The Wrath of Vajra (2013) User Reviews

No story and so on

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 September 2014]

If it actually a had a better (more decent) story this would be even better. But as it is, this is an amazing display in action choreography. There's always favorites in terms of, what people will like to see shown in a hands on (sorry for the pun) movie like this. And while this does not fail to deliver (framing, sound and setting in general, not to mention the choreography itself), some might want other things from their action movies.

But if you're in it for the really well executed (no pun intended here) scenes of (pretend) violence, look no further. The story as written before is very simple, but it's nothing more than an excuse for people to get it on (fighting-wise). A really more than decent effort in the martial arts scene

B Movie With Decent Fighting

[bchang_2 · 6/10 · 4 February 2015]

Light on story, boring dialog, but that's okay because this is an action film. Acting is cringingly bad, even for an action film.

This is basically a martial arts film made with a bunch of stunt men doing acting duty. The ones that do look the part/have decent acting, unfortunately can't fight. When the scene is stunt man vs stunt man, the fighting looks good, even when it's just an unimportant background fight. When the scene calls for stunt man vs non stunt man... the fight is boring even when it's the "featured" fight.

Spoilers coming, although really there's not much to spoil. The hero has to fight three "bosses".

The first boss fight is against a guy suffering from gigantism, like Andre the Giant, except without the athleticism. The guy basically poses in an uncoordinated way while the hero beats on him. This is a "look" actor, for his imposing size, no acting skills, no stunt work skills, boring fight.

The second boss fight "Crazy Monkey" is actually crazy good. After you've managed to survive his acting, you will be rewarded with a very well choreographed and creative fight. This is a "stunt" actor, just like the hero. No looks, no acting skills, but excellent stunt work.

The third and final fight is against the boss a.k.a. steroid boy. I had high hopes for steroid boy. He managed to pull off a menacing and driven persona, and looks quite impressively intimidating. Unfortunately this guy is no stunt man. He's slow, and not used to martial arts movements. Studio magic was used to fix this such as speeding up the frames, to varying amounts of success. But overall the fight ended up being pretty boring.

This film gets a 6 from the strength of the Crazy Monkey fight alone, it is very well done. I would say fast forward and just watch the Crazy Monkey fight.

Stupid Movie with some Redeemable Qualities

[Caesarboy5 · 6/10 · 28 November 2014]

The Wrath of Vajra wasn't shockingly bad. It was everything I expected after seeing stills from the movie along with a description on Netflix.

The premise is simple. There's a group of bad guys, and a good guy is trying to beat the head bad guy to save some abducted children. He needs to fight the best of the best and work his way up to the boss.

The story is super simple and very dumb. The execution of this ridiculous premise is solid. No plot holes and the movie does its very best to make the best of it.

Of course, this is a martial arts movies and the fights will make or break the film. In my opinion, the fighting was a mixed bag. The last two fights were really original and well done. One of them included a super skinny pale guy who basically slithered around like a snake, and climbed on top of stuff. The other one includes some very nice slow motion shots of the rain. Really impressive stuff. The rest of the fighting was kind of generic. Nothing bad, just nothing exceptional either.

Unfortunately, I do not speak Japanese so I can not judge the acting. The subtitles aren't enough for me to judge the line-delivery.

VERDICT:

If you love fighting movies, I suggest you check this movie out for the little of which it has to offer.

If you haven't watched many fighting movies, I CANNOT recommend this film. Check out Ip Man, it's a way better option.

This film get's a 6/10.

Good fights, nonsense plot

[continuumx · 7/10 · 1 March 2023]

Let's get this out of the way first. The story doesn't make any sense. There's a Japanese sect that follows some weird version of the Greek god on the underworld for some reason. They are in Japan during WWII trying to conquer the world or something. They are going to conquer China by teaching martial arts and blathering at them about philosophy or something. That's not going to work my guy. Indoctrinating like 30 kids into your cult is not going to conquer China. There are some soldiers captured in Burma who are made to fight for some reason. The main character is an ex-member who has gone over to the good side and is now a Shaolin monk apparently though that's barely mentioned and he doesn't look like one at all.

The plot doesn't really matter anyway. The reason to watch this movie is the fight scenes. There are some really good ones in this.

Decent action movie. With a few notes.

[dylanstaxes · 7/10 · 13 December 2021]

The action is quite good.

The main actor is cool.

The plotting is decent with a couple exceptions.

The concept is interesting.

The story is simple. Really simple.

If I was Japanese I'd be totally offended. As is, it was gross political propaganda that Japanese are disgusting death cultists.

The word vajra means wisdom, or decisive action; an energy that can be distorted into anger. Idk if people actually use the word all stupid like in the movie.

Awful. Even for a fighting movie

[nitarsh · 3/10 · 10 March 2014]

I am an avid lover of martial arts movies, specially Chinese/Japanese movies. The good ones usually either have very good fight scenes, and/or motivating morals and/or good comedy scenes. This movie has none of them. Apart from the last couple of fight scenes, which too was uneventful, there is no real action here. Story was really lame and most lines contain the words "Hades" or "Vajra", neither of which is properly explained. Above all, it takes the whole china-japan war to a whole new (and stupid) level which only aims to create more discord and has no historical background. In all, a waste of time, will not recommend it to anybody.

A Mortal Combat remake.. without the cool characters..

[FryHigh · 4/10 · 28 April 2014]

"... unknowing martial artists are summoned to a mysterious island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will decide the fate of the world."

That was the plot for Mortal Combat. It worked there because you had some fun characters.

Doesn't work as well here when you don't have Raiden or Sub-Zero. Which is too bad, it would have certainly made this film more bearable. Perhaps it was because I watched with both subs and dubs, but I found pretty much everything retarded... except for the fight scenes.

If you like Kung-Fu movies, it's worth a watch for the fight scenes, the movie is fun... just a bad Mortal Combat remake...

The yin and yang of a good movie

[blackmamba99971 · 10/10 · 30 December 2013]

Vajra, simply a title to one who has no defeat. This was a good film of action, despair, and the truth. In the life of one man who stood against all odds of Hades Shi,(Yu Xing) must fight against an opponent who is his equal. In the shrine of Hades children are taken away, and then sold as would be warriors to the shrine in order for them to spread the word of evil. Shi however does not see it that way after he killed his own brother with his own hand to prove to the shrine that he is a ready acolyte. Yet in his turmoil, left the shrine with a heavy conscience and became a disciple in a Shaolin temple.

Years later he comes back to the shrine to stop his rival, and free the new batch of children taken away from their homes. In the middle is Eko (Yamei Zhang) who is a photo journalist in order for her to spread the truth about the shrine of it being a non-malignant entity. But to her seeing all of the killing within the ranks causes her to stop believing in lies, and become someone who must speak the real truth.

It is a great action film set only in a shrine. Yet the different locations within this estate were always different, so it kept you wondering what's behind door number one or number two. The music was top notch, plus the actors themselves are always just as passionate when they deliver their lines. I particularly like Hiroyuki Ikeuchi who plays a bit part of a Hades acolyte. Even as small a part as his, he delivered brilliantly. Always a big fan of him since Ipman when he played the deranged Japanese general.

For those who like martial arts at their best, this is it. Although not a fully hammered story, which simply means that this was an example of the classic Ying/Yang theory. Good versus evil, and the like. What it really amounts to is choice. To choose your own path to follow rather than blindly following a tyrant, and sink into despair soon after. Ultimately The Wrath Of Vajra is a great hero worship film, where the real heroes come out on top in victory. Recommended for those over fourteen.

A great Martial Arts movie!

[italiandragon328 · 8/10 · 27 March 2014]

I will keep this short, this film was great!A unique concept and simple story carry this movie from point A to point B, while setting up plenty of fights and action! If you like martial arts movies, i'm sure you'll enjoy this.The movie has a darker tone to it, and characters are introduced appropriately. The choreography was very good for the most part, feeling gritty and with impact. I would've liked to see slightly longer shots in some of fight editing, but still, its a lot better than most of the stuff out there. The movie itself was shot beautifully. Certain scenes and setting (Shaolin / Hades) just look deep, and vivid. My verdict, if your into martial arts films, check it out!

Kung Fu meets MMA

[mjelcajonster · 10/10 · 10 March 2014]

This movie is bad ass! This is a classic Kung Fu style cinema with a modern day MMA influence. The subject matter is religious based (dogma,indoctrination) and coincides with the persecution of the Buddhist monks in China. It also incorporates the invasion of the Japanese in China. It may be a touchy subject for some but I took it for what it is...a fighting movie. There were your usual cheesy scenes that you would find in any Kung Fu movie but it wasn't too bothersome. The movie had a great musical score and the over dubs were not bad at all, except for the annoying kids. I highly recommend this movie if you're a fight fan or enthusiast. 7/10

FREEDOM, SIGNING, OR DEATH

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 22 June 2019]

This is a basic martial arts fight film with an unorthodox background that we have to read at the opening. Japan created a Hades death cult. They would kidnap/buy children from around the world and train them to fight. The object was to spread the spirit of Hades through fighting, killing the spirit of their enemy, in this case China.

The group was disbanded and then ordered to rebuild after 12 years because China was tough to conquer. They managed to gather together. There is a female journalist (Yamei Zhang) who covers them and gives us a speech on integrity in reporting. There is a group of Allied POWs captured in Burma, who employ some American actors. We quickly discover three of the prisoners were former cult members.

Our main protagonist is former member K-29 (Yu Xing) who became a Sholin Buddhist, a habitual good guy in Chinese films. He is there to save everyone but must compete in three lengthy formulaic slo-mo/ fast speed fights. My favorite was the one against Crazy Monkey (Heon Jun Nam) who looked like he escaped from a "Juon" film.

The final fight is depicted on the cover. Like "Kill Bill" there is a move called the "seventeen seconds of death." Did K-29 master it? When will he possibly use it if he did? Okay, this wasn't a mystery, but the film has some minor twists.

Vajra is associated with the diamond and thunderbolts. It is powerful, hard, and indestructible.

The film is 8 stars on the Chinese martial arts scale.

No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Plenty of violence with several bloody scenes. Faces being hit in slow motion, showing the skin flowing. No silly anti-gravity fighting.