Earning the title of highest-grossing Vietnamese movie of all-time is sort of like a Vietnamese chef who’s renowned for the best American hamburger in his country – true, but not exactly as amazing as it sounds. Credit the makers of “The Rebel,” then, for not only delivering the first true Vietnamese actioneer, but actually making it good enough to compete with China and Hong Kong’s nonstop supply of martial arts films. “The Rebel” takes place in 1922 Vietnam where French colonial rule is being challenged by a group of resistance fighters. In response to the rebel activity, the French government has hired Vietnamese agents to track down and kill them, but when one agent (Johnny Tri Nguyen) becomes tired of spilling the blood of his own countrymen, he teams up with the daughter (Tranh Van Ngo) of the rebel leader and incurs the wrath of his boss, Sy (Dustin Nguyen, of “21 Jump Street” fame), who’s been promised a promotion if he can capture the traitors. Directed by Charlie Nguyen, “The Rebel” is just as much of a historical drama as it is a martial arts film, and as such, it has a pretty decent story to tell when its characters aren’t busy kicking ass. Of course, as with most Dragon Dynasty films, the main draw of “The Rebel” is the action, and believe it or not, there’s some really great stuff here. Johnny Tri Nguyen, whose biggest role to date is as Tobey Maguire’s costumed stunt double in the first two “Spider-Man” films, isn’t the greatest actor in the world, but he’s got moves that most action fans have never seen before, and that alone is worth the price of admission.
