Most martial arts films do little to keep my interest. Too many times the fighting takes precedence over the story. That isn't a bad thing, mind you. When people go to a martial arts film they want to see martial arts! But many of them seem like fight reels instead of actual films. Jimmy Wang's One Armed Boxer 2: Master of the Flying Guillotine manages to circumvent this problem in two ways. First, Wang keeps the fight scenes relatively short. Now, don't misunderstand me. Most of the film is fighting. It follows the eponymous One Armed Boxer, the master of a martial arts school, who is hunted by a blind imperial assassin. In the first One Armed Man (1971), he killed two of the assassin's students. When the One Armed Man attends a martial arts tournament, the assassin decides that it is the perfect time to strike. Herein lies Wang's second strategy of keeping the film fresh: the fights all show-case radically different styles of martial arts. I don't mean that combatants use different styles of fighting that can only be told apart by other martial artists. There is an Indian yogi with arms that can double in length. There is a rowdy Thai kick-boxer. Some fights are held over a pit of swords. In one of the film's climactic scenes, two fighters battle in a tiny hut with an iron floor on top of a raging fire. Admittedly, the plot is really only there to facilitate the wide variety of fights. But the fights are so inventive that you won't mind. There is a worrisome undercurrent of jingoism prevalent throughout the film. Many of the "foreign" characters are in black-face and behave crudely and slovenly. The Chinese characters are noble, strong, and wise. But I guess as an American, I have no right to complain. After all, Hollywood has a prestigious tradition of hurtful stereotypes and white-washing. But when judged on its own merits, One Armed Boxer 2: Master of the Flying Guillotine is one of the best martial arts films that I have ever seen.
8/10
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