Sakra
If you did not get enough of Donnie Yen in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” and are relatively unfamiliar with him outside of that film and his other American film appearances, “Sakra” might be a good start to getting into his other martial arts and wuxia films. In this film, his character- Qiao Feng- is a respected leader who finds himself on the outside of the band of martial artists he led when he’s been wrongly accused of murder. Exiled, he not only looks for the truth about who killed the people he’s been framed of killing, but also of his past, and how he came to be with the band. There’s not much else to the story beyond that.
It might be because I have conditioned myself to be able to follow more and more foreign language films over the years, but I find it very welcoming when action movies outside of America have fairly straightforward narratives, and emphasize visual storytelling to dialogue. I’m sure much of that is deliberate, done as a way to more easily sell these films overseas, but truthfully, that’s been how action films have been from America since the ’80s- the more the spectacle sells the story, the easier we can make bank outside of America. Whichever industry decided to approach it that way first is inconsequential- what matters is we aren’t trying to solve riddles or follow complicated dialogue scenes in between the action, and audiences ultimately win. There can be a dense nature to the story that comes up regardless, and we can lose the plot, but so long as the director- in this case, Yen and Ka-Wai Kam- can keep things moving forward, we will stay on board. That’s one of “Sakra’s” strong suits.
“Sakra” is based on a novel by Louis Cha (credited as Jin Yong), and the film begins with a massive title card setting the stage. With historical fiction, that’s a very understandable approach to storytelling, but here it was almost overkill; I feel like the basic information needed could have been done a bit cleaner to get the film going. (Plus, after a certain point, I’ll admit that I lost track of the plot.) For much of this film’s 130 minutes, we’re not thinking about words we read at the beginning of the film, but instead seeing how Qiao Feng will fight and sleuth his way out of the predicament he’s in, all with a woman he’s responsible for getting injured in tow. Visually, Yen and Kam have a very strong eye for directing action, and the choreography of the set pieces is terrific throughout. The way each scene goes through moments of tension and release, and the sense of a spiritual journey being taken on the part of Qiao Feng’s, keeps us engaged throughout. This was a terrific addition to what’s already been a wild year for me when it comes to action filmmaking, and it might inspire more viewing from me going forward.
