\n<\/p>\n
Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.<\/a><\/p>\n The director Takeshi Kitano\u2019s \u201cBroken Rage\u201d might be the most original action film I\u2019ve ever seen. A witty parody of the genre, it follows an older Japanese hit man named Mouse (Kitano), who\u2019s forced by detectives to inform on a gangster by becoming the goon\u2019s bodyguard. Mouse is what you expect of a hired gun: quiet, efficient and accurate. Kitano\u2019s keen script, however, is anything but predictable.<\/p>\n The 66-minute film is split into two tidy chapters, with the second part replaying the events of the first, with one exception. Now Mouse is bumbling fool who can\u2019t shoot straight and makes bad choices like drowning the wrong target. The score\u2019s operatic swells further lampoon Mouse\u2019s incompetency, and at points the screen goes totally blank, revealing a livestream of comments angrily decrying the shoddiness of the film. \u201cBroken Rage\u201d stuns as a cunning meta-action movie that strips the genre down to its essentials.<\/p>\n Rent or buy on most major platforms.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Another wonderfully silly actioner is the director Daniel Dones\u2019s futuristic adventure \u201cClone Cops.\u201d The film follows a group of assassins led by the hacker Cipher (Allison Shrum) holed up in a warehouse surrounded by a legion of replicant cops created by a blowhard scientist named Frank (Henry Haggard). Among this group of outlaws is Kinder (Schyler Tillett), an overly eager and clumsy teammate with a secret that will further raise the stakes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Without spoiling the film completely, let\u2019s just say \u201cClone Cops\u201d and \u201cThe Truman Show\u201d have quite a bit in common, except the former is grimmer and far more violent. Wacky shootouts and an immeasurable body count both entertain, and like \u201cBroken Rage,\u201d cause viewers to question their part in consuming and enjoying such carnage.<\/p>\n Stream it on Hi-Yah!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Years ago, the formidable Chinese hit man Zhou Ke (Chen Guokun), saved his best friend from a drug den owned by Ruan Hao (Banke), the gangster who had murdered Zhou\u2019s wife and child. While the friend escaped, police arriving at the scene captured and imprisoned Zhou.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Nearly a decade later, living as a street clown called Li Fei, Zhou befriends a little girl, Ling Ling (Wang Baotong). His quiet life and their friendship are interrupted when goons sent by his gangster nemesis come after Ling Ling, intent on seizing an incriminating USB drive hidden in her teddy bear.<\/p>\n As you can probably tell, there are plenty of twists and turns in Cheng Siyu\u2019s \u201cDesperado,\u201d and they are supported by stylistic fights reminiscent of the films of John Woo. In the opening, blood-soaked raid, for instance, Zhou Ke mows down a barrage of gangsters with lightning-quick efficiency. The playful camera that crash zooms on most of his bruising hits and quick movements is contrasted by slow motion sequences that savor his best punches. The rest of \u201cDesperado\u201d has a similar tenacity, offering the kind of meat and potatoes Hong Kong action that\u2019s still a joy to see.<\/p>\n\u2018Clone Cops\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Desperado\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Demon City\u2019<\/h2>\n