Bullet Points: Tiger Claws III
Tiger Claws III continued not only the tradition of the first two Tiger Claws movies, but Jalal Merhi’s tradition of surrounding himself with quality martial artists and action movie veterans…
- Another Stakeout: Jalal Merhi and Cynthia Rothrock reprise their roles from Tiger Claws and Tiger Claws II, Detectives Tarek Richards and Linda Masterson. There was either some miscommunication between the two partners or Tarek straight up lied to Linda because she comes dressed to go out for steak, while Tarek is dressed for a stake out (Get it?) Anyway, turns out it was a good thing they didn’t go to
Ruth’s Chris Steak HousePeter Luger’s, because Tarek and Linda spot a shadowy figure sneaking into a nearby warehouse that houses rare antiquities. The suspect makes it inside and unmasks himself before he starts trying to pry open some crates… it’s Loren Avedon! Avedon plays Stryker Gudonov. Stryker’s back story is not really fleshed out a ton, but the first impression of him breaking and entering and his character have having facial hair was good enough for me (Get it?) and all the explanation I needed that Stryker was one of the villains. Tarek and Linda do make it inside and have a brief confrontation with Stryker (although they never see his face) before some uniformed officers show up and cause enough of distraction that Stryker is able to get away like the proverbial thief in the night.
- Malcolm in the Middle: The next day, business man Malcolm shows up at the police precinct to thank Detectives Richards and Masterson. Malcolm represents the owner of the rare antiquities and as a token of his appreciation he gives the detectives two tickets to a swanky fundraiser where the rare antiquities the cops helped save would be on display. But Tarek and Linda aren’t the only special guests at this charity event… the guest of honor is Stryker Gudonov. Tarek recognizes Stryker as martial artist who used to do demonstrations in Central Park (because this movie totally takes places in New York), but Tarek never saw Stryker do what he was about to do next… raise the spirits of three ancient assassins who have taken human form and immediately incite panic at the fundraiser. Tarek and Linda immediately spring into action… but try as they might they are no match for the supernatural forces they are going up against. And that’s when it happens… Linda is killed. This was a bold decision… obviously Cynthia Rothrock was a huge reason a lot of people checked out this movie. Three movies in it was clearly established that the Tiger Claws franchise was a Jalal Merhi and Cynthia Rothrock joint. This was like the direct to video equivalent of killing off Martin Riggs or Mike Lowrey.
- The Spirit Squad: Loren Avedon made the most of a rare villainous role as he hams it up like only Loren Avedon can. The Stryker Gudonov character is over the top, often smoking cigars and seemingly getting a massage in every other scene he is in. I have seen others compare Avedon and the three supernatural assassins in Tiger Claws III to Lex Luthor and the three Kryptonian super villains from Superman II and it is accurate. Stryker often lightens the mood while the assassins wreak havoc on
Toronto…Metropolis… New York City. Loren Avedon’s performance is easily the highlight of the entire movie. - Jin and Juice: It turns out that Tarek is not going to have to go it alone against Stryker and the supernatural assassins… Tarek reaches out to Stryker’s former sensei, Master Jin, played by Carter Wong. Mainstream movie fans will probably recognize Wong most from his work in Big Trouble in Little China, but Wong is a veteran of the Hong Kong movie scene. Master Jin teaches Tarek the Black Tiger technique, the only technique that will be able to send the spirits back to the afterlife. Wong’s participation in the movie was a pleasant surprise.
Tiger Claws III lost me when it made the questionable decision to kill off Cynthia Rothrock’s character in the first act of the film. And I mean that quite literally. I actually shut the movie off and turned on something else. It took me days before I got around to going back and finishing Tiger Claws III, only to find out that the movie had one more questionable decision up its sleeve… a giant swerve ending!
No swerves to the ending of this review, it is time for some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Tiger Claws III is also known by the extended title, Tiger Claws III: The Final Conflict.
- Familiar Place, Familiar Face: The fundraiser that Linda and Tarek attend is held at the same theater that the evil Chong character from the first two Tiger Claws films operated out of. This prompts some flashback scenes featuring Chong, who was played by Bolo Yeung of Bloodsport and Enter the Dragon fame.
- Out of Context Quote: “From now on, when I go out with you, I’m wearing pants.” – Linda Masterson
