"Fist of the Condor" (2023)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s Chilean mystical martial arts feature The Fist of the Condor (El Puño del Cóndor; 2023).

Synopsis

El Guerrero (Marko Zaror) is a martial arts master mistaken at every turn for his twin brother Gemelo (also Zaror), which leads to fight scenes aplenty. One of the siblings — the two have a deep-seated hatred for each other, by the way — holds a book with the secrets of the Incan martial art Rumi Maki, which is highly

coveted by no-goodniks.

The Good

Joseph: The plot is a basic take on the martial arts revenge movie — for nostalgia buffs, the 1970s TV series Kung Fu gets a mention — but what sets this apart is its Chilean setting and Incan mysticism, rather than the Asian elements that dominate the genre. Viewers who hope for fight scenes over plot are sure to be satisfied, as our protagonist takes on all comers, from those hoping to take the aforementioned tome from him to random rowdies in a bar. Zaror brings a striking presence to the screen, and the fight choreography is impressive.

Mike: Fist of the Condor is martial arts comfort food - it doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is and that is a nice homage to the tried and true flicks you used to catch on Kung-Fu Action Theater or whatever name your local independent channel called their version which quite often would follow Saturday morning wrestling. Rival schools/dojos would be in search of some MacGuffin, we’d meet the star pupils, their masters/senseis, the bad guys would do something horrible to lure the good guy out of whatever self-imposed decision for non-violence he’d be abiding by, and there’d be a bunch of wicked cool fights along the way to the final showdown.

Since you can’t have much of a martial arts film without fights there’s no shortage here, ranging from a one-on-one fight on the beach to a one-on-many bar brawl, all of which have some great fight choreography and action to them. There’s also some pretty cool training segments that give the viewer a glimpse of the different fighting styles.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Fist of the Condor is the fact that story revolves around an Incan fighting style developed to battle Spanish conquistadors, which gives a fresh feel to the expected Asian settings and context.

The Bad

Joseph: Viewers who have watched a fair share of martial arts revenge movies won’t find many new plot developments here, and those looking forward to what would normally be expected as the two obvious opponents in the final battle of the film will likely be frustrated, though we are given fair warning from the opening titles that this film is a first-chapter installment. The talking when they could be fighting between the two participants in the climactic battle scene gives many a Dragonball Z episode a run for the money. A few of the scenes during the fights come off a bit far-fetched, and a scene involving balancing on baskets feels even moreso. Some cliched superhero poses don’t help matters, either.

Mike: Remember when I said everything would build to a final battle between the main good and bad guy? We don’t get that here, although it doesn’t really come as too much of a surprise considering the opening title tells us that this is the first part of an unknown number of films telling this story. Even with that information at hand, it’s still a bit disappointing to see so much build-up for so little payoff. That comfort food that sounded so good? It’s a bit bland here, unfortunately. While Marko Zaror brings an electrifying intensity to his physicality, his emotional range is a bit limited and this hampers any real connection the viewer might hopefully feel for the main character (or characters in this case). And fighting styles we got the cool training montages for? They grow a bit tedious with the overabundance of gymnastics rolls and flips even though the styles are based on such moves.

The Verdict

Joseph: This South American take on mystical martial arts movies is more of a serious watch than a fun one, but it certainly serves up its share of fight scenes. Aficionados of films with brooding, wandering fighters and wise words from their masters should find plenty to enjoy here.

Mike: Fist of the Condor presents a familiar story in a fresh package with plenty of well choreographed fights which any fan of martial arts films will enjoy. There’s a lot of setup for an unequal amount of payoff, but as this is only the first part it would be a good bet that the expected showdown will occur at some point. Until that time comes, there’s plenty of world building and myth making goin on here to keep interests up.

The Fist of the Condor, from Well Go USA, is currently available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of May 23, 2023.

The Fist of the Condor