Head Rush (original title: Lôi Báo) is a 2018 Vietnamese sci-fi action film starring Cường Seven, Nhã Phương, and Hoàng Sơn. It screened Fantastic Fest 2018 to positive reviews and has been picked up for digital distribution by Glass House where it is currently available to be streamed here in 2023.
I was there when Vietnamese action cinema looked like it was about to explode the first time: The Rebel and Clash made waves with Asian action aficionados who had been looking beyond Hong Kong after the runaway success of Tony Jaa’s pictures. Johnny Tri Nguyen (The Protector) was leading the charge until what was to be his magnum opus, Cho Lon, was suppressed and banned by the Vietnamese government. Vietnam faded as Indonesia began to assert itself as the new home of hardcore martial arts action, and I always wondered what might have been.
Head Rush, released a decade after the cancellation of Cho Lon, looks like the first real shot the country has to get back in the game. I’m happy to report that this is a really polished, assured, imaginative, action picture.
A lot of times when we look at genre pictures from developing nations you have to sort of “un-see” the editing or technical mistakes, or the story is hopelessly derivative. Not here, though. Victor Vũ’s film is technically very assured and professional with the same polish you’d find in many DTV action films in the West.
The story, while by no means breathtaking in its originality, is a fun synthesis of disparate sources: John Woo’s Face Off, Marvel Comics, and Yue Song’s films strike me as the main ones. This is an action film I can recommend without real reservations.
The film features Seven as a family man and cartoonist who dreams of being the super hero whose comic he works on each day. What he believes to be a simple cold turns out to be cancer which strains his relationship with his wife (Phương) and son. A family friend (Sơn) reveals that his seemingly simple farming operation belies a huge secret: he’s perfected head transplants and he wants to use the procedure to give Seven a second chance at life.
When a gangster is gunned down in the woods near their homes, Seven reluctantly agrees to the procedure and is amazed to find that his new body has superhuman strength and the muscle memory of a martial arts master. Seven begins acting out his fantasies of saving people which draws the attention of the criminal element who have never stopped looking for the dead gangster and now assume Seven is he, with some plastic surgery. Wild chases and knife fights ensue.
While the film is fun it is not perfect: the family melodrama takes up too much of the film and is unconvincingly acted.
Nhã Phương in particular is given nothing but a stock “worried wife” character that doesn’t allow for much nuance or color. Also, while the action is strong, there’s not enough of it as it only really bookends the film, and it feels like they could have extended the chases and fights, involved more props, and really built the film around some jaw dropping action sequences. This isn’t on the level of the top Thai and Indonesian action pictures in terms of visceral exciting martial arts. That said, there’s some really great motorcycle stunts late, and the fights we do get are satisfying.
Seven has some incredible physicality in his sequences, and I hope future films take advantage of it. There’s even some pretty interesting and surreal effects in the scene where we first learn about the head transplants.
A fun fight flick that has me excited for more from these filmmakers, but stops short of being a new classic.
Recommended, though. This is definitely worth a watch.
3 ½ out of 5 stars.
* * * * *
Produced by Jenni Trang Lê
Written by Doan Nhat Nam, Kay Nguyen, Victor Vũ
Directed by Victor Vũ
Starring Cuong Seven, Tran Thi Nha Phuong,
Ngoc Anh Vu, Quach Ngoc Ngoan, Jason Ninh Cao.
