Martial art fans rejoice with premiere of 'Wu Assassins'

NETFLIX

Iko Uwais stars in the new Netflix series, 'Wu Assassins.'

Netflix's Wu Assassins may fill the martial arts void created when AMC cancelled Into the Badlands after three seasons.

Wu Assassins combines martial arts, sci-fi and fantasy in telling the story of an aspiring chef, played by Iko Uwais, and how he is affected as the sole surviving heir of the Wu Assassins bloodline. It takes place in modern-day San Francisco so be assured there are plenty of shots of Chinatown. 

Indonesian martial arts master Uwais, who introduced the Silat fighting style in his breakout film in the now-classic The Raid, can be seen this summer as the villain in the action-comedy Stuber. He is teamed up with action star Katheryn Winnick, who did her fair share of fighting and action in the series Vikings. 

Director Stephen Fung, who directed episodes and a producer of Into the Badlands, says his job is made easier because of stars. “Iko is a famous action star in Southeast Asia and Katheryn is a black belt in Taekwondo, and their action styles are very different from the kind we’re used to in Hong Kong action cinema. It gave me a fresh perspective and pushed me to think out of the box,” Fung told The Hollywood Reporter.

Taking advantage of Uwais' Indonesian style of martial arts, there will be a marked difference from Into the Badlands. Fung said instead of long single-shot scenes so the viewer can appreciate the choreographed beauty of the fight, expect the action scenes to be more intimate and closer to the action.

Wu Assassins premieres today, Aug. 8, on Netflix.

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Why isn't 'Into the Badlands' extraordinary fight scenes getting any respect?

Daniel Wu plays a rarely seen Asian American action hero in 'Into the Bandlands.'

HOLLYWOOD TALKS a good game about diversity on television, but when it comes to acting on widening the white worldview of the industry -- well, let's just say -- it's a long, slow process.

So when a show actually delivers on diversity, gives women prominent nonstereotypical roles, and week after week entertains us with the most thrilling action scenes on TV, we should be celebrating that show.

Daniel Wu, star of Into the Badlands -- Yes! He's a genuine Asian American action star -- let off a lot of steam over the weekend at what he perceives is an industry snub of his show. 

Here is the #Emmy list of nominees for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie 2018. I started to write a long detailed post about this but decided to see what your responses are first. I understand we are a genre show but we should OWN this category!!!Why do you think this happened? Why do you think we get no love within the industry? Action Coordination is the obvious one but what about Costume Design? Set Design? Cinematography? #snubbed 

He followed up with more tweets:

He's definitely got a point there. Into the Badlands employs one of the best fight choreographers in the world, Huan-Chiu Ku, who trained with the legendary Yuen Woo-ping (“The Matrix”) and has worked on the “Kill Bill” films, “Once Upon a Time in China II,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Before shooting starts for the new season, the actors are required to go through a boot camp of sorts so they can do the complicated fight scenes convincingly and without doubles.

The actors do most their own fight stunts without any camera coverups of fast-cuts, hard to see scenes in the dark or cutaways. It's like watching a long dance sequence where every maneurver, every step, kick, punch, block or sword swipe is meticulously timed and choreographed. If the timing is off or the action is sloppy, it could result in injury to the actors and stunt people.

The show's fight scenes are as good as, or better, than any fight scenes in the movies, when they have more time to rehearse. If you want to watch some breathtaking action, watch Season 1 fights below:

Wu wants a little respect for the show that he brought over from Hong Kong where the California-born actor gained fame in martial arts and romance movies.

Besides the action scenes, he believes Into the Badlands should have received nomiinations in costume and set design as well.

The show's premise takes place in a dystopian America where guns don't work. That allows the characters to become masters in swordplay and martial arts to settle disputes in this fantasy world.

Interestingly enough, Badlands gets very little promotion by its network, AMC, the same network that has the Walking Dead series and its spinoff Fear The Walking Dead. 

There is no merchandise associated with Badlands and the actors hardly ever go on tour or appear on other shows to promote the Badlands.

What's worst than an Emmy snub? Badlands is the sixth most watched show on the AMC network. Four of the five shows ahead of it have already been renewed. The other exception is Fear the Walking Dead. As of today (July 14), there's been no word about Into the Badlands' season four. 

Stream past episodes of Into the Badlands at the AMC website.
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'Into The Badlands's' premieres its third season this Sunday

AMC

Daniel Wu stars in 'Into the Badlands.'

INTO THE BADLANDS starts its third season this Sunday and it has undergone some changes. Daniel Wu, the Asian/American actor who stars in and produces the martial arts epic. He's become woke.

He was aware of the racism -- concious and unconcious -- that is part of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, but, at first, after 20 years in Hong Kong, he viewed it as an Asian, not as an Asian/American. In a lengthy essay in The Wrap, he explains the gradual process of awareness he underwent.

"Growing up a Chinese-American kid in 1970s and 1980s California, I saw no possibility for me to become an actor, especially one playing lead roles," Wu wrote in The Wrap. "There were many characters I loved on television — white, black and Latino — but I rarely saw people like myself represented. When I did see an Asian man appear on the screen, he was either a gross stereotype or something even worse."

"Arriving in Berkeley, Calif., as newlyweds in 1961, my parents were barred from purchasing the house they wanted when the realtor told them it was in a 'Whites Only' neighborhood," Wu wrote.

In early interviews during the first season of Into the Badlands, Wu kept his distance from the growing debate over #Oscarssowhite, yellowface and whitewashing. "I was reluctant to be a racial role model," he wrote. "I just wanted to focus on the work and make great television. During my 20 years in Asia I never needed to talk about these topics, let alone be the center of attention about them."

Wu went on to explain: "Living and working in Asia insulated me from the race issue that is all-pervasive in entertainment in the U.S., especially now. When I won a part in Hong Kong, it was because I was right for it and not just because I fit the bill racially. Conversely, if I was rejected, it was because of my ability, which was something I could work on and not because of my race, which I couldn’t. So instead of being an angry Asian American actor lamenting about limited roles, being in Asia allowed me to focus on the craft of acting and to choose roles that helped broaden me as an actor.

"If I had spent years in U.S. casting rooms getting rejected because I wasn’t the right skin color, or turning down one stereotypical role after another, or taking said roles because I needed to pay rent, I would have quit a long time ago."

Wu's transformation began during the course of that first season. By the second season he had changed his perspective as the impact of his leading man role began to dawn on him.

"I started to understand the importance of stepping up. I’ve accepted the fact that I am one of the very few Asian men in the American entertainment (world) and that by default, people were going to look to me symbol of change. So as people have embraced me I have learned to embrace that new role.

"I am proud to know that I might have some part in righting what happened to Bruce Lee over 40 years ago. And I am proud that some kid might watch Into the Badlands and think, “I want to be like him!”

Into the Badlands has moved its production to Ireland, which allows it to have a grander scope, more extras and bigger sets and more complex battle scenes. It's approaching a Game of Thrones level of production.

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Into the Badlands, Season 3, premieres on the AMC Network, Sunday, April 22, 10 pm EST/9 pm C

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