Review of the action movie Black Cobra

28.05.2012EvilDollaR

Beware, there are plot spoilers!

TJ Storm shows off his fighting skills in this independent action thriller, which turns out to be quite good despite the jumbled dialogue and formulaic plot.

Sipho (Michael Chinyamurundi), the imprisoned father of South American fighter Sizwe Biko, nicknamed “Cobra” (Storm), asks his son to find a cache of diamonds belonging to their family. When Sizwe finds the diamonds, he encounters three racist apartheid thugs. Using his martial arts skills, Sizwe fights them, and he is helped by his familiar prison guard.

Sizwe decides to go to Los Angeles to sell the diamonds with the help of his old friend Nicholas (Jeff Wolf). Arriving in Los Angeles, he contacts his old friend Mpho (Sebati Edward Malafe), who introduces him to his buddies Gilroy (Floyd Gilmore) and Gerard (JT Jackson). For the diamonds, Nicholas finds a buyer in Goro Tanaka (Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa), a successful real estate businessman. At the end of the deal, Nicholas “sets up” Sizwe. He, wounded, is helped by a local girl, Vicky (C Tracy Murase). With the help of his friends, Sizwe prepares a plan at any cost to return either the money or the diamonds his father needs.

The plot looks like a mixture of a typical revenge film with pictures about confrontation within an organization. Based on the novel “When the Cobra Strikes” by co-writer and actor Sebati Edward Malafe, the film resembles a typical B-movie. It is clear to the naked eye that this independent martial arts film excels not only in its quality, but also in its cast. American fighter and actor TJ Storm once again proved how underestimated he is. Storm is probably best known for his role as Maginty, the leader of a gang of parkour athletes in the film Punisher: Ground War (2008), but he has previously had a fair number of combat-related roles, for example in The Ultimate Game ( 1996), and his screen debut took place in the film “Fire Breather” (1990), where he played the enemy of Jonathan Ke Kwan and Eddie Saavedra. The part of the plot that failed was the part in which Sizwe, played by Storm, cannot make the final decision on what to choose - money or diamonds...

Seasoned screen villain Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa once again proves he can handle any role given to him. Here he plays Goro Tanaka, a businessman who is also presumably the head of the local Yakuza clan, although the word “Yakuza” is never mentioned. Although Goro is presented as the main villain, he is not without his problems in the form of a power struggle between him and his son Satoshi (Richard Dorton). As for the traitor Nicholas, the fighter Jeff Wolfe spends most of the time just being seen, however, he had a chance in the middle of the film to demonstrate his skills in a fight against Storm. Stephanie Chiva, who produced the film, made a cameo appearance as Sheehan Chris. She is Sizwe's old friend and mentor, dresses as a ninja and spar with Storm.

Ken Ohara, as director, makes effective use of the fighting skills of the cast members. Storm, by analogy with the nickname of his character (Cobra), works well with his legs, calls this style “Cobra Kung Fu”, and it resembles “Snake Fist”. As mentioned, Jeff Wolf gave it his all in his only fight, also demonstrating his kicker skills. In the final fighting sequences, Storm fights a gang of Tanaka's henchmen, including two women with swords and a group of masked bandits, then faces Goro, armed with a katana. For the most part, the fights look decent, but at times there are some bad camera angles with close-ups. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that the fighting actors and stunt performers (including Tsuyoshi Abe, Yoshio Izuki and Jade Kuon) worked hard to make the feature film a success.

Despite some shortcomings in the action and dialogue, “Black Cobra” is a decently made martial arts film that uses a smart cast, particularly the underrated TJ Storm and the seasoned Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa. Worth renting the disc.

Author: Albert Valentin
Source: kungfucinema.com
Translation: EvilDollaR

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