Enter the Fat Dragon (2020) Review

“Enter the Fat Dragon” Theatrical Poster

Director: Tanigaki Kenji
Cast: Donnie Yen, Niki Chow, Teresa Mo, Wong Jing, Louis Cheung Kai-Chung, Jessica Jann, Takenaka Naoto, Tetsuya Watanabe, Wong Cho-Lam, Lawrence Chou, Jerry Lamb, Yan Hua, Anthony Chan, Philip Ng
Running Time: 96 min.

By Paul Bramhall

I guess any review of Enter the Fat Dragon should begin by addressing its existence (it’s as good a place to start as any!). First up, yes, the production was conceived all thanks to a 2015 commercial that Donnie Yen starred in for the memory foam brand Sinomax. In it, we get Yen in a fat suit (think Gwyneth Paltrow in Shallow Hal), in which he goes up against his slim self in a race to meet their returning partners first, and somehow it all ends up being about the very comfortable looking Sinomax memory foam mattresses and pillows. I was sold, and it only takes a brief look at the comments section of the clip on YouTube to realise a disproportionate amount of them read “You should make a movie out of this!” It’s somewhat fitting then, that a producer such as Wong Jing should set in motion the plan to do just that.

Secondly, no, it’s not a remake of the 1978 Sammo Hung movie of the same name. Although, in fairness, both Sammo and Donnie’s characters share a love of Bruce Lee, so there are certainly some thematic similarities between the pair. In terms of plot though, they’re 2 distinctly different beasts. In the updated version, Yen unsurprisingly plays a righteous cop with anger management issues, much the same as he’s done several times over since 1988’s Tiger Cage (but when you do it as well as he does, it’s not a complaint). After one ridiculous brawl too many, he finds himself demoted to the archive room, and to top things off his aspiring actress fiancé dumps him. Skip forward 6 months later, and a diet of potato chips and soft drinks has taken its toll on the waistline to the tune of 250 pounds.

Yen’s offered a chance at redemption by escorting a Japanese suspect apprehended in Hong Kong back to Tokyo, however things go wrong almost immediately upon arrival, when the suspect escapes and ends up in the hands of a ruthless yakuza businessman. It just so happens the same businessman is also sponsoring a visto to Tokyo by Yen’s ex-finance at the same time, to assist in broadening her appeal to the Japanese market. With corrupt cops offering no help, and Yen suffering from self-doubt around his abilities, can he bring the yakuza to justice, rediscover himself, and get his girl back all within the space of 95 minutes? Well, he’s Donnie Yen, of course he can. The question is more about if he can do it in an entertaining way.

The short answer to that one is, yes, Enter the Fat Dragon is an undemanding but arguably entertaining romp, and the good news is there’s no memory foam in sight. After the mean-spirited and rather grating 2018 fat cop comedy Fat Buddies, it’s doubtful anyone was really clamouring for another one so soon after, but Yen’s name still carries heft, and thankfully takes a much different tone. Here Yen plays the character for the most part with minimal difference between his slim and bulkier versions, and its just as well, as really the fat suit has no bearing on the all-important action scenes. Essentially it’s there as an aesthetic quirk, but that works to its advantage, as we’re spared any cheap and tasteless jokes about weight.

Stepping into the director’s chair for the first time is Donnie Yen Action Team member Kenji Tanigaki. After helming action direction duties on Big Brother, it’s great to see Yen giving opportunities to his team to step up to the table, and his collaborations with Tanigaki date back to Yen’s own directorial debut with 1997’s Legend of the Wolf. Wong Jing’s role as producer (he also contributed to the script) is clear with Aman Chang onboard as co-director, a credit he also shared on the recent Wong Jing directed productions From Vegas to Macau 2 and Chasing the Dragon. An established director himself (well, if you count movies like Sex & Zen III and Body Weapon), it’s likely that Chang served to lend a helping hand to Tanigaki so he wasn’t left to completely fend for himself.

Despite Tanigaki’s director credit, the tone of Enter the Fat Dragon feels like Wong Jing’s shadow looms large over the production. Small details like the suspect Yen has to escort being a Japanese porn director feel like they have Jing’s name written all over them, and the man himself has a significant role in front of the camera, as a one-time undercover cop cum restaurant owner living in Tokyo who Yen teams up with. Surprisingly Jing brings plenty of heart to his character, and the relationship with his long-suffering partner played by Teresa Mo (All’s Well End’s Well, Hard Boiled) is fun to watch, making the fact that not every joke hits the mark easily forgivable.

It’s fair to say the cast overall contribute significantly to the enjoyment of Enter the Fat Dragon. Veteran Japanese actor Naoto Takenaka plays the incompetent Japanese cop with toupee trouble, meaning we have a movie that has Donnie Yen sharing scenes with an actor that featured in one of Japan’s notorious Guinea Pig movies from the 80’s (Guinea Pig 4: Devil Woman Doctor, for those wondering). Who’d have thought? Chaney Lin, the child actor who played the young version of Yen in Big Brother here gets a larger role to sink his teeth into, which is accompanied by an opportunity to once more show off his impressive martial arts skills, and Niki Chow Lai-Kei puts in a charming turn as the object of Yen’s affections.

Of course, what we’re really clocking in for is the action, and thankfully Enter the Fat Dragon is aware of its purpose. Tanigaki has assembled an impressive action ensemble, spearheaded by the action design of the Donnie Yen Action Team, choreography duties are shared between local Japan talent Takahito Ouchi (Ajin: Demi Human) and Masaki Suzumura (Dead Sushi), combined with input from Yan Hua (Iceman 3D), Yu Kang (Special ID), and Leung Pok Yan (The Empty Hands). Yen gets to battle robbers in a speeding van (featuring the obligatory throwdown against Yu Kang – a staple of many a Yen movie in recent times!), and there’s a couple of impressively staged action sequences that involve clambering in and around buildings. After the disastrous CGI infused scene from Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy which involved a similar action environment, here Yen and the team show how its done, and they do it well.

There are missed opportunities, the inclusion of Philip Ng for a brief parody of the alley way fight in Sha Po Lang feels like he could have been used more (although in the context of the scene, it works perfectly), and the casting of Japanese action maestro Masanori Mimoto sees him sourly underused. After seeing Mimoto in action in Hydra, its clear that he’s a huge fan of Yen’s work, so I’d been hoping for a lengthy exchange between the pair, but alas it wasn’t to be. Thankfully final fight honours go to Joey Iwanaga (Crows Explode, Tokyo Tribe) who makes for a worthy adversary. We get a fierce open-handed fight in a restaurant, which segues into a battle on top of Tokyo Tower, pitting Iwanaga’s sai’s against Yen’s nunchucks. It’s important to remember we’re watching a comedy, so audiences shouldn’t go in expecting the fierceness of Flash Point or Ip Man, but it’s still a fight that delivers while staying true to the genre it takes place in.

As a comedy overall, Enter the Fat Dragon is less than successful, and as usual for a Wong Jing script, not every joke delivers the laughs. The usage of footage from Flash Point as Yen’s character recalls his glory days raises more of a smile than a laugh, and indeed for me the only genuine laugh out loud moment came in the final fight involving Niki Chow. You’ll know it when you see it. There’s also a constant barrage of unwarranted sentimentality to deal with. We at least don’t have to suffer through a James Blunt soundtrack like Big Brother, but we do constantly have our ears assaulted by saccharine English language tracks that feature such lyrical nuggets as “I’ve been searching for the meaning, I’ve been losing my way.” Deep.

Despite these flaws, Yen is clearly having a good time, clocking in his first genuine comedic lead role since his initial collaborations with Yuen Woo-Ping back in the day. With its Tokyo setting, good natured feel, and steady stream of action, Enter the Fat Dragon for the most part entertains, plus – Donnie Yen with nunchucks, ‘nuff said.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10