Wu Assassins is a show that started slowly for me,
but at some point, it snuck up on me and I kind of started to love it.
Featuring some good twists, some great characters, and some top-notch fight
scenes, it makes for a good time.
Kai is a
hardworking chef in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He has dreams of owning his own
food truck, but for now, he’s working two jobs and refusing any financial help
from his adopted father, triad boss Uncle Six. However, one ordinary day, Kai
is yanked into another dimension, where a spiritual guide informs him that he’s
been chosen to play a key role in a centuries-long mystical war. He is the last
Wu Assassin, the only one who can defeat the five Wuxing, who each wield power
over a different element. Kai is imbued with the strength and skill of the Wu
Assassins who came before him, and although his new mantle is wild to even
fathom, he soon realizes he has no choice but to use the power given to him and
face his destiny.
In any
kung fu show, the first question you ask has to be, “How’s the kung fu?” If the
fight scenes don’t cut it, what are you even doing here? In Wu Assassins’s case, everything is up to
snuff. There are all kinds of cool, well-choreographed fights in this show, and
while Kai gets a lot of the most impressive moments, there aren’t many slouches
in the cast. Most of the characters get to majorly throw down in at least a few
episodes, bringing some serious style to their ass-kicking.
I also
enjoy the character work in the show. While some characters seem pretty
one-note at first, we see their layers build over the course of the first
season, and by the end of it, everyone is clearly defined. The core
relationships between Kai and his friends are strong, and Uncle Six is a great
entry into the canon of likable antagonists.
I feel
like the overall storyline doesn’t really meet the quality of the fight
choreography or the character interactions. Plot points definitely feel
cookie-cutter in places, and while there are some terrific twists, others are
obvious to the point of goofiness. Still, the story improves as it goes on, and
by the time I got to the last few episodes of the season, I was pretty invested
in seeing what was going to happen.
Also, not
for nothing? I love that, when this group is doing a mystical blood ritual that
involves five people cutting their hands and feeding their blood to animals,
they use five different knives. I
know it’s a little thing, but most shows don’t bother with that. No hepatitis
for this crew!
I’ll cop
to not being familiar with most of the cast, although Lewis Tan (who I first
saw in the best five minutes of Iron Fist’s
first season) plays a major supporting role and the always-solid Tzi Ma appears
as a recurring character. Everyone does well, but the standout for me is Byron
Mann as Uncle Six, in a real “can’t take your eyes off him” performance.
Warnings
Lots of
violence, swearing, some drinking/smoking/drug use, and thematic elements.
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