Movies & TV / Reviews
Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch Review
Loading...Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch Review
Timothy Mah– Kid Fury
Jino Kang– Master Huang
Virginia Rallojay– The Phantom Witch
Directed by Jino Kang
Screenplay by Jino Kang
Produced by Fightstylez Productions
Runtime– 18 minutes
Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch is the second installment in the now officially ongoing Kid Fury short film series spearheaded by Hapkido master and low budget martial arts moviemaker Jino Kang. The Phantom Witch is, in many ways, the most wacked out thing that Kang has done so far. It has the badass martial arts action and superb fight choreography that you come to expect from Jino Kang, but The Phantom Witch ups the fantasy quotient considerably, showing yet another side to the filmmaking mind of Kang. The short is also a little rough around the edges and isn’t as slick as the first one, but that roughness gives The Phantom Witch a scope that makes you wonder where the heck the next installment will end up going. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff going on in this Kid Fury world.
The Phantom Witch starts with Kid Fury (Timothy Mah) living alone on the street and sleeping on a cardboard box (notice I said on, not in). After someone gives him a jacket and, I assume, some money, Fury wakes up, eats a jelly donut, and gets a message about the special box that he’s after. The Phantom Witch (Virginia Rallojay) has it. Who the heck is The Phantom Witch? Apparently, she’s some sort of mob boss that people know about and fear. If the Witch has it, there’s going to be a fight.
So Kid Fury heads for the Phantom Witch’s HQ and, after fighting a few henchmen, meets with the Witch on the roof of the building. Kid Fury ends up fighting her, but he is no match for her walking cane ass kicking technique and her constant disappearing. The Phantom Witch also has access to some sort of magic knock out dust that, if you get hit with it you are down for the count. And that’s what happens to Kid Fury.
So Kid Fury wakes up tied to a chair and with certain death (or torture) on the horizon. It’s at this point that Master Huang (Jino Kang) shows up. After taking down multiple The Phantom Witch henchmen with some serious neck snaps (Master Huang isn’t fucking around), Master Huang confronts the Witch and attempts to rescue his disgruntled son. Will he?
At a little over 18 minutes, Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch wastes absolutely no time in getting to where it needs to go and packs plenty of story into its scant running time. The world of Kid Fury is also opened up considerably as there are all kinds of people roaming the streets, from regular old badass crime bosses to criminals that use magic. Who else is out there? We don’t really find out what’s in the special box, but I’d imagine that we’ll find out soon enough.
The look of this episode isn’t as slick or polished as the first one. As I said, The Phantom Witch is a bit rough around the edges, which gives the short a different feel. The roughness actually helps make the magical qualities exhibited by the Witch seem a little more realistic and grounded. The roughness also makes Kang’s Master Huang seem much more dangerous than in the first short. The shit is on now, and in case you didn’t know, Master Huang is someone you don’t want to mess with.
Timothy Mah does a good job as Kid Fury. He doesn’t have as much to do this time around, but he’s still an impressive hero and he has some good fight scenes. It’s also heartening to know that Kid Fury knows how to eat a donut (I’m assuming that what he eats is a donut. That’s what it looks like to me). I’ve seen people in real life who haven’t mastered that and it’s depressing. So good job Kid Fury.
Virginia Rallojay is excellent as The Phantom Witch. At first, she seems like just an old woman with a cane. When she starts using that cane, though, watch the hell out. This woman can literally do anything, and it will be interesting to see what happens next with her. What else can she do? And will we ever see her have a full on, knockdown, drag out fight with Master Huang? If and when it does happen it will, no doubt, be an epic brawl.
And Kang, once again, rocks hard as Master Huang. He’s actually a little more sarcastic than last time, not to mention much more brutal. Kang looks like he’s having a ball as Huang and, much like Rallojay’s Phantom Witch, it will be interesting to see what happens with him in the next installment.
And there will be another Kid Fury installment, as the end credits give notice for another one in the future. I, for one, can’t wait.
Now, how can the general movie watching public see Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch? As I write this, the short is making the festival rounds (it recently won the “Action Film of the Year award at the prestigious Action on Film Mega Fest), so I implore you to make an effort to see it if it’s playing at a film festival near you. Otherwise, keep an eye on the series Facebook page, which you can see here. Further release information will no doubt appear there. You can watch the first episode here and you can check out my review of the first episode here.
Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch is awesome and you should definitely check it out.
See Kid Fury: The Phantom Witch. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 3
Explosions: None.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A nice opening titles sequence, driving around, jelly donut eating, multiple henchmen attacks, choking, a major league ass kicking, walking cane hooey, magic dust hooey, chair bondage, bell ringing, attempted sledgehammer hooey, multiple neck snaps, cane to the balls, hair stealing, a lightning bolt out of nowhere, and more driving around.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: The homeless, sleeping on a cardboard box, an awesome guitar theme, a guy in a devil mask, Jino Kang, Jino Kang snapping necks like there’s no tomorrow, someone speaking French, and Jino Kang driving.
Best lines: “I’ll dig all the way to China to find you and the box, too. That’s a promise,” “You’re the one causing all the ruckus, eh?,” “Sorry, I quit,” “What’s in the box, kid?,” “Move aside, boy. Who are you calling boy?,” “Nice mask,” “I thought I killed you!,” “Shut up. I was weak. And lonely. And drugged. Ha, that’s what she said,” “Once a junky, always a junky,” “We’re gonna rule the world, kid. You and me,” and “Get some rest, boy. We’ve got some work to do.”
All images courtesy of Jino Kang
