Sacred texts, ancient martial arts, wandering warriors, a pair of wise old masters…Fist of the Condor even has a title to match its 1970s kung fu influences. But what this film has most of all is the magnetic charisma and raw star power of Marko Zaror. Who’s he? While die-hard action movie fans will have spotted him previously in films such as Undisputed 3, Redeemer, and Savage Dog, or as Dwayne Johnson’s stunt double on The Rundown, Zaror’s true breakout role was recently in John Wick: Chapter 4, as right-hand man to Bill Skarsgard’s villainous Marquis.
But Fist of the Condor is all Zaror. Not only does he take on dual roles, but acts as producer and choreographer of the truly breathtaking fights. And I do mean “breathtaking” quite literally. This is some of the most beautiful martial arts action I’ve seen since The Grandmaster, which is a very different film in just about every way. Fist of the Condor is minimal, working on a tight budget, but shot by cinematographers Nicolás Ibieta and Benjamín Luna Vaccarezz who use every bit of Chile’s natural beauty. The open landscapes are shot with as much care as the fights, which are frequent and absolutely wondrous to behold.
The story is simple enough. The title gets its name from a powerful, secret gravity-defying martial art used by the Inca in their battle against the Conquistadors. Passed down in a sacred text from generation to generation to those who are purest of heart, the book’s secrets were to be shared by twin brothers at the end of their training. But the manual ended up only in the hands of one, who fled, and now the other must seek out his sibling…while being challenged by fighters at nearly every turn.
Fist of the Condor harkens back to the purposeful martial arts movies that were as much philosophical as physical, rather than latter films meant solely to dazzle Western audiences. Our protagonist is a living weapon, who keeps his body pure for the fights to come. And come, they do. Within moments he is challenged by a young opponent with knowledge of his weakness. The fight they have against the crashing waves of a beach is poetic, graceful, and powerful, with Zaror so acrobatic it’s like he can literally defy gravity itself. He shows surprising depths of emotion in the final battle, a nearly ten-minute-long clash between master and arrogant student that simply must be seen. Hitting harder than any punch are the psychological wounds inflicted. Every little detail adding to the enormity of this fight. A broken light fixture blinks with sporadic energy, overseeing the procedings like an unofficial referee.
But not every battle is meant to be so artistic. Zaror gets down and dirty in a bar fight that sees him slugging it out with an entire gang, hitting so hard they literally skid across the filthy floor. Fist of the Condor manages to draw inspiration from American movies, too, in particular classic gunslinger Westerns.
Clocking in at just over 80-minutes, Fist of the Condor is slight. Too slight. There’s not much meat on the bones of this story, and it’s clear that something is being saved for another film. And with so much of this one borrowing from other martial arts classics, it leans hard on the few things that are unique to it, the cinematography and Zaror. Tough to complain about either one, though. Fist of the Condor hits hard, and Zaror is primed to be the next big thing in action flicks. Get on the hype train now, folks.
Fist of the Condor is in select Alamo Drafthouse theaters and streaming on the Hi-Yah! now.
