The Worst Choreographed Martial Arts Sequences In Movie History

Martial arts have been part of culture for ages now. The combat traditions have especially found a place in pop culture due to the popularity of martial arts films, one of the biggest and highest-selling genres in the entire world, spawning movie stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Michelle Yeoh.

Even in today's film industry, martial arts combat is very present in blockbusters, from the MCU's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" to Oscar winner "Everything Everywhere All At Once." However, perfecting — and more importantly, displaying — the fighting style requires a lot of dedication and craftsmanship. As a result, there have been many sequences depicting martial arts that underwhelmed fans of the genre.

These 15 films vary from foreign B-movies to blockbuster IP, yet in each of them, the depiction of martial arts is sadly not up to scratch. Whether it's due to clumsy directing, unbelievable actors, or in many cases, poorly-rendered CGI effects, these fight scenes tried and failed to showcase this iconic form of action, and the results are plain to see. 

Martial arts films tend to be underwhelming when they cast non-actors in their lead roles. That was the first mistake of the 1985 film "Gymkata," directed by Robert Clouse and starring Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas as Jonathan Cabot, a man selected by the American government to enter an athletic competition against other countries where the prize is a wish for the winner. 

"Gymkata" has since gathered a cult following, listed by Maxim as one of the worst movies ever made in 2002. One can imagine that in a film whose title clumsily combines the words "gymnastics" and "karate," the fight scene choreography would be as poorly thought-out. In one scene, Thomas's character is ambushed by terrorists at a marketplace, fighting them off with ludicrous jump-kicks and unnecessary flips.

The goons are more than willing to let Thomas's character set up his attack with a big acrobatic flourish, and when they're hit once, they stay down. While it's a pretty poor fight scene choreography, it makes for an entertaining watch. So perhaps "Gymkata" has earned its legacy as a cult classic, after all.

"Miami Connection" was released in 1987 and was written, directed, and produced by Y.K. Kim, who also stars as Mark, a member of "Dragon Sound," a band composed of Taekwondo-practicing orphans. In the film, a motorcycle gang of ninjas kidnaps the lead singer, forcing the rest of the band to rescue him. 

Kim produced the film entirely independently, casting his Taekwondo students and hoping the finished product would interest a distributor, although as Kim later recounted to CNN, "I showed ['Miami Connection'] to hundreds of different studios and distribution companies ... They all said, 'This is trash. Don't waste your time.'" Despite the clear passion put into the project, Kim probably should've listened to their criticism at the time.

In one scene, the gang members are confronted in a railhead by the band, who take them on all by themselves. Most of the thugs, however, spend the fight watching their friends get taken out one by one by the bandmates. The one saving grace of this scene is the epic '80s synth music playing over it. 

"3 Ninjas," originally released in 1992, centers on three brothers who learn martial arts and subsequently use their skills to aid their father in an FBI hunt for a criminal mastermind. It eventually sparked a film series helmed by other directors, starting with "3 Ninjas Kick Back" in 1994, and then "3 Ninjas Knuckle Up" in 1995. 

In one of the film's early scenes, the brothers are confronted at a pizza parlor by punks. One would imagine it'd be impossible for a group of adult men to be successfully beaten by a trio of pre-teen ninjas, especially when said pre-teen ninjas are all holding a small-sized pizza in one hand. Nevertheless, the martial arts sequence that proceeds is exactly that, as the adults do a pathetic job of evading clearly telegraphed kicks and dodges from each of the kids.

Furthermore, the fight scene is quite long, stretching to almost four minutes from the first to the last punch. Although the kids showcase impressive moves, the entire premise of it is pretty ridiculous, and the choreography behind the adults in the scene is lackluster. 

"The Karate Kid" is one of the most well-known martial arts media franchises in the entire world, starting in 1984 with the film starring Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio. The combat style of karate became incredibly popular in Western countries due to its depiction in "The Karate Kid," making it one of the most influential martial arts films. 

That legacy weighed heavy on "The Next Karate Kid," which was released in 1994. This time around, Ralph Macchio was replaced by Hilary Swank in her breakout role as Julie, becoming Mr. Miyagi's new martial arts pupil. Despite praise for the film's terrific lead performances, its action sequences pale in comparison to the first three films, as seen in its climactic showdown.

After Julie's love interest Eric is ambushed by fraternity brothers, Julie challenges their leader, Ned, to a fight. For a fight scored to epic orchestral music, Julie takes Ned down without much trouble at all. His only retaliation is throwing mud in Julie's face to blind her, which lets him, again, easily throw her to the ground. Overall, this fight lacks the clever choreography or stakes that made "The Karate Kid" a pop culture phenomenon. 

"The Matrix" was released in 1999 and redefined action film choreography for decades to come, combining the Wachowskis' love for martial arts films with science fiction and anime. This success resulted in two sequels shortly after: "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions." 

"The Matrix Reloaded" was liked by many but considered to be a major step down from the first film. One of its most iconic scenes, known as the "Burly Brawl," finds Neo ambushed on a rooftop by endless hordes of Agent Smith clones, which is an opportunity for the directors to showcase their leveled-up martial arts choreography. Unfortunately, the scene's VFX put a damper on the potential for a well-choreographed fight sequence. 

In fact, most of the scene plays out like a video game cutscene from the early 2000s. Agent Smith clones are tossed around, with Neo's plot armor really being shown off as he's swarmed by assailants who barely lay a finger on him. Aside from a few well-framed shots, the bulk of the scene is a barrage of CGI and fast-paced action that lacks the first film's extravagant detail.  

Much like "Mortal Kombat," "Street Fighter" is one of the most iconic game franchises of all time, with Chun-Li being a series staple since 1991. There was a lot of pressure to get the action right when Capcom co-produced "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" in 2009, starring Kristin Kreuk as the titular martial artist.

In typical fashion for video game movies, "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" was a critical disappointment. While Kreuk's Chun-Li never dons her iconic costume, another iconic "Street Fighter" character appears on screen: Vega. Chun-Li and Vega face off during the film, which ideally should be where it pays the most tribute to the "Street Fighter" franchise.

Long story short ... it doesn't. The scene is set at night, making the characters hard to see and their movements even harder to track. What it does get right about "Street Fighter" matches is that the two characters also spend most of the match not hitting each other, only to land one blow and really soak in the moment.

M. Night Shyamalan has directed some stellar films, including "The Sixth Sense," and "Split." However, his creative slump in the late 2000s included his greatest failure: The 2010 live-action adaptation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," widely considered one of the greatest animated series of all time.

The film, "The Last Airbender," has since become regarded as one of the worst films ever made. Many scenes showcase its lack of regard for the animated series' action choreography, but none more so than one confrontation between Aang and Zuko, which begins with an unbelievable moment where Zuko fails to notice Aang standing right behind him. 

The fight scene that follows features plenty more awkward moments between the two, including when Zuko picks Aang up like a baby, giving Aang the opportunity to wrap his legs around Zuko and flip him to the ground. Aside from that, it's mostly attacks that seem so obviously telegraphed you could see them coming from a mile away.