My Cultural Diet

911 reviews of movies, TV shows, books, restaurants, etc. My own private Goodreads, Letterboxd, and Yelp all rolled into one (more info). Star ratings are 100% subjective, non-scientific, and subject to change. May contain affiliate links, which support Opus.

Hydra

Hydra by Kensuke Sonomura (2019)

There are plenty of clichés in this martial arts thriller about a retired government assassin who gets pulled into one last mission and a bigger conspiracy. Even so, Hydra clearly has some greater aspirations beyond its scrappy, shot-on-DV origins, and the martial arts combat — when it finally happens — is an interesting change of pace from the Hong Kong-influenced action that’s become so prevalent these days. But starting with its taciturn protagonist, Hydra is so understated that it’s rather dull, and its abrupt ending implies a sequel that — as far as I know — does not exist.

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