GENERAL STONE is another nondescript martial arts movie that has some cool magical elements but downplays them in favour of dragging mundanity. The story is about a kid who is the son of a statue - don't ask - who grows up to become a master kicker determined to avenge his father's death at the hands of a ruthless army commander.
I always get a kick out of seeing magical elements in these eastern movies but the distinct lack of budget means that they're barely on screen here. Mainly it's a routine kicker as our hero goes around beating up various nondescript bad guys and occasionally teaming up with a female fighter. Although produced by studios based in Hong Kong, this was filmed in Taiwan on the cheap, as so many were; as such, the trappings of the film never convince and, even more unforgivably, the action is shot close up in such a way that you never get a chance to properly check out the skill or otherwise of the participating fighters.
I always get a kick out of seeing magical elements in these eastern movies but the distinct lack of budget means that they're barely on screen here. Mainly it's a routine kicker as our hero goes around beating up various nondescript bad guys and occasionally teaming up with a female fighter. Although produced by studios based in Hong Kong, this was filmed in Taiwan on the cheap, as so many were; as such, the trappings of the film never convince and, even more unforgivably, the action is shot close up in such a way that you never get a chance to properly check out the skill or otherwise of the participating fighters.