Wu Assassins has been on my radar since they started talking about the involvement of Mark Dacascos and Iko Uwais but when I saw the first trailer I realized that the show wouldn’t meet my expectations. After Into the Badlands and Warrior series you really need to get it to another level to succeed.
Wu Assassins follows the adventures of a young San Francisco chef who has his life suddenly overhauled when he is imbued with the power of a thousand ancient monks to stop a growing evil in the city that has more connection to him than he realizes.
The series starts with an epic fight that gives a lot of hopes to the fans but this fun adventure doesn’t keep its promises.
With all this mix of monks in his body, Kai should go against a local crime lord who is his adoptive father as well. Their relationships are complicated from the beginning and only gets more interesting and nuanced as the series goes on.
Iko Uwais is still learning how to act so in the most scenes actors around just steal the show, but once Uwais starts slinging the silat he shines like a supernova.
The show was promoted as a collaboration of Mark Dacascos and Iko Uwais but you will see Mark only a few scenes and this is not enough to save the show.
The show is full of intersections of charter storylines but once Alec McCullough comes into play you just forget about other heroes and barely waiting for what will happen next.
He is a resourceful antagonist to our hero and even Baron Mann fading out with his Triad power in comparison with him. (I was waiting when he will be driving a motorbike but it didn’t happen.)
With introducing of Alec McCullough we can see other warlords who control different elements and here is where you expect to see the mythology and rich detail of the Wu assassins world but show leaves you disappointed once again.
If Iko Uwais and his three friends were supposed to be a center of the story than they lost it to Byron Mann, Tzi Ma and Alec McCullough.
Overall, the show is pretty slow, jumps around many times, and you need to stay on track to understand what’s going on and how is everything connected. Authors tried to complicate the storyline and by doing that ruined the whole impression.
The avid fan will notice that series have been made in a short time and on a low budget which affects the quality and acting. Moreover, it prevents the show from build-up and getting more interesting as it progresses.
The story feels complete and I would not be upset if we wouldn’t see a season 2. But if it will happen somehow producers should go bigger and bolder.
Wu Assassins is the average and choppy fighting series that didn’t go far away from Marvel’s Iron Fist, actually it reminds it in many ways.
When you will be watching Wu Assassins don’t forget – this is just a fairy tale with special effects and good fights.