Black Creek review by Bobby Blakey
Throughout the late 80s and through the 90s there were a handful of martial arts action stars that dominated the video market, and I loved them all. I had always wanted to see them all come together in some form and always thought a cool martial arts western would literally kick ass. Sadly, we never got it until now with the lady dragon herself, Cynthia Rothrock leading the charge alongside a who’s who of the martial arts world including for the film Black Creek.
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I followed the production through Rothrock’s social media and have been eagerly waiting to see the final product. The cast list kept getting increasingly more impressive as it went on including Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Keith Cooke, R. Marcus Taylor, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, Keith Vitale, and the late Richard Norton. Could this film deliver what I have been waiting for since I was a teenager, or will it be a showdown not worth facing off for?
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Black Creek follows a sheriff's sister who seeks revenge against the terrifying leader of a group of outlaws after discovering he brutally murdered her brother, his wife, and other family members in a gritty southwestern town.
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Heading into this film you know it is an independent production, so I keep that in mind as I dive in. From a production aspect they did a great job getting the old west elements on point to create the world you need for this film to exist. The story itself is simple and one we have seen hundreds of times, but the formula works so fine with it. There are some script elements that don’t always work but keeps it moving. There is a lot of clunky dialogue throughout, but it is fine enough since I am here for something else entirely.
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Truth be told this film is really for a select audience to really enjoy. The everyman
that might not know the martial arts community or the older action films of the 80s and 90s might struggle to fully embrace what they are trying to deliver. As someone all in I was treated with a fun walk down memory lane getting to see all these action stars I loved back together.
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Seeing the China O’Brien trio of Rothrock, Norton and Cooke back on screen together made me smile. Of course, loving Don “The Dragon” Wilson as well kept me all in getting to see all these stars getting time to shine in this film. At the same time there are plenty of fun cameo surprises if you know who they are including a quick fight between Urquidez and Vitale that I didn’t expect. There are plenty of expected fight sequences that are all old school and fun to watch both well executed and nostalgic, for us that love the films of this cast.
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This film is far from perfect and will likely be a miss for most, but I applaud what Rothrock put together and my love for the genre and these martial arts icons led me to enjoy it for what it is. It took me back to the time in martial arts films that I loved the most and happy that it took be back to that time through a butt kicking portal through the old west.
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Decide for yourself and check out Black Creek available now on digital.