Movie

Lady Bloodfight (2016)

If the title sounds like Bloodsport – the 1988 martial arts movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme – that’s probably intentional. This is basically a female fighter remake with Amy Johnston as Jane Jones, an American who travels to Hong Kong to find out what happened to her father. Since this is a movie, it could never be a simple disappearance. He vanished after fighting in the kumite, a brutal fighting contest, and a shady businessman is involved.

In a familiar storyline to any martial arts fan, Jane becomes the student of Shu. This enigmatic woman has an ongoing feud with another trainer over a dead relative and who’s responsible. Since their kumite duel ended in a draw, both women accepted the compromise to train a fighter for the next tournament. Shu’s rival takes on Ling, a young thief who’s also nimble in combat. This proxy battle becomes the focus, though Ling is not evil enough to qualify as a villainess.

Lady Bloodfight fares better than other female-led martial arts movies because the producers had the sense to include some actual fighting. This may sound obvious, but there are many films that don’t make good use of a talented cast. The fights are bloody, and apart from the bizarre magical / fantasy elements – such as Shu’s healing water dance (!) – this is a brutal depiction. Tough females in action, and many deadly encounters before the credits roll.

Villainess

Svietta (Ng Mayling)

Ling is an antagonist with a heart, and while she has barbed verbal exchanges with Jane, there needs to be a brutal, sadistic opponent in a film like this. Enter Svietta, a former Russian convict covered in tattoos. Mercy is not a word in her vocabulary, and she has no qualms about killing her outmatched foes.

Most of the key female characters get establishing fights: the two trainers in the previous kumite, and various young women turning the tables on attackers in spectacular fashion. Jane disposes of unwanted male attention when she knocks down a guy in a diner, and again after he foolishly comes back for more. Svietta doesn’t need to fight. Her fellow prisoners give her a wide berth in the shower, deciding it best to leave this psycho alone. A wise strategy, because losing to this woman is deadly.

After forty-five minutes spent setting up the plot, the kumite gets underway, and a nervous Jane fights first. Despite nearly stepping outside the ring, she wins her bout. Ling also shows her fighting prowess while Svietta watches in silence. The Russian brute beats her first opponent to a bloody pulp, despite the contest being over long before that. Psychological warfare? It certainly has the desired effect on the audience.

As eliminations – including some literal ones – continue, Jane befriends a cocky Australian fighter named Cassidy. Anyone familiar with tournament movies will know what’s coming. Next up is the weapons round, which provides plenty of opportunity for injury and death. Jane knocks her opponent out with a bladed staff, but Svietta isn’t so lenient with Cassidy. The Aussie’s fighting skills don’t match her boasts. The evil woman wins this one easily and slits her beaten foe’s throat before she can crawl to safety.

That sets up a semifinal encounter between Jane and Svietta. The Russian is so despised by the other competitors that Ling finds time to give the heroine a pep talk. That all seems pointless when Svietta overpowers Jane. The judges are about to call the result when the “defeated” fighter rises to her feet. Revenge is a powerful motivator, enough to give Jane the adrenaline she needs to take her opponent down.

After mystical healing from Shu, the heroine defeats Ling in the final. Then, the shady businessman gets his comeuppance, and since he was behind the death of Shu’s boyfriend, the trainers and their students make amends and found a martial arts school. Routine and predictable, but the well-staged fight scenes make the movie worth watching.

Honourable Mention: Tournament Fighters

Pushed to the Limit (1992) – Inga (Christl Colven)

Before Lady Bloodfight came along, naming a decent all-female tournament film was a challenge. Women usually appeared as fighters in otherwise all-male fields. Quite telling that the “best of the rest” is this mediocre offering with wrestler Mimi Lesseos as… herself. She enters the kumite for revenge after ruthless drug traffickers kill her brother. One day, there will be a fighter with a more original background.

Action is limited, with all kinds of filler involving dancing in Las Vegas and boring family scenes. When we get some fight sequences, they’re poorly choreographed with frequent cutaways to mundane side events. The villainess is an Amazonian henchwoman who breaks her opponent’s spines by standing on them after her victories.

Sadly, Inga sounds more interesting than she is. Things liven up when Mimi snoops around the main villain’s house, but she inevitably ends up back in the ring and defeats the henchwoman in the marquee fight.