Rating: **
Review Date: 10/3/26
Cast: Tadashi Yamashita, Emi Hayakawa, Shingo Yamashiro,
Yoko Horikoshi, Masafumi Suzuki
The "Za Karate" trilogy ends on a disappointing note, and it's easy to see why this was the final installment. Karate champion Tadashi Yamashita inexplicably has his eyesight back and is trying to raise funds to build a dojo for his enthusiastic students. He meets an attractive young woman named Ai Ling (Emi Hayakawa) at a Tai Chi demonstration and an innocent romance blooms. Of course, danger and treachery are always lurking nearby, as an evil martial arts school wants to take over a new Budokan being built by Ai Ling's father, and they've hired a bunch of crazy martial arts experts from all over the world to get rid of him. These include Crazy Ron, Sam Gellar, Bob Willy, Mohammed Baras, The Viper Brothers, Devil Cross (who practices Vatican Crucifix Killing Arts), and the completely unhinged Black Wolf. Naturally, they'll have to deal with Yamashita as well, and while Ai Ling is an excellent fighter, she spends most of her time as a damsel in distress.
Unfortunately, the film is a visual and narrative mess. It hardly makes any sense at all and the direction is haphazard at best. It leans heavily into comedy and the absurd, and Shingo Yamashiro's Sanpei character is completely intolerable this time around, desperately trying to get laughs by dressing in drag and wearing a gorilla costume. I have to wonder if Japanese audiences found this bumbling oaf appealing or if his inane antics were imposed by the studio to offset the violence. The sneering villains are overly silly and Yamashita's opponents are the craziest and least capable yet. The film favors over-the-top outrageousness and gimmicks over precision fighting, which was certainly popular at the time. The vocal performances are also out of the park, with Crazy Wolf one-upping Yamashita's hilarious bird calls with all sorts of bizarre noises, maniacal giggling, and exaggerated facial expressions. The camera work is overly jerky and the sets are cheap and garishly colored. The film's one standout set piece is shot on location in the frigid Kokonoe Highlands, which looks pretty amazing. It was obviously cold and windy, and you can even see snow blowing around. Once again, Masafumi Suzuki and Yoko Horikoshi return and see a little action, but it's not enough to save the film from its tedious and ill-conceived goofiness.