Undercut (2006)

Rating: **
Review Date: 7/28/08
Written, Directed, and Produced by: Stephen Reedy
Cast: Eric Jacobus, Andy Leung, Todd Roy, cameo by Tyler Wang

Imagine taking the martial arts sensibilities of Steve Wang's "Kung Fu Rascals" (1991) and combining it with the independent guerilla style of "Bikini Bandits" (2004) and you'll get something along the lines of "Undercut." Writer/Director Stephen Reedy put this short kung fu comedy together in sixteen days for less than $1500, and given that knowledge, the results are quite impressive. The story is absurd and inconsequential, serving only to set up a kung fu knockdown between Ninja Scott (Eric Jacobus) and Ninja Andy (Andy Leung). Eric and Andy are members of The Stunt People and they know their stuff really well. Taking inspiration from the old school Hong Kong film masters, they pull off some of the best fight choreography and cinematography I've seen outside of the Asian market. Eric and Andy are incredibly skilled, and are a sheer joy to watch in action. Most of the humor fails miserably, but Reedy makes good use of a candy machine to parody classic kung fu film techniques. If you appreciate good kung fu and precision stuntwork, you'll probably enjoy "Undercut." If you don't, you'll probably hate it. Nominated for an MTV Movie Award, this is merely a taste of things to come from The Stunt People.