What to Watch This Weekend: Free Guy, CODA, Raging Fire, Respect, Slasher Flesh and Blood, Luca, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Easy Does It

For A Heartfelt Family Drama: CODA (Theaters and Apple TV+)

CODA is a treat for the eyes and ears, with a beautiful look at a tight knit family that faces both unique and universal challenges as they struggle to deal with life, growing together, and growing apart.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Next Level Video Game Comedy: Free Guy (Theaters)
Free Guy is a love letter to video games and to Ryan Reynolds with an over the top premise, plenty of cameos and Easter Eggs, and a story that will have you cheering until it is game over.   For more information, check out the review!

For A Martial Arts Police Procedural: Raging Fire (Theaters)

Raging Fire is a showcase for Yen and Tse, with fantastic, brutal action, great style, and a police procedural plot that pits these two superstars against each other in a climactic conclusion.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Soulful Docu-Drama: Respect (Theaters)

Respect's all star cast and courage to explore the good and the bad of Aretha's journey will give you a new appreciation of the Queen of Soul's life, music, and the challenges that crafted this strong icon.  For more information, check out the review! 

For A Throwback Action Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead (Redbox)

Those Who Wish Me Dead is a 90s style action thriller with an all star cast and great direction.  For more information, check out the review!

For The Kids: Luca (Redbox)
Luca is in the vein of A Little Mermaid, but its beautiful animation, imaginative story, and focus on tolerance and being yourself is a timeless message that appeals to kids and adults alike!  For more information, check out the review!

For A Horror-Based Family Drama: Slasher: Flesh and Blood (Shudder)

Slasher: Flesh and Blood has a Knives Out feel, with a dysfunctional family forced back to the patriarchs estate for a deadly reunion.  I liked the characters and the overall drama, as well as the addition of a killer in the midst!!

For A Fun, Indie Road Trip: Easy Does It (IMDBTV Free With Ads)

Easy Does It is a breath of fresh indie air. The film's cast of quirky, fun characters, entertaining story, style, and fantastic music fuels a wonderfully enjoyable road trip!  For more information, check out our review!

Raging Fire Review: Donnie Yen Burns Brightly In The Action Packed Final Act

Release date: August 13, 2021
Running time: 126 minutes
Directed By: Benny Chan
Starring: Donnie Yen (Mulan, the Ip Man franchise), Nicholas Tse (Shaolin, New Police Story), Qin Lan (Story of Yanxi Palace), Lui Leung Wai (Flash Point), Simon Yam (Little Q, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life), Ben Yuen, Ben Lam (Flash Point, Police Story), Ken Low (Rush Hour), Carlos Chan, Patrick Tam (Master Z, Ip Man 3), Kenny Wong (New Police Story), Deep Ng (Stool Pigeon), Jeana Ho (The Grandmaster, Special Female Force), Angus Yeung, Bruce Tong, Henry Mak (Operation Red Sea), Yu Kang (Ip Man 3), German Cheung (The White Storm 2: Drug Lords), Tony Wu Tsz Tung (Men on the Dragon)

Bong (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Bong. However, a terrible mistake three years prior landed him in prison, quickly turning the once rising star into a furious man with a grudge, and the will to destroy everyone who had wronged him—including his former mentor.

Raging Fire is a mix of strong brutal action and police intrigue.  The movie is a showcase for Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse as opposites in this fight.  Yen is the uncorruptable officer who will do what it takes to catch the bad guy (within the law), and Tse is the ruthless ex cop who will do whatever it takes to get his revenge.  The movie has a lot of police intrigue but that is buttressed by some great action sequences.  From hand to hand combat, to gunplay, to some great driving sequences, this film will get your blood pumping.  There isn't as much action as I was hoping for, but what is there is brutal and very well done.  The hand to hand combat feels especially violent, with an emphasis on brutality and less on show.  It set a nice tone for this movie and made you really apprecaite these fight sequences.

But the film also has style as well.  As a gritty police procedural, you have some great scenes at night, in the rain, and in the neon.  The movie sets a great tone as Donnie Yen hunts down these former cops and tries to pin this latest crime on them.  And all of this is accompanied by some really good dramatic music.  And although the film does use CG, the effects are overall very well done.  The CG seems to be used to accent and accentuate the action, not simply to replace it.  This makes it blend in much better and it is only noticeable a few times.  Overall, the film is a solid action and police procedural and a great return to form for Donnie Yen.

If there is anything wrong with this film, it is that the story is convoluted and hard to follow, especially at the start.  The movie starts with a bang, but I did not appreciate what was going on at the time.  The film also jumps back and forth in the timeline to fill some in, but I didn't realize this until later.  It made the whole opening quite confusing to follow, but that was cleared up by the fantastic end.  This also leads to some strange emotional scenes as well, because something dramatic will happen and a flashback will occur.  However, since I didn't realize it was a flashback, it made it look like the formerly devastated cops were now joking.  Again, this was all cleared up by the end but until then, it was tough to follow.

Raging Fire is a showcase for Yen and Tse, with fantastic, brutal action, great style, and a police procedural plot that pits these two superstars against each other in a climactic conclusion.

Watch it.

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Raging Fire is available in theaters on August 13, 2021.  For showtimes, click here. 

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