Has anybody seen The Art of Self Defense?

[mrt2]

It is a dark, twisted comedy about a nebbish who is attacked on the street by some thugs on motorcycles and seeks to toughen up at a local Karate dojo run by "Sensei", a mysterious Karate teacher played by Alessandro Nivola who is a combination of Sensei Kreese from Karate Kid and Tyler Durden from Fight Club, with maybe just a bit of Master Ken thrown in for a bit of comic relief.. .

If you are a martial arts enthusiast who is looking for a feel good movie about the positive benefits of Martial Arts, you won't like this movie. (and if you are a parent with kids in martial arts, you really won't like this movie).

That said, I still enjoyed it.

 

[dvcochran]

I saw a trailer. I looked hilarious. When I can watch it for free I will see the entire movie.

 

[Buka]

I can’t wait to see it. I thought the trailer was terrific.

 

[Brian King]

Preordered the movie on Amazon. Looking forward to it. It looks amusing. Thanks for the rec mrt2

Regards
Brian King

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

This looks hilarious! New movie to my watchlist

 

[Deleted member 39746]

Why does this sound like every martial arts film ever produced or a sub genre of it?

Or book for that matter, there are a few books like this.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Why does this sound like every martial arts film ever produced or a sub genre of it?

Or book for that matter, there are a few books like this.

If you look at the trailer, it's quite a bit NOT like most MA movies and books.

 

[spidersam]

It kind of looked like a rip off of Cobra Kai but not as funny? I enjoy all kinds of MA shows and movies, but I wasn’t feeling this one.

 

[skribs]

It kind of looked like a rip off of Cobra Kai but not as funny? I enjoy all kinds of MA shows and movies, but I wasn’t feeling this one.

I feel like the comedy is simply that it's subversing martial arts tropes. The problem with subversive comedy, is that just like vulgarity, it needs to be used cleverly. If not, it just comes across as childish.

Now, I haven't seen Art of Defense or Cobra Kai. I have seen a lot of Master Ken's stuff. Some of it is hilarious, but sometimes the jokes just don't land. And the problem is, when "funny" is all you have going for you, then the joke not landing is a huge problem. And in the trailer, a lot of the jokes didn't land for me.

 

[Buka]

Preordered the movie on Amazon. Looking forward to it. It looks amusing. Thanks for the rec mrt2

Regards
Brian King

Brian, that's a great idea. I just did that myself.

 

[dvcochran]

I feel like the comedy is simply that it's subversing martial arts tropes. The problem with subversive comedy, is that just like vulgarity, it needs to be used cleverly. If not, it just comes across as childish.

Now, I haven't seen Art of Defense or Cobra Kai. I have seen a lot of Master Ken's stuff. Some of it is hilarious, but sometimes the jokes just don't land. And the problem is, when "funny" is all you have going for you, then the joke not landing is a huge problem. And in the trailer, a lot of the jokes didn't land for me.

Agree, but consider the actors in the movie. Right up their alley.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I feel like the comedy is simply that it's subversing martial arts tropes. The problem with subversive comedy, is that just like vulgarity, it needs to be used cleverly. If not, it just comes across as childish.

Now, I haven't seen Art of Defense or Cobra Kai. I have seen a lot of Master Ken's stuff. Some of it is hilarious, but sometimes the jokes just don't land. And the problem is, when "funny" is all you have going for you, then the joke not landing is a huge problem. And in the trailer, a lot of the jokes didn't land for me.

This is one I'm looking forward to, though it's not my usual kind of movie. I'm hoping they do well with the subversion, because I can really enjoy that when it's done with some good levels (sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt).

 

[KenpoMaster805]

I think its hilarious

 

[mrt2]

It kind of looked like a rip off of Cobra Kai but not as funny? I enjoy all kinds of MA shows and movies, but I wasn’t feeling this one.

It is not at all like Cobra Kai.

 

[spidersam]

It is not at all like Cobra Kai.

Ok thanks maybe I’ll give it a shot.