kung-fu phony

I've recently been watching a lot of kung-fu movies, thanks in part to my mom's efforts to integrate more Chinese into my life. But as part of it...I've become rather jaded.

First of all, a disclaimer. I do not bash kung-fu movies because of their over-masculinity. I do not claim to dislike action movies. I do not claim to dislike violence in movies.

However, it is the ludicrousness and the predictability of such movies that I dislike. I mean, quite honestly, one man repeatedly battling huge swarms of minions and then battling "THE EPIC EVIL DUDE OF DOOM" in a close fight and then winning is no way for a story to go. It is hardly realistic. It is hardly anything but predictable. And although there is a stereotypical theme (usually that of courage in impossible odds, or of fighting for what you believe in, or the like), one can argue, and argue well, that there are a hundred better ways to portray it than through a kung-fu movie.

Although the physical conflict is more than present, I must argue that the emotional conflict in such cases tend to be tacky, or nonexistent. The characters are stereotypes, and the dialogue something out of a comic book. They have very little depth, and too much action. In fact, oftentimes, there is too much action and too little story for anyone to really care about the characters, much less how they end up. And usually, one can guess those as well.

I guess there is some thrill in seeing epic battles play out on the screen. However, this last note I have to say: the best conflict is played out not on the battlefield, but in the heart and in the mind.