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Back to Manimal, then, and episode seven - "Breath Of The Dragon". And I'm never entirely sure what to think of this one. For starters we've all seen the story before. Chinatown is being terrorised by a gang of young men, martial arts experts of course, who are led by a gangster. He's running a protection racket, and anybody who stands up to him regrets it. There's a culture of silence - everybody is too intimidated to go to the police. Then of course, enter an outsider, to deal with the situation. The A-Team did it in "The Maltese Cow" (and in fact these two episodes share several cast members). Second season episode for the team, I think, and forever twinned in my mind with "Steel", since the two were novelised together into the book Ten Percent Of Trouble, but I'm meandering rather. It's a familiar story, anyway. And either Chinatown is a hotbed of protection rackets, or the local residents must be really pissed off with this particular plot by now.
So... Jonathon takes Ty out to a Chinese restaurant for his birthday (well, and Brooke too, but she's useless so she doesn't count). It's owned by old friends of course, and whilst there the local gang drops by to warn the owners that they have to pay money to the racket. Of course one of the family has been seduced into the gang, just to up the emotional level some. Jonathon tries to find out what's going on, but his proud old friend won't admit to anything, so Jonathon investigates on his own. He discovers the racket, and finds that the gangster in charge of it runs an illegal gambling den, so he and Ty go along to play some Blackjack, and with Jonathon's amazing animal instincts, are able to win despite the house cheating. They get beaten up for their troubles, and barricade themselves into a cupboard, from which Jonathon then blasts their way out by turning into a bull. Nice scene there as he totally destroys a room, but a rather unbelievable follow up where he bursts through the outer wall into the street. It looks hellishly flimsy - one layer of bricks?! Still, it's a nice scene for all that, and it's always good to see a new animal in the repertoire. Later on the restaurant belonging to Jonathon's friends is set on fire, though, and Jonathon arrives just in time to see it. He's furious, and goes off looking for trouble, getting the proverbial beaten out of him as a result by head bad guy Kwan. Later, trying to get it all sorted once and for all, Jonathon challenges him to a one on one fight, hoping that if he wins, the locals will all see that Kwan is nothing to be scared of after all, and will testify against him. And this is where the awkward bit comes in. Jonathon obviously has some martial arts experience, so it's not all totally from scratch, but in the twelve hours that he has before the fight, he takes a refresher course by watching animals. There's a nice potted history of martial arts there, as he explains briefly about the different styles, and how they were inspired by animals - but to expect to pick up everything that's needed in twelve hours is a little too much to believe, even from a super hero. Less than twelve hours, actually, as he spends a fair bit of time meditating in his jacuzzi. Anyway, he wins of course, and the spell is broken, and everybody is instantly willing to testify against Kwan. It's just... I don't know. The pace is good. The tension is good. As always, the animal scenes are good. It's just that last big fight. Jonathon fights well, and gives a good account of himself - as does Simon Mac, who really moves well in this sequence. It's a really nicely filmed fight. It's just that, no matter how good he is, it's still obvious that his opponent moves better, and is more fluid, more skilled, and just generally better at it. You can argue that he's angry of course, which would put him at a disadvantage, but it's still not entirely convincing. I just find it too hard to believe that Jonathon could get that good that quickly. It's a great conceit, though, and it's fun watching him copying the animals, and then using their moves later on in the fight.
So all in all I don't want to hammer the episode too hard. Yes, it's a story that's been done a million times, and yes the ending seems a little far-fetched, but there are consistently good performances throughout, and the guest cast is rather distinguished. The fight scene is excellently done. But really, how many outsiders does Chinatown need to solve its problems for it?! I think this plot has now seen its day, which is probably just as well. So maybe I should try watching it with 1983 eyes. Mind you, the people of Chinatown were probably sick of it in 1983, too... ;)
In the illegal gambling den, not looking at all suspicious...
The Jonathon bull breaking through a very flimsy wall. :)
Learning the Mongoose Style from an expert.
Beating the bad guys at their own game, however improbably.
So... Jonathon takes Ty out to a Chinese restaurant for his birthday (well, and Brooke too, but she's useless so she doesn't count). It's owned by old friends of course, and whilst there the local gang drops by to warn the owners that they have to pay money to the racket. Of course one of the family has been seduced into the gang, just to up the emotional level some. Jonathon tries to find out what's going on, but his proud old friend won't admit to anything, so Jonathon investigates on his own. He discovers the racket, and finds that the gangster in charge of it runs an illegal gambling den, so he and Ty go along to play some Blackjack, and with Jonathon's amazing animal instincts, are able to win despite the house cheating. They get beaten up for their troubles, and barricade themselves into a cupboard, from which Jonathon then blasts their way out by turning into a bull. Nice scene there as he totally destroys a room, but a rather unbelievable follow up where he bursts through the outer wall into the street. It looks hellishly flimsy - one layer of bricks?! Still, it's a nice scene for all that, and it's always good to see a new animal in the repertoire. Later on the restaurant belonging to Jonathon's friends is set on fire, though, and Jonathon arrives just in time to see it. He's furious, and goes off looking for trouble, getting the proverbial beaten out of him as a result by head bad guy Kwan. Later, trying to get it all sorted once and for all, Jonathon challenges him to a one on one fight, hoping that if he wins, the locals will all see that Kwan is nothing to be scared of after all, and will testify against him. And this is where the awkward bit comes in. Jonathon obviously has some martial arts experience, so it's not all totally from scratch, but in the twelve hours that he has before the fight, he takes a refresher course by watching animals. There's a nice potted history of martial arts there, as he explains briefly about the different styles, and how they were inspired by animals - but to expect to pick up everything that's needed in twelve hours is a little too much to believe, even from a super hero. Less than twelve hours, actually, as he spends a fair bit of time meditating in his jacuzzi. Anyway, he wins of course, and the spell is broken, and everybody is instantly willing to testify against Kwan. It's just... I don't know. The pace is good. The tension is good. As always, the animal scenes are good. It's just that last big fight. Jonathon fights well, and gives a good account of himself - as does Simon Mac, who really moves well in this sequence. It's a really nicely filmed fight. It's just that, no matter how good he is, it's still obvious that his opponent moves better, and is more fluid, more skilled, and just generally better at it. You can argue that he's angry of course, which would put him at a disadvantage, but it's still not entirely convincing. I just find it too hard to believe that Jonathon could get that good that quickly. It's a great conceit, though, and it's fun watching him copying the animals, and then using their moves later on in the fight.
So all in all I don't want to hammer the episode too hard. Yes, it's a story that's been done a million times, and yes the ending seems a little far-fetched, but there are consistently good performances throughout, and the guest cast is rather distinguished. The fight scene is excellently done. But really, how many outsiders does Chinatown need to solve its problems for it?! I think this plot has now seen its day, which is probably just as well. So maybe I should try watching it with 1983 eyes. Mind you, the people of Chinatown were probably sick of it in 1983, too... ;)
In the illegal gambling den, not looking at all suspicious...
The Jonathon bull breaking through a very flimsy wall. :)
Learning the Mongoose Style from an expert.
Beating the bad guys at their own game, however improbably.
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