Invincible Dragon Review: Two Fighting Legends In A Death Match

Release date: October 6, 2020 (Blu Ray)
Running time: 85 minutes
Starring: Max Zhang, Anderson Silva, Kevin Cheng 

When a brilliant but trigger-happy detective (played by martial arts powerhouse Max Zhang) is outsmarted by a serial killer, he pays a high price for his momentary lapse in judgment. Robbed of both his fiancée and his job, he soon spirals out of control and goes back to what he knows best: fighting. Unbeknownst to him, a serendipitous reunion with an old rival (Brazilian mixed martial artist Anderson Silva) may be the key to unlocking the truth about his fiancée’s disappearance—and to apprehending the killer.

As a martial arts movie, the action is going to be the first thing you notice and the most important.  And thankfully Invincible Dragon has some good martial arts action.  Max Zhang is a martial arts legend, and he has some very creative fight sequences early on.  And when another fighting legend, Anderson Silva, joins the fight, it ups the ante.  I liked seeing their two styles play off each other and Silva has some really good scenes when he is first introduced that highlight some of the hallmarks of martial arts movies: interesting environments, slow motion action, and pure fighting.  And these fight scenes are accompanied by some good, exciting music that will get you amped up for the action.  It is a treat for the eyes and ears and one that will have you cringing at each thud and pop in this action film.

However, the story of Invincible Dragon tries to play off some more serious aspects and just falls flat for me.  Maybe some of this was lost in translation, but the darker parts of the story just weren't that compelling to me.  The mystery was presented well enough, but I really just wanted to have more of a vehicle for fighting.  And the story felt like a distraction at times, and caused the middle to not have a lot of action as the team investigated the serial killer.  It really caused the movie to drag in the middle, not something you want with a high action film that starts so strongly and ends in an exciting fashion.  Another distraction in this film is the CG.  It looks unrealistic and frankly, didn't seem necessary where it was used.  The story could have been told without CG to take you out of it, but this is just another example of how the story distracts from the real draw of this film.  And the writing and acting at times were pretty cheesy, which was entertaining sometimes, but also not something that needed to be there.  Invincible Dragon feels like it has all the components to be a really interesting take on the martial arts film, but the execution fell flat.  See it for the Zhang and Silva fights, and for the action sequences, but don't expect to come away fully understanding what you saw.

Invincible Dragon takes two fighting legends and pits them against each other in an exciting fight full of martial arts action and pumping sound.

Rent it.

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Invincible Dragon will be available physically, digitally, and on demand on October 6, 2020.  For additional information about the film and to rent / buy it, check it out at the links below.

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