Can Team2X, James Mark and others keep the momentum after the smash hit that was episode 4? Can they continue strong without GakAttack (Yung Lee)? These are the questions many of us are asking and with episode 5, the UFF team responds with an answer.
This time the dude-fest takes a back seat to a cat fight (no disrespect there) between Chun-Li and Tifa. These ladies are amazing. They’re strong, fast and very skilled. For the most part their punches and kicks look legit. The choreography is solid and they look the part. Not a whole lot of gripes here because the action is on par with other entries in the series.
One of the biggest distractions, however, is the drab background. Part of what makes a movie interesting is the location and the movements of the camera within that space. The entire sequence is intentionally dark and throughout the fight you can see the reflections of legs towards the lower part of the counter. I know this created issues when shooting as most angles are either close up or pointed diagonally away from the reflective surface. Additionally, the sound effects could be tightened up. Footsteps sound forced and don’t blend with the ambient audio in the scene.
It’s greatest flaw, however, is pacing. When things really start to ramp up between the two, it’s scaled back to a slow motion scowling showdown. So, it pops up one time, cool. It pops up a second time, not so cool. It pops up again, okaaay already. It sort of felt like Twilight, if Edward was a Bella twin. They just keep looking deep into each others eyes. It makes me want to beat my stuffed animal (Panda) with a bamboo stick.
By far the best moment of episode 5 was the deflection of the icicles blasted at Chun-Li via Tifa’s infused (materia?) powers. The tail end is done superbly well with the blast of water soaking them both.
By now we all know that we can decide who wins the fight. What I find interesting in the entire series is that one ending is stronger than the other (except episode 1). Chun-Li’s multi-kick finisher is fun, but a little flat and lacks some dynamic elements. Tifa’s finisher is notably stronger and more fulfilling.
Overall, Ultimate Fan Fights 5 is good. There’s a lot of production value and thought put into the development of the series. If they return to some of the core concepts created for episode 1 and 2 they would be better off.
Check out the episode down below and let me know if you agree or disagree!
