Throw Down

Director: Johnnie To

Plot (Panorama): Sze-To (Louis Koo) was once the greatest Judo fighter around but nowadays is merely a hopeless alcoholic gambler. That is, until a cocky Judo enthusiast (Aaron Kwok) shows up at the door and challenges him to a duel, and an old rival demands a match as well...

Review: When becoming overly familiar with Johnnie To's crime/triad thrillers he throws (no pun intended) a curve ball with Throw Down. My first thought when watching this film is, "What the hell is going on!?" Aaron Kwok bursting in playing the sax, chucking bouncers about, Louis Koo being an idiotic drunk/gambler and a seemingly emotionless Cherrie Ying who is just full of herself! Oh yeah, throw in a bad ass arm snapping Tony Leung Ka-Fai!

After reading all that you'll know what I mean when I say it's a little strange. But the movie picks up half-way and we get to see some kick-ass Judo!

The cast are good, Aaron Kwok and Louis Koo are two notably respected actors and both of them can hold this movie. Cherrie Ying's character is that of much interest, sure she's playing the eye candy, but there aren't any romantic sub-plots, she just wants to be a famous singer. Tony Leung upholds his reputation in a supporting role along with Jordan Chan making a brief appearance around the half-time mark in the movie.

At the end of the film a message from To saying this film is a tribute to his hero Akira Kurosawa. Hence the themes of judo rivalry and the recurring references to Kurosawa's "Sugata Sanshiro" (mostly from Calvin Choi's character Jing), a film which is based a young man efforts to learn the art and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film; sure it took me 20-30 minutes to settle into it. But, when Louis Koo's character begins to sort his life out the film turns to pure gold. Thank you Johnnie To!

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.0