Enter the Dragon Review

Review of Enter the Dragon (1973) by screenqueeen: 👍 4.5/5

i've been saving this for myself. this is it, this is the best catch-all film that has all of the popular action/adventure tropes of the 70s. the bad guy even is modeled after blofeld and sports a series of prosthetic hands. he has a secret elevator activated via guillotine. Bruce Lee's performance in this is transcendent. seeing him glide from dispensing wisdom to his student to managing reserved rage towards the man who led to the death of his sister, to the boredom of waiting out the two guards in the radio wire booth to vacate after tossing a snake in there with them, to then pumping up to 100 in a fight that culminates in a full on skirmish on the tournament grounds between everyone on the island is a series of wonderful sights to behold. having John Saxon and Jim Kelly feels like you've set out to spoil your audience. but there is something wholly disappointing in having Jim Kelly be so underutilized here, but maybe not as disappointing as Angela Mao doing much less than any other deeply talented name. it's unfortunate but this is still a film with a lot of incredible stuff going for it. i'm glad i finally sat down with it, this whole film is a joy.