| B+ | Fantastic Fest 2025 |
There was a lot going on in this movie. Martial arts, both Italian and Chinese crime families, romance—all going on in the multi-cultural city of Rome. (I’d never considered Rome would have pockets of other countries’ cultures like New York City does, but it’s a large cosmopolitan area so of course.) And it turns out to be fun where the title for this film strictly comes from, though it probably has a double meaning.
This movie had fewer fight scenes than I expected. But the ones they had were wonderfully choreographed! The first one was marvelous. And there was one in the middle in a kitchen that still found creative attacks, and had the entire audience applauding at the end.
There were kind of two love stories running through this movie. One involving a charming character who looked very much to me like an Italian Jonathan Pryce. And then of course the two leads, who had the same problem as the two in Road to Vendetta—having to communicate through a translator app. But it turned out these two had more in common from the beginning.
Unfortunately, about halfway through I guessed the end of the story. But honestly, that ruined nothing for me (and at one point near the end they actually convinced me I was wrong). That’s how much I enjoyed this movie.
Trailer (sorry, couldn’t find one with English subtitles)
