Fist of the Condor: part Bruce Lee, part Rambo, part Sergio Leone, all Marko Zaror
John Wick: Chapter 4 treated audiences to a bevy of action legends. Many American viewers were likely already familiar with Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada, and those slightly entrenched in the world of action movies probably at least knew of Scott Adkins. But the guest appearance that got me the most amped up was Chilean martial artist Marko Zaror.
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A onetime stuntman for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Zaror has since emerged as one of the most dynamic under-the-radar action stars working today. I was first introduced to Zaror in the terrific Undisputed 3: Redemption, his first acting appearance in an American film. In the threequel, Zaror plays an antagonist to Adkins’ iconic Yuri Boyka, culminating in one of the most breathtaking and impressive fight scenes ever filmed.
Zaror has shown up in a few other American films: He was a villain in Machete Kills, starred opposite Adkins again in Savage Dog, and could be seen briefly as one of the motorball athletes in Alita: Battle Angel.
But John Wick: Chapter 4 is by far the biggest exposure American audiences have had to Zaror yet, and it’s great timing — he has a new movie out, The Fist of the Condor, and it rules.
Fist of the Condor is 85 minutes of old-school martial arts drama. Director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, who previously collaborated with Zaror on
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