Rob Munday
When I was young, my friends and I were obsessed with Street Fighter II on the SNES. We spent hours learning the moves of all the characters and when we went to the arcades, that would be the machine we would all congregate around. A few decades later and after I got my hands on a mini Super Nintendo, I discovered my skills hadn’t aged well when my 6yr old son managed to beat me with Dhalsim (notoriously one of the weakest players in that version of the game). So, although my pride wasn’t assaulted to the same level, I can understand what’s going through the head of Tobz, the lead character in Yuan Hu’s relatable and hilarious short Sticks of Fury.
We meet Tobz as he’s heading out on a date. After speaking to his younger brother and friend, who sit on the sofa battling each other on a contemporary version of Street Fighter, he starts to bombard his unwilling audience with epic tales of how he used to be the “king of this game back in the day”. After bragging that “they were going to send me to jail for what I was doing to my boys in the game”, the youngers finally have enough and challenge Tobz to stop running his mouth and show them what he’s got. He’ll soon start to regret all the big talk, as he finds himself drawn into a contest he stands no chance of winning.
Keiyon Cook (L) and Samuel Anoon as young friends battling for bragging rights on Street Fighter
Tackling themes of pride, masculinity and competitiveness, Sticks of Fury is a laugh-out-loud comedy that will strike a chord with anyone who has felt the sting of losing at something to a much younger competitor. More than that though, it’s also an eye-catching showcase of the talents of director Hu, who compliments the whip-smart humour of the script (Written by Louis & Bruin Chan) with some slick filmmaking that completely submerges its audience in both the tense atmosphere of the battlefield (OK, living room) and the spiraling headspace of Tobz.
Explaining that he wanted to make something “visually inventive that used the tools specific to the medium (specifically sound, editing, heightened visual language) to their fullest effect”, Hu says he was aiming to put his viewers into “the mind of someone getting repeatedly thrashed at a video game, to the point they start to lose their minds a little”. It’s at this moment – Tobz’s breakdown – that you really begin to understand how well put together Sticks of Fury is. As the live-action seamlessly merges with video game graphics, the commentator perfectly describing the on-screen and real-life battle, you find yourself invested in both Tobz’s despair and his competitor’s joy at the utter destruction he’s serving up.
Demmy Ladipo as Tobz, the older brother hoping to school a couple of youngers.
Shot “super super low budget” through “self funding” and “calling in all favours”, Hu filmed Sticks of Fury in one day in his own living room in the middle of lockdown. Having held auditions over Zoom, the success of the short is also largely down to the outstanding performances of his small cast. Demmy Ladipo does stellar work transforming Tobz’s initial bravado into fragility as we witness him crumple on screen, while Samuel Anoon and Keiyon Cook seem to be enjoying theirselves greatly as the two young ‘uns handing out a lesson. Cook in particular, managing to play it straight-faced pretty much throughout, has some of the film’s best moments. As he nonchalantly asks Tobz “was it worth it” at the short’s conclusion, he radiates wisdom beyond his years. The chemistry between the three actors, as electric as one of Blanka’s special moves, is palpable and Sticks of Fury is one of the rare shorts where you don’t mind the long end credits, as we get to enjoy a couple of hilarious behind-the-scenes moments with the trio.
Having first seen Sticks of Fury as part of the BFI London Film Festival in October 2022, I must have watched Hu’s film a dozen times since and its hold over me hasn’t lessened with those repeated viewings. Comedy is such a subjective experience and for me this seven-minute short gets it just right, as it never over stays its welcome and the laughs just keep coming throughout. Now working on a new short, about the process of auditioning for Asian men in the media industry, and a debut feature, about working in a fashion studio, we can’t wait to see more of Hu’s work.