Lady Bloodfight

Look at this poster.

Its so simple, yet intriguing. Around six or seven years ago, Lady Bloodfight first popped up on my radar due to this excellent poster. It features an attractive woman in a great martial art pose, and looks both elegant and of high production, something you don’t often see in modern low-budget action films.

Despite the cool poster, I could never bring myself to watch the film. I’d add it to my list, then take it off six months later. I just didn’t have anything to really push me over the top, that was until last weekend when I realized Lady Bloodfight was from the same director as Kiss of the Dragon, one of my favorite Jet Li films.

When you see a low-budget action film (or really any action film these days), it’s going to go one of two ways:

1. You have a true martial artist who will do the stunts/fight scenes and will remind you of the 80s and early 90s.
2. You take an actor or actress with limited training, do quick, close-up cuts (as made popular by the Bourne series) to mask their inability to pull off a believable fight.

I really had no idea what to expect when I started up Lady Bloodfight (what a dumb name for a movie BTW), but I was so surprised to see it was the former. Actress Amy Johnston is a stuntwoman who has worked on films like Deadpool and Captain America Winter Solider, and she is also the daughter of Dave Johnston, a former WKA professional kickboxing champion. According to IMDB, she has trained in Jujitsu, Kenpo, Silat, Escrima, Kung Fu, Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Wushu, Wing Chun, and Jeet Kune Do. Needless to say, this is not an actress who needs quick cuts and close up shots and that’s made very clear within the first few minutes of the film.

Lady Bloodfight has a familiar story. A young woman travels to Hong Kong to fight in a hidden underground competition called Kumite. Her father fought in the Kumite eighteen years earlier but was never heard from again. She’s both on a quest to find herself, her father, and money to take care of her mother. A simple story but an effective one.

Things don’t go well for our protagonist, Jane (Amy Johnston), upon her arrival to Hong Kong. She is jumped by a group of guys and her bag is stolen that not only contained all of her cash, but also her only picture of her father. She is rescued by a mysterious woman named Shu (Muriel Hofmann), who nurses Jane back to health and eventually agrees to train her for the Kumite.

Like all good action films, there is more to the story than meets the eye, an evil villain, a path to redemption, and some incredible action. And the action is what really makes this film worth watching.

Amy Johnston is incredible. How this film was released in 2017 and now in 2025 she is not a household name, I do not understand. Her screen presence is strong, and her athleticism is incredible. She takes an incredible beating and continues moving forward, changing into various fighting techniques, which are all filmed beautifully. She is truly a badass.

She is surrounded by an excellent cast of women who are equally as impressive. Honestly, you can pick pretty much anyone from the cast, but Kathy Wu (Wai), Jenny Wu (Ling), and Jet Tranter (Cassidy) all make for memorable performances. I was sadden when looking up Jet Tranters IMDB to see she has not gone onto bigger things, because she really steals the show when she is on screen.

The plot is paper thin, and the dialogue isn’t going to win any awards, but the fight scenes are amazing. Each fight feels unique, we actually get to see the martial arts as they are performed, and it was so easy to become invested in this film. My only regret was not watching it sooner.

Lady Bloodfight is the type of film I could see myself rewatching when I need something to throw on in the background. I went online to buy a blu-ray, but sadly it was never released on blu-ray here in the States. For a modern movie to be spurned a physical release eight years ago is a travesty, as this is exactly the type of movie that will one just disappear. It didn’t leave an impact, but for any fans of Bloodsport and low-budget action movies, this is a movie I’d highly recommend it, even if it’s just to see Amy Johnston’s performance.