Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon (1991) Review

"Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon” Chinese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Nutty Kickbox Cops
Director: Lau Kar Wing
Cast: Sammo Hung, Karl Maka, Carrie Ng, Wanda Yung, Lau Kar Wing, Lung Ming Yan, Wu Fung, Cutie Mui Siu Wai, Ni Kuang, Mark Houghton, Brad Kerner
Running Time: 105 min.

By JJ Hatfield

The running time for this movie is 105 minutes, and you will feel each and every one, when fighting is not on the screen. Yes, Sammo is in the film and does the basic kick ass everyone expects. He also does the cool Bruce Lee impersonation, which is always entertaining as he does it so well! He is also in a disco wearing a white suit, well never mind about that. Karl Maka does the usual comic routine. There were a couple of funny moments I just kept having the feeling I had been there before. I felt I could turn the sound off and it was really not much different. This isn’t a terrible movie, it’s just not very good. Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon is yet one more in a long list of buddy with Sammo movies.

Unfortunately, we have seen it all before, and it’s not getting better with each movie. This was near the end of the movies based along the same lines and the subject was stale. And what is Sammo doing always including transvestites, cross dressers and bad guys who make ugly women? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it gets old very quickly. Is this supposed to be funny? Is the audience supposed to be surprised they are not women, which is more than obvious. Even then Sammo was capable of much better acting and kicking ass. He has been in so many damn good movies save this one to view later. Or just skip it.

For some reason even the IMDb lists this movie at 100 minutes. I realize due to copies, PAL/NTSC and other differences RT may be two or three minutes different, but five seems excessive. When I find out something like that I always wonder, did they cut something? Damn right, I don’t trust companies or corporation to leave a great thing alone! However, considering the quality of the film perhaps if it was censored it may have been a blessing.

JJ Hatfield’s Rating: 6/10 (A reluctant 6. Not really recommended however if you have no other good films it is passable entertainment.)



About JJ Hatfield

i like movies
This entry was posted in Chinese, Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon (1991) Review

  1. Running Times are always going to be inaccurate no matter what (this site included). lol To tell you the truth, the only reason I even list a running time is because it’s a nice separation (numbers!) between the cast info and the start of the REVIEW. =D I’m a visual nut. Saw this movie a looooong time ago. The movie opens in sort of a 7-11 type convenience store, right?

    • JJ Hatfield says:

      Yes one of those little stores that seem to be every where in many Asian related films. Every country has their own similar settings.

      Yes “Skinny” spends a long time taking down some robbers in the store. He may have been wearing a shirt or store smock with red and white vertical stripes. I think there were three robbers but don’t quote me on that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *