Foggy Mountain (2023) Review

Plot: In order to raise money for his wife’s medical treatment, professional martial artist Phi competes in a series of increasingly brutal prize fights in nearby villages. However, after winning his final match, he runs afoul of powerful crime lord Ba Rau, who ruthlessly retaliates in a cruel attack on Phi’s wife. Blinded by grief and rage, Phi vows revenge and tracks Ba Rau across Vietnam—right into the heart of a criminal enterprise that has been terrorizing local villagers for years.

Review: Foggy Mountain was just released on streaming service Hi-Yah the other day and the trailers made it look like an ass-kicking extravaganza… and that’s exactly what it is.

At 86 minutes it’s fast-paced with regular fight scenes and Peter Pham making for a badass and stoic lead. It is for the most part a straightforward revenge tale offering nothing new but as that’s one of my favourite genres of action then I knew this would be my kind of film. The fights are never overly graphic in terms of violence but they are still hard hitting and they happen often enough so things never get boring.

The characters aren’t especially interesting and the main villain overacts occasionally but one of the standout cast members was Simon Kook who played the lead henchman Vong Akork; he gave off Bolo Yeung vibes making for an intimidating presence and was one of my favourite characters.

I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the script or just some of the translations but a lot of the dialogue didn’t make much sense at but I still got the gist of it. There is a nice emotionally charged twist at the end and it’s all wrapped up satisfyingly enough.

Overall, Foggy Mountain is a fast paced fight flick with solid beatdowns and a stoic performance from Peter Pham but it’s let down by mostly forgettable side characters and a bland script. If you’re looking for a straightforward revenge take then you could do a lot worse.