Fist of the Condor: part Bruce Lee, part Rambo, part Sergio Leone, all Marko Zaror

John Wick: Chapter 4 treated the audience to a bevy of action legends. Many American viewers were probably already familiar with Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada, and those who were somewhat entrenched in the world of action movies probably knew at least Scott Adkins. But the guest appearance that got me most excited was Chilean martial artist Marko Zaror.

Once a stuntman for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Zaror has since gone on to become one of the most dynamic action stars working under the radar today. I first met Zaror in the Great Undisputed 3: Salvation, his first acting appearance in an American film. In the threequel, Zaror plays an antagonist to Adkins’ iconic Yuri Boyka, culminating one of the most breathtaking and impressive battle scenes ever filmed.

Zaror has appeared in a few other American movies: He was a villain in Machete killsplayed opposite Adkins again Wild dogand could briefly be seen as one of the motor ballet athletes in Alita: Battle Angel.

But John Wick: Chapter 4 is by far the biggest exposure American audiences have had to Zaror to date, and it’s great timing – he’s got a new movie out, The fist of the condorand it reigns.

Fist of the Condor is 85 minutes of old school martial arts drama. Director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, who previously worked with Zaror kilograms, Mandrilland the revenge movie Savior, is heavily influenced by the Hong Kong films of the 1960s and 1970s (rather than the 1980s/1990s era that we see more often imitated today). Zaror co-produced the film, stars in two roles, and also choreographed the film’s breathtaking fight scenes.

In the film, the Fist of the Condor is described as a powerful, gravity-defying ancient martial art with roots back to the Inca, used to fight against the Spanish conquistadors. Those moves have been passed down in book form through generations of honest-hearted warriors. The main conflict of the film is between twin brothers (both played by Zaror): one who obtained the book and one, betrayed by his brother, who seeks it.

Fist of the Condor looks great, especially on a modest budget. Espinoza and cinematographers Nicolás Ibieta and Benjamín Luna Vaccarezza make the most of Chile’s stunning scenery, capturing stunning shots of wide-open mountains and breathtaking fights on beaches next to crashing waves or in a lush forest.

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

But the beauty isn’t just in the geography or the battle sequences: in beats of our hero looking at himself in a broken mirror, or Ibieta focusing to draw attention to meaningful objects like an empty birdcage, Fist of the Condor is full of small, spectacular choices.

But the action. The action!

The stunning opening sequence on a beach communicates the film’s imagery and Zaror’s incredible athleticism, all in one thrilling five minute sequence. One of the twin brothers, Guerrero, is challenged to a fight – he hasn’t fought in six years, a point interrupted by the calming waves of the ocean. Suddenly, his challenger sprints toward him and flies into the air with his leg outstretched, what appears to be a brutal kick to the head. Guerrero waits for the kick for what seems like an eternity, almost accepting his fate. Then he leaps up in a flash to meet the opponent, spinning in the air to block the kick with his left elbow, before slamming into his opponent’s jaw with a spinning fist to knock him to the ground.

The combat all happens in the blink of an eye, but the fluidity of movement and camera placement make it all extremely easy to follow. A flurry of punches followed by a spin kick is so daring that Zaror can still spin in the air to this day.

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

Between breaking the drama into chapters with black-and-white intertitles, the visual approach, the fluid action sequences, and a relatively low-key central conflict, Espinoza wears his old-fashioned Hong Kong inspirations on his sleeve (although most of the characters forgo of sleeves for bulging biceps). But for all the Bruce Lee movie DNA in it Fist of the Condorthere are also a few First blood (one of the twin brothers is a bit of a vagabond who gets bullied for being an outcast) and nods to the films of western legend Sergio Leone (Claudio Rocco’s driving, propulsive score clearly draws inspiration from the work of Ennio Morricone).

At the end of the day, though Fist of the Condor is the Marko Zaror show. And boy, does he deliver. The movie is at its best when it’s a series of breathtaking battles, one after the other, drawing on his incredible star power. As an actor, Zaror brings life and deep pain to the star-crossed brothers, and as a fighter and acrobat he is second to none. He seems to be able to go from raw, animalistic movements to robotic, hypnotic defenses (he calls it an “electric impulse” in the movie) and balletic, gravity-defying spinning kicks that are just poetry in motion.

There are few better cinematic kickers these days than Marko Zaror, and The fist of the condor know it.

The Fist of the Condor will be shown in select Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters on April 4, then streamed exclusively on Hi-Yah! from April 7.