
Some heroes drive the action. Others appear to drift. Or so it occurs to me after watching Lee Doo-yong's patriotic action pic Kicks of Death. For leading man Charles Han Yong-cheol gets his ass whooped everywhere he goes, stumbling from bar to backroom to street. Han's character seems absolutely oblivious to the potential motivations he could assume once he finally takes an assertive role. He could redeem his father's name. (Dad collaborated with the Japanese.) He could join the Korean Independence Army and return to his homeland a hero. He could win over the girl — who keeps giving him apples — by rescuing her brother from prison. I suppose, come the movie's end, he's done all those things, more or less. But you don't feel as though he's accomplished any of them done them with a meaningful intention. His motive is basically a "thank you" to that apple-distributor for her constant kindnesses.
This laisez faire attitude is honestly what makes every Han Yong-cheol martial arts pic so damned fascinating. Standing at six-feet tall, pretty-boy Han foots the faces and fists the ribs of his opponents with a graceful athleticism that never looks strenuous or aggressive. Watching him execute his taekwondo moves in a black top and pants, I thought more about the dancing Audrey Hepburn of Funny Face than the determined Bruce Lee of Enter the Dragon. Speaking of Dragons, I wish there were an easy way to watch all the other movies Han made, like I did with Dragon Lee. I've seen Manchurian Tiger, Returned Single-Legged Man, and The Korean Connection, and I am now a bona fide Han fan. Much like Lee, despite his penchant for having the actor whipped, flogged, branded, and attacked by a hook.
A Note on Names: This movie is listed at IMDb as Bridge of Death while showing a poster reflecting its Italian title, Billy Chang. As for the film's lead actor Charles Han Yong-cheol, he also went by Charles Han, Ian Han, Hon Long-chit, Han Yong-chul, and Han Long-zhe.