"The Tournament" does manage to rise above your standard kung fu movie found from this era, though it is not without flaws. What may turn off some viewers early on is that the movie is mighty slow to get Angela Mao into action - her first fight sequence doesn't happen until almost half of the movie's running time has passed! It's worth the wait, however, since all of Mao's fight scenes are very well executed. The movie also compensates for the wait by having Mao getting into FOUR back-to-back fights when she does start fighting! Though once the fourth fight is finished, we then have to wait about a half hour before she starts fighting again, but again it's worth the wait.
There are some flaws with the screenplay. The story does unfold at times at a fairly slow pace (mostly in the first half of the movie), and there is a touch of xenophobia with many of the characters that some viewers might find a little uncomfortable. The story doesn't get to being boring or a real turn-off, however. Combined with the fight sequences (and the presence of Angela Mao, of course!), this ends up one old school kung fu film that's above average.
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