Black Belt Reviews “The Sensei”

My colleague at Black Belt magazine, Raymond Horwitz, posted his review of The Sensei after we both got a chance to view the movie on the big screen at the movie’s recent DVD release party in Los Angeles. Raymond and I both share similar thoughts about the movie, so I thought I’d share a snippet of his review.

While many martial arts films focus on moving the audience through a series of flashy fight sequences set on dark city streets, questionably lit competition halls or picturesque pagoda-peppered locales, The Sensei is not a typical martial arts movie. Written and directed by Diana Lee Inosanto—daughter of martial arts legend Dan Inosanto and goddaughter of Bruce Lee—the movie features a conservative Wyoming town as its backdrop and tells a compelling story about people, prejudice, family, faith and fear…

Raymond on the fight choreography and editing:

Ironically, it’s the martial arts sequences that raised my eyebrow at a couple of spots—perhaps because they were supposed to depict more true-to-life fighting rhythms than staged ones, or because the staging and editing weren’t on par with the film’s very strong dramatic narrative. However, because these sequences are peppered in sparingly for specific plot-pertinent purposes, they do not detract from the overall experience.

For the complete review and more info on The Sensei, check out Raymond’s full story at BlackBeltMag.com here.

Tags: Black Belt magazine, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Diana Lee Inosanto, jeet kune do, karate, movie review, Raymond Horwitz, The Sensei