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Sister Street Fighter star Etsuko Shiomi deftly delivers her first kick exactly one minute past the hour. Unlike the earlier flicks in the series, Fifth Level Fist seems to be more of a reality based fiction feature.
The Japanese drug trade has been shown rather respectfully and does not lean towards the absurd. Changes have been made here as instead of just sending Shiomi on her own, there is a torrent of police chasing down some dubious movie producers who are posing as such in order to send products through to America. Unlike Level Fist, magic realism isn’t present in this film which is a nice change. This time around, not a great deal of people die. Instead, we watch criminals in cuffs being dragged off to jail. While overly shocking for a series whose trademark seems to be extreme violence, it is very rational.
While having such details, Fifth Level Fist can be considered more of a reset for the series. Shiomi is not portraying the same character here as we have left her in an unofficial sequel. Rather, Shiomi is now used to fighting not gangs, but her own parents that prefer her life to be more conservative. All men in this film seem to desire a single outcome which is to force Shiomi into the domestic realm herself. “After all, women are women,” he states while opposing the feministic stance that the Sister Street Fighter series has.
Fifth Level Fist goes so far as removing Shiomi’s autonomy as she is pinned onto a log, where a saw is menacingly suspended. No, that doesn’t only happen in cartoons. Ridiculous as the trope is, Fifth Level Fist revels in an opportunity to be humorous. Comedy is more commonplace, but it often feels like an afterthought to the more substantive issues such as the storyline about the racism in Japan. These themes, which touch upon the nationalist prejudice towards Okinawans (and people of color) such are too quickly abandoned. The lamentation and the flashback offer us a glimpse into the attempts to engage that topic.
Fifth Level Fist, at 76 minutes, is both flat and exhausted. Two stage plays languorously get through the camera, but it feels like nothing is happening – there is no energy. Shiomi’s overly comical energy fails to alleviate the monotony.
Even if this movie was created in 1976, it has a certain disgust for the ever present drug trade issue. There is no intention of adding flavor to the proceedings. Professional killers act and look the part. Shiomi will not be engaging in combat with any ninjas, that is for sure. The methodical approach instead deals with the dire attempt at reality undertaking illegal drugs, cocaine to be more specific, with a battalion of cops and only a small assist with aid from martial artist vigilantes. There is no reason to mock that. The remainder of the work is mastered with a more darker, more ominous, and rougher touch. The camera is quite literally peaks and troughs with the disintegrating foundation of Fifth Level Fist. At some points, there is a distinct lack of interest even for selfie capturing the fights. As a result, the identity of Sister Street Fighter gets wiped out.
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