Kung Fu Jungle

Kung Fu Jungle (一個人的武林, 2014) is Teddy Chan's Hong Kong action thriller starring Donnie Yen, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A former martial arts instructor sits in prison for killing a man by accident. Out on the streets, someone is hunting the city's best fighters one by one.

Yen's character can't just wait it out behind bars. He cuts a deal with the police: track the killer, earn back his freedom. The murderer (Wang Baoqiang) is driven by a single obsession, to prove he is the strongest man alive, and he works through the disciplines like a checklist. Fists, kicks, weapons, grappling, every victim a different style he means to top. The closer it gets, the clearer it becomes that this ends as a duel, just the two of them, no badges and no rules.

Chan made the film a love letter to Hong Kong action cinema, packing the cast with genre veterans, stunt choreographers and directors in cameo roles. The fight work is hard-hitting and refreshingly free of digital gloss, the very reason people seek out Donnie Yen. The closing brawl across a busy highway alone is worth the runtime. Stream Kung Fu Jungle (2014) online on iFILM.