Dragon Eyes
2012 Directed by John Hyams
Synopsis
In St. Jude, drug dealers and corrupt cops have destroyed an urban neighborhood. But newcomer, Hong, has the fighting skills and moral vision to save this town from itself.
Cast
Popular reviews
More-
This was on, and I didn't change the channel.
Lot's of threatening between tough guys, then kicking by some random guy. Cool use of a rake while fighting. Most of the fights are in Sepia for some reason. Way too long to get Van Damme on screen.
-
Everybody who was annoyed by the Universal Soldier elements of the last two Universal Soldier movies should take a look at Dragon Eyes. All the John Hyams hallmarks are here: Long tracking shots, inventively staged action, brutal and anti-fun violence, shutter-stutter editing, but the narrative connecting tissue is a little off.
It's a Yojimbo riff, but in a (at least initially) realistic gangland milieu that throws off the tone - maybe it will play better if I see it again knowing what to expect, but my impression now is that it's caught in the no-man's land between realistic crime drama and psychedelic action insanity. Once the movie settles down into a more well-worn genre groove this mostly disappears, but in…
-
Ostensibly an urban Western, with Cung Le as the "man with no name" who comes into the town (actually a ghetto slum) of St. Jude to clean up shop.
The film employs a snazzy visual style and some in-your-face editing to make things really pop. There are plenty of gritty, violent moments and some terrific fight scenes. JCVD has an interesting cameo as Le's mentor; and Peter Weller gets to ham it up in grand style as the ruthless mob boss villain named Mr. V. That's exactly as hilarious and fun as it sounds, by the way.
And all of that should be enough. But unfortunately it's not. Because, in terms of narrative, this is very sloppily put together. The…
-
Hyams' mastery of digital photography and choreography barely animate Tim Tori's unremarkable script.
-
More visibly a result of direct-to-video standards than UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION, this low-rent MMA version of YOJIMBO is nevertheless so well shot that it still makes an argument for Hyams as a great talent to watch in action filmmaking. Also, Peter Weller!
-
Disappointing for a film with both JCVD and Peter Weller. JC has a good role as the mentor but is underutilized; Weller is overthetop nuts but fun. It's "star" Cung Le that brings down this "Yojimbo in ghetto NOLA" street gang/drug dealer/corrupt cop fairytale. He lacks the necessary charisma to be the leading man in an action romp.
Recent reviews
More-
Gang wars
played out as
Lynchian nightmares. -
This was on, and I didn't change the channel.
Lot's of threatening between tough guys, then kicking by some random guy. Cool use of a rake while fighting. Most of the fights are in Sepia for some reason. Way too long to get Van Damme on screen.
-
Everybody who was annoyed by the Universal Soldier elements of the last two Universal Soldier movies should take a look at Dragon Eyes. All the John Hyams hallmarks are here: Long tracking shots, inventively staged action, brutal and anti-fun violence, shutter-stutter editing, but the narrative connecting tissue is a little off.
It's a Yojimbo riff, but in a (at least initially) realistic gangland milieu that throws off the tone - maybe it will play better if I see it again knowing what to expect, but my impression now is that it's caught in the no-man's land between realistic crime drama and psychedelic action insanity. Once the movie settles down into a more well-worn genre groove this mostly disappears, but in…
-
Disappointing film. So much potential here with Hyam's directing. Bad acting and not the greatest story. Peter Weller was pretty good though.
-
Bruce Lee. Jet Li. Okay. Cung Le gives good effort in a vanity project to follow those superstars path. Van Damme is wonderful as the old jailhouse sifu. John Hyams sets his place among the top vulgar auteurists working today. Compelling images throughout the film and a couple of nice set pieces are dazzling.
-
Ostensibly an urban Western, with Cung Le as the "man with no name" who comes into the town (actually a ghetto slum) of St. Jude to clean up shop.
The film employs a snazzy visual style and some in-your-face editing to make things really pop. There are plenty of gritty, violent moments and some terrific fight scenes. JCVD has an interesting cameo as Le's mentor; and Peter Weller gets to ham it up in grand style as the ruthless mob boss villain named Mr. V. That's exactly as hilarious and fun as it sounds, by the way.
And all of that should be enough. But unfortunately it's not. Because, in terms of narrative, this is very sloppily put together. The…
-
Hyams' mastery of digital photography and choreography barely animate Tim Tori's unremarkable script.
-
A very good action film from a director new to me. I would not call myself an expert in the genre, and really had no expectations going in, so this would have to be called a pleasant surprise. The natural feel of the fight scenes and the washed out, almost rusty look of the film stood out for me. I will be seeking out more of Hyams films based on this one.
-
Terrible movie. The only good thing about it was Jean-Claude Van Damme as Mr. Miyagi/Red.