Low Blow, the piece d’resistance for legendary Hollywood heavyweight, actor/director/screenwriter and cinematographer Leo Fong, sees Fong reprise his crowd pleasing role as ex-cop Joe Wong. In this installment, Wong is commissioned by capitalist tycoon (Troy Donahue in a standout performance) to rescue his daughter from a dangerous and mind warping cult. Set in the seedy underbelly of the outer areas of San Francisco, Wong must use all his guile as a street smart private investigator to penetrate the fortress of cult leader Yarakunda’s compound and rescue the life of the movie’s young heroine. A life held desperately in the balance, it is truly a race against time. Realising the limitations of a one man attack, Wong brings together a crack force of street fighting soldiers of fortune, much in the style of Hannibal’s A-Team, with the promise great rewards. Wong and his salty mercenaries set in place a sophisticated plan that can’t possibly fail. But is it too late?

It is set against this seedy and powerful background that Fong sets about fully exploring the socio-economic imbalance and segregation in modern society, as well as the resultant effect on the innate human need for inclusion and interpersonal relations. Fong craftily using extreme physical violence as a metaphor for self-actualisation and positive external affirmations of inter-conceptual self discipline. In so doing, he demonstrates that while verbalisation of interpersonal conflict can be at times a useful tool in the subtle art of open ended dispute resolution focused dialogue, where concepts cannot be expressed using excessive and unnecessary force they are often not worthy of expressing at all. Further, in so doing, Fong furnishes the viewer with a useful forum for discussing the usefulness of ruthless and relentless violence in their own lives. In light of the currently repressive attitude of society toward aggression and hostility, in presenting this film, Fong bravely champions the cause of antagonism not only as a form of potentially hilarious entertainment, but as a most useful tool to be utilised in everyone’s day to day existence.

And in closing, while this movie contains vast offerings for a wide range of cultures, creeds and beliefs, is true to say that the underlying message of this film, as it should be, is that the deadliest weapon is still your fist.