Martial Arts One Apt Kanoe Mark Dacascos Martial Arts
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This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
2019 has been a good year for Mark Dacascos. Non merely did he brand a glorious return to the big screen as super-assassin/super-fanboy Nil in John Wick: Affiliate 3, but he completely stole the bear witness. Critics and audiences stood up and paid attention to what activeness connoisseurs have known for some time: Dacascos is the real bargain.
If you're a newcomer, yous might find yourself daunted by his massive body of work, so here'due south a whistlestop tour of some of the highlights and why they're worth watching. And if yous're an existing convert? Sit back, enjoy the memories and allow u.s.a. know your own faves in the comments.
In the beginning, there was kung fu…
Marking Dacascos was born in Hawaii and is of Filipino, Spanish, Irish, Chinese, and Japanese ancestry – "a typical Hawaiian local boy" as he puts information technology. His parents both taught kung fu and Mark attended their lessons from early on childhood onwards. Al Dacascos, his father, is known for creating Wun Hop Kuen Do (Combination Fist), an adjunct of the Hawaiian Kajukenbo art that blends Karate, Jujutsu, Kenpo and Boxing. In the early 80s, Mark competed in several inferior Kung Fu and Karate championships and regularly took first identify. He's too since studied Muay Thai, Chin Na, Tai Chi, Wushu, and Capoeira, amassing a martial arts portfolio equally diverse as his heritage.
It's no surprise that immature Marker's hero was Bruce Lee, whose ain Jeet Kune Do is possibly the ultimate hybrid style, but unlike Lee, he never had whatever particular ambition to act. He was talent-spotted on the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown in the mid-80s and cast in Wayne Wang's Dim Sum (1985), but his small role ended up missing from the concluding cut. He had a like about-just-not-quite moment when he played a karate skilful in a pilot of Bio-Man , Saban'southward TV paradigm for what would somewhen morph into Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (albeit without Marking Dacascos).
American Samurai (1992)
The acting issues had bit by this phase and so Dacascos paid the bills by working onstage at The Adventures Of Conan attraction at Universal Studios and taking whatsoever pocket-sized screen parts he could go. His first pregnant role came in Sam Firstenberg's American Samurai (1992), an effort to revive and reboot the flagging American Ninja serial but with more swords and fewer hoods.
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For all its artful adjustments, it was all the same a riff on the familiar ninja story, with David Bradley as an American orphan raised in the wood past Japanese samurai. Afterwards condign a master of the sword, he incurs the jealous wrath of his stepbrother (Dacascos). This being a Cannon movie, the two have to square off in a Bloodsport -mode tournament, after outset making their style through a series of crazily costumed goons. Despite its buckets of gore, the film is non all that bully but it does give us a taste of what's to come from Dacascos – smoldering eyes, oiled-upwardly muscles and confoundingly fast kung fu in styles you need a figurer to work out…
Only the Potent (1993)
Dacascos got his real break in this unusual teen movie that'due south kind of similar a martial arts version of Stand & Deliver (1988). He plays an ex-Services guy who gets brought into the toughest schoolhouse in Miami to teach Capoeira classes to local gang kids. Information technology'south an uplifting story with a nice message but what makes it so cool is how rare it is to see Capoeira onscreen and how cinematic information technology is as a martial art. Equally information technology combines elements of music, trip the light fantastic and acrobatics with fighting, the style is a treat both for the eyes and ears. Dacascos takes centre stage and wows with his concrete prowess and twinkly good humour to the melody of catchy numbers similar "Zum Zum Zum" (which you'll probably know from the Mazda ads many years later).
Prior to getting the role, Dacascos had no experience with Capoeira but shortly learned information technology directly from Amen Santo, one of the groovy masters. The result is that he comes off like a natural and the final fight, with Paco Prieto ( Lionheart ), is staggeringly good. It'south a shame that Only the Stiff and the far more dramatic Assailant (2009) are the merely two martial arts films that focus primarily on Capoeira, but it's a testament to how ace it is that both are essential viewing.
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It was arguably Dacascos's performance in Only the Strong that led to a couple of other reasonable profile leads in Kickboxer 5 (1995) – not the greatest Kickboxer sequel – and as 1 of the Lee brothers in Double Dragon (1994), a child-friendly Hollywood adaptation of the dear arcade game. But the next essential watch on your list should exist…
Crying Freeman (1995)
Based on a seminal manga past Kazuo Koike (of Lone Wolf and Cub fame), Crying Freeman is a masterpiece of loftier concept action cinema. When a shy, lone painter called Emu O'Hara (Julie Condra) witnesses an assassination in the woods by a mysterious human being known only as Yo (Dacascos) they detect themselves in a difficult position. Yo's employers – the shadowy, quasi-supernatural Sons of the Dragon – want Emu killed, considering she's seen his face. But Yo and Emu have fallen deeply in love and he just wants to protect her. Not just from himself only also from the hellish crossfire of the Yakuza war they're now embroiled in.
Crying Freeman is essentially a romantic melodrama, albeit with a healthy dose of ultraviolence and supernatural mysticism. Christophe Gans directs with flair and the film looks gorgeous from starting time to finish. The casting is inspired. Condra and Dacascos – who would somewhen ally in real life and are still together today (aww) – look uncannily like they've stepped right out of Ryoichi Ikegami's drawings and onto the screen.
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Even in the moments where the plot might feel a scrap shaky, you'll be so blinded by the visuals you won't care. And the action is insane. Explosions, big stunts, swords galore, Woo-style slo-mo gunfights, martial arts nuttiness, you name it. What's slap-up is that it's all done with the utmost sincerity and passion. If yous're after gritty realism, you'll probably struggle with how stylized this is but it's a comic book film in the old-fashioned sense of the term. Impressionistic, over-the-top, colorful, and brilliant.
Sabotage (1996)
On the other end of the spectrum, Dacascos worked several times with '80s horror maestro Tibor Takács ( The Gate , I Madman ) on a run of really solid direct-to-video thrillers – Redline , Sanctuary , Mortiferous Past – but the best of these has to be Sabotage . He plays Bishop, an ex-black ops guy turned bodyguard, whose employer gets assassinated past a creepy hitman (Tony Todd). FBI Agent Castle (Carrie-Anne Moss) investigates and the two of them detect themselves caught upwards in a deadly game, as every bit chess-like equally their names suggest information technology'll exist…
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Sabotage is a circuitous thriller for adults, loaded with twists and turns, that plays things straight and delivers a gripping story with nifty action gear up-pieces (gunfight on water ice? Yeah please!). Dacascos proves himself more than but a fighting machine and delivers a credible atomic number 82 performance. The chemical science between him and Moss as they merchandise dry quips is a joy to sentry and Todd gleefully dials up the evil equally their tricksy nemesis. Given how dandy a pair they make, I'thou deplorable that Castle and Bishop didn't get a chance to squad upward once again.
Drive (1997)
Permit'due south not mince words about this 1. Drive is quite possibly the most underrated action moving-picture show of all time. While fans of the genre praise it widely, information technology remains unfairly obscure exterior this cult following. It doesn't even have a Blu-Ray release as of this writing and the only style to watch the director'due south cut is on a long-deleted DVD released in the UK (the US cut was heavily re-edited and laden with a continuous pounding techno soundtrack that actually doesn't work). But information technology is so, so worth your fourth dimension.
Dacascos plays Toby Wong, an assassin who's been modified with a bio-mechanical implant to brand him the ultimate weapon, courtesy of the Chinese authorities. When Wong goes rogue and flees to America, the corporation who built his tech is hot on his trail. Cornered in a barroom gunfight, Wong takes a hostage in the form of downwardly-on-his-luck vocalizer/songwriter (Kadeem Hardison) and demands he drive him cross-land to LA, where the solution to his bug can be plant…
What follows is riotous road movie caper like 48 Hours meets Creepo . Steven Wang directs with a true fan's love of action cinema, referencing everything from V Fingers of Expiry to Reservoir Dogs , drawing from John Woo and Jackie Chan, and virtually certainly inspiring The Matrix with some hi-octane, futuristic kung fu (is it coincidence that this motion-picture show is produced by Neo Motion Pictures?). Even Wang'south background in Tokusatsu is shouted out, via hilarious fake Idiot box bear witness Walter The Einstein Frog , virtually a delightful condom creature who does brain surgery…
The movie itself looks beautiful, considering it was shot for simply $3.5 million, with cool car chases, exploding miniatures and every flavour of kung fu activity you could ask for. Dacascos shows off serious skills here with fights so fast and technical they stand up abreast the best of them. He too does goofy as well as he does badass (his karaoke scene is hysterical). He and Hardison work up a great rapport and – unlike the similarly plotted Rush Hour – the jokes play on the characters' bond rather than their racial differences.
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Brittany Murphy shines brightly here too, playing 1 of the all-time bang-up manic pixie dream girls (I mean, how many of the others can wield a submachine gun similar this?). Drive is a bonafide action classic; a modest flick that stretches far across its ways through the love and talent poured into information technology by its cast and crew. If you only sentinel one Marking Dacascos pic, make it this one.
Alliance Of The Wolf (2002)
After a few potent genre films similar The Base , and a stint as Eric Draven in the Tv version of The Crow (Stairway To Heaven), this utterly bizarro motion-picture show reunited Dacascos with Crying Freeman director Christophe Gans, upping their surreal comic-book style even further. What'due south surprising is that this was a huge international breakout hit, garnering massive critical acclaim despite being an 18th-century martial arts fantasy, in French, with werewolves and swashbuckling. Yep. Really. What a time it was to be live.
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Samuel Le Bihan plays one of the male monarch's knights, sent to investigate a series of grisly murders, and Dacascos is his Native American companion, Mani. The plot that unfolds is like a psychotronic Dan Brown story, with the titular surreptitious society working to dethrone Male monarch Louis Xv in a conspiracy that goes all the way up to the Vatican. Astonishingly, it'due south (loosely!) based on a true story but with a few wacky supernatural twists.
Alliance of the Wolf is a unique film that skilfully blends arthouse aesthetic with high free energy action and gruesome horror without missing a beat. While at that place'south tons to dearest in this movie, Dacascos steals it with a peppery and intense performance. It's besides worth noting he worked closely hither with martial arts fable Philip Kwok from the Venom Mob to deliver some truly stunning dial-ups.
Cradle two The Grave (2003)
The tertiary of Andrzej Bartkowiak's flashy collabs with DMX is probably the glossiest film to feature Dacascos in a major office. The plot revolves effectually some rare gems known as the Black Stones. A thief with a eye of gold (DMX), a Taiwanese cop (Jet Li), and a ruthless crime lord (Dacascos) are all on the jewel trail and mega-upkeep chaos ensues. I hateful, MEGA-BUDGET. At i point, there is a completely gratuitous helicopter which appears in shot purely so it can be blown up. It was a dissimilar time, equally the Ruff Ryders soundtrack and curious haircuts remind the states, and it's crazy to call up now that a down'northward'dirty action moving-picture show like this could exist made on such a grand scale.
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If I'g honest, it drips with boneheaded machismo, from the self-consciously "urban" dialogue to the astonishing lack of political definiteness and endless penis jokes. While I capeesh the major nod to Repo Human , the plot itself is absurd. However, the action scenes here are phenomenal. There's an epic quadbike hunt intercut with a mass cage fight; in that location are tanks driven through walls; ropeless abseiling down buildings, and all manner of eye-popping stunts the likes of which they but don't permit you do any more than.
Of grade, the main reason to watch this is for the terminal fight. Dacascos takes on Jet Li in a ring of fire while a sprinkler system rains down on them and daaaaamn, this is something to behold. Information technology's a fine brandish of hyper-stylish kung fu from ii titans and it concludes with ane of the most outrageous finishing moves you'll ever see.
Atomic number 26 Chef America (2004 – Ongoing)
Adamant not to exist typecast later the success of Brotherhood , Dacascos worked on some lower profile genre films earlier getting an unexpected phone call from the producers of an upcoming TV show called Fe Chef America . It was to be an English language version of a pop Japanese series that set up culinary "battles" upwards betwixt guest chefs and a roster of highly qualified "Iron Chefs" in a fictional castle belonging to a grapheme called The Chairman (Takeshi Kaga).
When Dacascos heard he'd been shortlisted to play the US version of The Chairman (canonically speaking, The Chairman'southward nephew), he asked his agent to analyze to them "I boot non cook!" but nevertheless landed the chore, and it'due south this long-running function that he'due south probably most known for in the USA.
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If you lot've watched the show it is an entertaining and accessible way to enjoy some exceptionally high-calibre cooking. While in that location are several hosts, all of whom have unlike parts to play, Dacascos every bit The Chairman gets to spring around the "Kitchen Stadium", wave cooking utensils and dramatically reveal each week's "surreptitious ingredient" (the food around which the "battles" are themed), equally you tin see in the wonderful video above. It'southward merely obviously iconic, to be honest.
The Legend Of Bruce Lee (2008)
The early 2000s, for Dacascos, were split between Iron Chef , diverse direct-to-video action vehicles and some higher profile TV appearances. One special treat for martial arts fans from this period was The Legend Of Bruce Lee , a 50-role biographical series made for Chinese TV. Danny Chan makes a fantastic Bruce Lee, up there with the best of Bruceploitation performances, and the show takes us through every facet of the master's life and eventual death, blending soap opera and kung fu. The good news is if you don't fancy the total series, there's a iii-hr feature motion-picture show edit out in that location…
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Dacascos appears in three episodes (and, thankfully, the edited film) as King Charles, a Muay Thai fighter who challenges Bruce while he's in Thailand filming The Big Boss . The joy hither comes from non just some impressively bruising Muay Thai from Dacascos but from the excitement of him fighting "Bruce" like this. You can run into, as a fan, he'due south loving every moment and it'south this kind of fantasy – an impossible opponent – that's at the heart of Bruceploitation'due south appeal. In the same way, it was a thrill to picket Male monarch Boxer Lo Lieh fight "Bruce" in The Render Of Bruce or to picket Dracula fight "Bruce" in The Dragon Lives Over again , information technology's super rad to lookout man Mark Dacascos fight "Bruce" here. Information technology's a dream come (sort of) true.
Null and beyond…
In the last decade, Dacascos has enjoyed more and more than mainstream recognition, recently scoring big roles in shows similar Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD and the Hawaii 5-0 reboot. His DTV work has never stopped coming either. He reunited with Andrzej Bartkowiak for Maximum Impact (2017) – a low-budget Expendables manner effort with Kelly Hu, Eric Roberts, and Mattias Hues among others – and he made his directorial debut in 2016 with Showdown in Manila .
John Wick: Chapter iii is the first time he's been in a major theatrical release for a while but if the response to his performance is anything to become by, it won't be the final. Zip is a perfect function for him, letting him flex his dramatic, comedic, and concrete muscles all at once, showing a whole new audience that he'southward one of the most enjoyably versatile actors out in that location.
In the immediate future, we tin can already wait forward to Wu Assassins (a new Netflix serial with The Raid 'south Iko Uwais in the lead) and Corto Maltese , the long-awaited historical martial arts ballsy from Christophe Gans, and so in that location'southward no sign of Dacascos slowing downwards, fifty-fifty afterward 30-plus years in the business. As his fanbase continues to grow, one thing is clear. When it comes to bang-up action, the cloak-and-dagger ingredient is… Maaaaaaaark Dacascos!
Source: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/mark-dacascos-beginners-guide-martial-arts-legend/
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