What a viewWu Assassins on Netflix: edgy martial arts show highlights Asian-American talent
- Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the series pulls no punches with explosive action scenes
- Supernatural elements, triads and a food truck chef make for an opaque, but entertaining, plot
More opaque is the plot. Uwais is chef Kai Jin, whose big ambition is to own a fast-food truck and whose concession to T-shirt humour is the legend: “Kung Foodie: Street Fusion”. But his career makes an unexpected lurch when Ying Ying drops by, as if in a dream, to tell him that he’s some sort of chosen one.
Handing him a glowing stone, she reveals he has assumed the power of 1,000 monks, who sacrificed themselves long ago to defeat a quintet of corrupt warlords. The infamous five “waged war against ancient China, leaving the land awash in blood” and now a new generation of evil incarnate is converging on San Francisco – although what exactly the city has done wrong isn’t immediately obvious. It’s up to Kai to vanquish the lot, so it’s just as well he’s also good at chucking knives.
What follows is a martial arts spectacular crossbred with a supernatural fantasy tale and garnished with a dollop of mob nastiness, embodied especially by Uncle Six. Superficially smiling and considerate, he is a sadistic executioner with otherworldly powers of his own – and turns out to be Kai’s stepfather.
“I’m not a killer, I’m a chef,” protests Kai in one of his goofier moments. “No, Kai – you are the Wu assassin,” Ying Ying assures him.