merits, as I mentioned not to long
ago in my review for Boyka: Undisputed 4,
but the smart approach usually means you’ll have more fun in appreciating them
for what they are. This is the case with Lady
Bloodfight. On paper, the idea of a Bloodsport/Kickboxer knock off seems predictable
and unnecessary, yet the attached stuntwomen and talent behind the film would
indicate it would be something much more effective than the trailers and
hum-drum concept would indicate. While this is true, there is much more to Lady Bloodfight than its ‘been there,
done that’ plot and narrative would have one believe, it’s still a mixed bag of
efforts that is benefited from one’s skepticism of the entire thing when going
into it. For fans of the martial arts tournament films that ruled the lower
budget realms of the late 80s and early 90s in western action cinema, Lady Bloodfight has something to offer
in its modernized throwback style but it certainly trips on some of its own
ambitions as it goes leaving the entire thing feeling a bit mixed. Yet, it’s
hard not to be pleasantly surprised with it in the end. It’s fun, it has some
great moments, and it showcases that Amy Johnston can hold her own as the lead
in a film.