Based on the video game, Fatal Fury is widely regarded as one of the best kung fu anime features. The good guys are Terry “Hungry Wolf” Bogard and his brother, Andy; Thai kickboxer Joe Higashi; and the curvaceous ninja Mai. With their masses of spiky blond hair, narrow blue eyes, and sharp features, the Bogard brothers almost cross over into the “beautiful boy” genre, but they and Joe are muscled like dinosaurs. Mai, who has a crush on Andy, provides both humor and jiggle interest in a succession of minuscule outfits. The heroes are pitted against an assortment of equally buffed-out Bad Guys, led by Laocorn, a descendant of the ancient clan of Gaudeamus, who is seeking to obtain “the armor of Vulcan.” A relic going back to the time of Alexander the Great, the armor transforms anyone who wears all seven pieces of it into a god. But Laocorn’s twin sister, Sulia, knows it will also make the wearer hopelessly evil: she enlists the Bogards and their friends to prevent her brother from acquiring the scattered pieces. Director Masami Obari uses all the standard tricks for the bone-crunching martial arts battles–blurs, streaks, slow-motion images of blows landing on skulls, camera spins, flashes of lighting, flames, and, of course, gobs of blood. Fatal Fury feels like a cross between an Indiana Jones film and a WWE tag-team match, and is sure to delight adolescent boys. (Rated 13 Up) –Charles Solomon
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April 14, 2010
#1
To be quite honest! This movie SUCKED! The story was somewhat senseless, the villien, Laocorn was very boring and stupid, some of the characters were dumb, and most of all, Mai was ruined and acted silly and annoying! But, there was one character I liked, Laocorn’s lovely, and cute sister, Sulia! I’m telling you! This movie was soooooooooooooooo BORING! The fight secens wern’t too bad! But, even those were boring! So, if you are a Fatal Fury fan or not, stay away from this movie!
April 14, 2010
#2
I love the video games Fatal Fury and when I heard theirs a movie I just couldn’t wait. After seeing the Street Fighter 2 movie it was great. I’m thinking the animation on this movies is just as good. I can tell this one will have lots of action
April 14, 2010
#3
I enjoy two things in anime, people fighting in giant robots and people fighting with super powers.This movie satisfies the latter in a major way.
April 14, 2010
#4
This is what came to mind once I got done watching this-the most pitifull, pointless, regrettable piece of drivle since Ayame’s High Kick. I mean come on, those scrawny emmaciated characters looked like they were scrawled by a drunken third grader drawing with his non-domminant hand. The plot had no redeeming value what so ever and the characters had all the flair and feeling of a stale rice cake. All in all I’m glad I didn’t have to pay to rent it. If your lookin’ for good anime watch Akira, Ghost In The Shell, or Ninja Scroll. But if you just love to be dissapionted then watch this or Battle Arena Toshinden(which actually had better animation than FF but the story is a worthless attempt at story telling at best).
April 14, 2010
#5
Having watched both Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury 3 at one go, I felt rather relieved that Fatal Fury 3, unlike its predecessor, did not fall into the trap of becoming a Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie clone. In an attempt to make Fatal Fury 2 rest on a series of thematic tensions instead of an actual plot, most conventional plot structures were disposed of, save for a singular key idea around which various scenes were constructed. What emerged however, was not “plotless art” that Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie may pass off as, but something artlessly plotless. Fatal Fury 3, with a coherent storyline, is easier to digest.
Despite promises of action-packed adventure, Fatal Fury 3 falls short of expectations. It had a decent start, with Laocorn and his henchmen blasting off a group of archaeologists who had discovered the third fragment, as well as Sulia being surrounded by Laocorn’s unearthly masked minions in the arcade. Yet tension dissipated in the midst of all the action. The historical context of Fatal Fury 3 brought about by the missing fragments of the armour should have aroused some interest, but this is undermined by Sulia’s long and dreary explanations, and more importantly, the somewhat trite way with which Joe, Andy and Mai conducted their “investigations”. Their discoveries came along too easily; there was hardly any real detective work, which dilutes the excitement of watching a mystery being unravelled that was initially promised. Coupled with the flippancy of Mai and Joe despite having a serious task to tackle, the superficiality of it all is palpable.
Despite having a clear plot, Fatal Fury 3 threatens to fall apart due to a loose structure. Given that the movie rests on the development of a storyline, there is a need for narrative threads to be weaved fairly tightly together so as to sustain dramatic anticipation. There are a few incongruous scenes being thrown in, the best example of which would be Geese Howard’s appearance, and his irrelevant rumination of how the wound on his chest is undermining his prowess. Such false arousal of expectations frustrates attempts at building up tension, leaving me fairly jaded as the climax approached. While certain parts of the movie crawled, the climax came almost too suddenly. One minute, Sulia is caught and the next minute, Terry is fighting Laocorn. Fatal Fury 3 fails to deliver as a well-conceived whole.
In terms of graphic animation, Fatal Fury 3 is passable, although it is my personal opinion that the human drawings are not too appealing. Their slanted slit eyes and incredibly sharp certainly makes The Hungry Wolf an appropriate secondary title to the movie! Having said this, I confess that the drawings are by the least consistent, unlike Flame of Recca, whose characters seem different in a number of episodes. If (and only if) you are a technical mania like me, you will notice that the drawings of Terry’s frame during his battle in the arcade are less well done than the rest.
The version I saw was dubbed, and not too badly too. Thankfully, all original music has been retained. The BGM was either surprisingly sparse or unmemorable, for I only have hazy recollections about it. The only vocal music used comes right at the end, during the credits, which I feel is a good choice. The catchy melody appropriately captures the feelings of triumph, as well as nostalgic sadness and loss evoked by the visual image of Terry flinging his hat away, used to end the movie.
As a motion picture, Fatal Fury 3 disappoints. Probably only those who enjoy the game will truly appreciate the action, and those who do not will find this mildly entertaining well, I will have to reach a compromise in giving the overall rating!