For years people gave Netflix shows guff, over keeping a lot of their fight sequences in the dark. Or in hallways. Or littered with quick cuts. If you watched something like Daredevil, you know exactly what we’re talking about. Of course, you also know they got better, as the seasons went along. Now it would appear Netflix is kicking things up another notch with Wu Assassins. If you’re looking for a bout of martial arts madness, you could do far worse than this trailer for the upcoming series. See for yourself.
Here’s the short official synopsis, strictly to keep up appearances:
“He’s on a mission to save Chinatown, even if it means killing his own father. Kung Fu meets sci-fi meets Asian street food in Wu Assassins — only on Netflix August 8.”
As far as action goes, Wu Assassins seems to have it in spades. Broken arms, reversals, throws, some magical punching power. You name it, you saw it above. What you also saw some was some weirdness in the casting department. You have Iko Uwais (The Raid), a one man wrecking crew, who plays a character who finds himself unlocking the heroic powers of monks, from long ago. Otherwise known as seeing Mark Dacascos in the mirror all the time. That’s the curveball here. Uwais is accomplished on his own. Netflix knows this. Dacascos is on lots of people’s minds right now, after displaying his skills recently in John Wick Chapter 3. Netflix knows this. So either magic is involved, separating the two at some point, so they can duke it out or team up. It’s either that or there’s very much some wonkiness at play, in the story department.
It’s hard to tell exactly how Wu Assassins will turn out. Martial arts driven shows, regardless of mythology don’t exactly excel or get attempted that often. The longest running example would be the recently concluded Into The Badlands. Should this show tap into that fan base, to help get them off the ground, it could make waves. At the same time, it better do so quickly, with the shelf life of 3 seasons on the streaming giant, you can’t exactly hope to pick up speed down the line. Be sure to check out the new series, when it premieres exclusively on Netflix, on August 8. Fingers crossed this one is good.
