A Few Yen More

Sakra (2024) is another one of those Hi-Yah movies we saw in a Coming Attractions preview. But this one stars Donnie Yen.

First off, I should mention that I watched this last weekend, and I have only the sketchiest of memories of how it all went. Basically, the Song dynasty of China has been conquered by the Liao of Khitan. Donnie Yen was born Khitan but raised Song. He grows up to be the head of the Beggars, a band of martial arts experts and bandits who fight the Liao. An early scene has Yen getting into a slanging match with a Buddhist monk in a restaurant, which turns into an all-out wire-fu fight. 

Yen then finds out that he has been framed for the murder of a fellow Beggar and is stripped of his title. He will framed again and again, as well as condemned for being Khitanese by birth, He even has to fight the Shaolin temple. There is also a nobleman with three daughters skilled in the martial arts. 

The fighting style is, as I've said, wire-fu, with lots of jumping over roofs, punching people through walls and Vajra Palm Punches. It's very old-school, based on a novel from 1966, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Demons". This is just the kind of thing that I like. It might not be the best of the best, but with Donnie Yen, it should satisfy.