Movies & TV / Reviews
Fierce Target Review
Loading...Fierce Target Review
Emilio Lavizzi– Pietros Komos
Tamas Nadas– Ivan
Chloe Gunther Chung– Mira
Don Worley– Senator Parker
Bryan Hanna– Jake Stone
(check out the rest of the cast here
Directed by Emilio Lavizzi
Screenplay by Emilio Lavizzi
Produced by Busy Day Productions, Goldfinger Productions, and Wild Card Films
Unrated
Runtime– 110 minutes
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Movie/FIERCE-TARGET-122459491923/
Fierce Target, written by, directed by, and starring Emilio Lavizzi, is a low budget action/crime movie that’s currently seeking distribution. While it’s a little too long for what it wants to do and kind of messy plot wise, it’s still a damn good flick that has some excellent performances, some terrific fight and action sequences, and enough heart at its core to be a worthwhile piece of entertainment. I think its action movie elements work better than its crime movie elements, but, hey, if you’re a crime movie nerd you might enjoy those parts more than the action movie stuff.
So Lavizzi stars as Pietros Komos, a mysterious, somewhat shifty car thief and underground martial arts fighter who, in the middle of “vehicle procurement” job, ends up rescuing young girl Mira (Chloe Gunther Chung) from certain death, as she is being pursued by a team of heavily armed thugs who work for a corrupt U.S. Senator (Senator Parker, as played by Don Worley). Why would a U.S. senator send his henchmen after a young girl? Well, Mira walked in on the senator’s henchmen killing the senator’s wife Mira was staying in the same hotel as the senator and his wife). The senator’s henchmen figure out where Mira is staying in the hotel and go after her, killing her parents in the process (poor Mira finds them in the bathtub, both shot in the head). Mira escapes, and, in the process of getting away, runs into Pietros, who then rescues her.
And so Pietros and Mira try to stay away from the senator’s henchmen, who are dogged pursuers, not to mention plain old vicious bastards. These people will kill anyone that gets in their way. However, Pietros is more than capable of taking them all on, one-on-one or in a group. Pietros himself is a kind of vicious bastard, too, a former professional kickboxer turned international super criminal who is wanted by Interpol for murder in Europe. Pietros, too, has no problem taking out anyone who gets in his way, including cops. Pietros won’t let anyone harm Mira, though. For whatever reason, he is now her protector, and he will do whatever it takes to keep the bad guys away from her.
Well, as long as protecting Mira doesn’t interfere with his underground martial arts fighting career. In the middle of being pursued by the senator’s killers, Pietros takes time out of his super busy beating the crap out of henchmen schedule to fight for big money, eventually taking on a monster fighter named The Crucifier (I have no idea who this is but the guy is, indeed, a monster). Beating the Crucifier will give Pietros a big score and, in the end, that’s what he needs most of all. Money.
Now, while all of that is going on, the senator’s top henchman, Ivan (Tamas Nadas), is hot on the trail of Pietros. And when Ivan finally confronts Pietros, it’s going to be a knockdown, drag out martial arts brawl to the finish.
As I said at the beginning, when the movie is in action movie mode it’s awesome. Emilio Lavizzi is a real deal martial artist and it shows. His fighting technique and style is smooth and brutal and it never looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. And when he takes on the senator’s henchmen he destroys them. Nadas, also a real deal martial artist, is just as smooth and brutal but in a slightly different way. When you see them fight you’ll see what I mean. They do complement one another, though. And the underground martial arts fight section of the movie, where Lavizzi takes on various fighters on his way to The Crucifier is excellent and the highlight of the movie (well, besides the eventual fight between Lavizzi and Nadas). Their fight is something that will no doubt live on forever on YouTube as an example of how to do a low budget action movie martial arts fight.
Now, when the movie is in “crime” movie mode, it’s less awesome. There’s a whole section of the movie involving two “Algerian brothers” that I don’t understand. There are several mob bosses that basically just sit around and tell gross jokes, some of which are funny and some of which are just, well, gross. And the senator’s henchmen aren’t all that interesting. I don’t even remember their names. And then there’s a part in the movie where the senator calls in a professional assassin to take care of Pietros, and, despite being a professional, gets completely destroyed within minutes. How professional could the professional assassin have been?
And then there are the little on screen touches with slow motion bullets and stuff like that. I’m not a fan of these bits to begin with, but if they’re used consistently throughout the movie it’s no big deal. These touches just pop up in the movie, at random times, and I’m not sure what the point of doing them are. I mean, they don’t hurt the movie, but they don’t really help the movie, either. I just don’t get them.
The main cast is terrific. Emilio Lavizzi does a great job as the lead, Pietros. As I said earlier, his martial arts skills are top notch, and his screen presence is exceptional. He just has it, that intangible whatever that makes him automatically interesting. He has also has badass hair in this, which helps with his look. If he decides to pursue a career in the movies he will succeed, no question about it.
Tamas Nadas, as Ivan the lead henchman, also does a great job. You’re not quite sure who he is or why he’s important when you first see him, but once he starts kicking ass you see why he is super important and incredibly dangerous. I can’t stress enough how amazing his fight with Lavizzi is, and it’s something that audiences will marvel at when they get a chance to see the movie.
Don Worley makes Senator Parker absolutely reprehensible. He has his men kill his wife, he has his men kill a little girl’s parents, and he sends them after the little girl herself. And that’s just the stuff we see him do in this movie. God only knows what other nasty shit he’s responsible for. And what kind of person has a professional assassin on speed dial? A true blue scumbag, that’s who. Worley knows how to make you hate him. Truly exceptional work. And Bryan Hanna, as henchman Jake Stone, is just as reprehensible.
As for Chloe Gunther Chung as Mira, she’s kind of annoying most of the time. You cut her slack because she found her parents dead in a hotel room bathtub, but there are times when she starts talking, either via dialogue or voiceover narration, you want to mute the movie. And what’s the deal with the constant bracelet making? I get why she’s into it, yes, but a girl her age should probably have other interests. I don’t know what those interests could be or should be, but she’s limited herself too much.
Fierce Target is a nifty little action crime movie. It should do very well for itself when it finally secures distribution. It has issues, it isn’t perfect, but it’s more entertaining than not entertaining, and that’s what should count the most. I hope you all, one day, get to see the movie, the big Pietros/Ivan martial arts throw down, and I hope that Emilio and Nadas get to do more of this kind of thing in the future. The world could use more exceptional low budget martial arts action movies. Fierce Target is one of those exceptional movies the world needs.
See Fierce Target. See it, see it, see it!
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: At least 20.
Explosions: None.
Nudity? None.
Doobage: A woman in a bikini, people arguing, a gigantic stretched Hummer limo, money counting, a sex video, face punching, a brief montage of women in bikinis and other shit, multiple awkward conversations, rubber gloves and a syringe full of something, a stair chase, car stealing, homophobia, ass grabbing, more women in bikinis, disturbing behavior in front of a young girl, a massive kick to the gut, more face punching, dead bodies in a bathtub, a wicked flash cut kick, midget beating, a flashback beating montage, a bizarre stylized shootout, motorcycle stealing, bike helmet to the face, jet ski escape, life advice, a news broadcast, hand shooting, a bloody T-shirt, a guy smoking dope, food eating, a SWAT team leader that looks like Lee Majors’ stunt double, dirty underhanded knife play, knife to the throat, knife to the neck, cop killing, neck snaps, more car stealing, vehicular assault, assassin hiring, underground fights, even more neck breaking, coat throwing, serious arm and leg breaking, hot tub sex, a super punch, douchebag crowd members, MAC-10 hooey, sex talk, an odd conversation about what life is really about, misogyny, a shootout with multiple headshots, a major final brawl with table breaking, and a weird ending.
Kim Richards?: Attempted. Multiple times.
Gratuitous: Jewelry making, martial arts training, a poster of Brock Lesnar on the wall, putting out a cigar, shooting a guy in the dick five times and then in the head, Algerian brothers, paddle shifting, a license plate, street soccer, a flip phone camera, pool playing, talk of titties, underground fights, Emilio Lavizzi doing nip ups, fancy footwork, a $300,000 bet, “I don’t want to conform to the system,” Tamas Nadas, a final brawl, and a weird ending.
Best lines: “There! There’s a restaurant!,” “Where’s Pietros?,” “Five thousand dollars!,” “Come on, we’re joking, right? We’re joking!,” “How long have you been fucking my wife?,” “You need to be careful, little girl. Somebody might get hurt,” “Sure would like to bury my face in that ass,” “She forgot to release the safety,” “Yo, you scratch my car and I’ll break your arm, kid,” “My father always tells me to stay away from Mediterranean men because they’re never faithful. I’m beginning to think he might be right,” “Where’s my Mom? Shut up and sit down!,” “I want to know is he a criminal, a homosexual, an agent!,” “I’m gonna kick your ass! Come on!,” “I’m scared! Please don’t leave me!,” “What the hell happened to you? Rough day,” “Thank you. Thank you for helping me,” “Call in the professional,” “I am sending in a professional,” “How’s the view down there? This is the last good view you’re ever gonna see,” “What the hell are these guys doing, barbecuing or something?,” “When I make love to a woman I always like to eat her pussy first. I love foreplay,” “Do you believe in God? I don’t believe in anything or anyone but myself,” “You’re so pessimistic,” “Wow. You’re real wise,” “Where’s my shit, cowboy?,” “Cabron, there’s no way your friend likes licking titties,” “Personality? What the fuck is that?,” and “Oh, give Sam his twenty percent.”
