Fearless Hyena, The | aka Crazy Monkey (1979) Review

“The Fearless Hyena” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Jackie Chan
Producer: Hsu Li Hwa
Cast: Jackie Chan, Peng Kang, James Tien, Dean Shek Tien, Yen Shi Kwan, Lee Kwan, Chan Wai Lau, Cheng Fu Hung, Ma Cheung, Wang Yao, Ricky Cheng Tien Chi, Chu Siu Wa, Gam Sai Yuk, Eagle Han Ying
Running Time: 92 min.

By Numskull

Career milestone or not, I don’t like this movie at all. Frankly, I don’t think it’s any more amusing than the “sequel” (in spite of Lo Wei’s *AHEM* questionable film-making techniques). The problems here are that (1) the storyline is nothing more than a cliche and (2) that there’s no good fighting. Jackie either gets his ass kicked or employs his Buster Keaton routines, which are funny once in a while, but in general, I find them quite dull. There IS a scene where he takes on three guys with spears, but it looks quite fake and is almost a chore to sit through. Two things I like about this movie, and two things only: the way the main villain (he of the shifting hairstyles in the “sequel”) says “How dare you bite me!” in his ultra-gruff voice, and the little musical blurb at the end (don’t ask why). Fans of Jackie’s physical comedy will find merit in this, but give me a mindless chop-socky flick like Spiritual Kung Fu or Hong Kong Face-Off any day.

Numskull’s Rating: 3/10

By Ro

I almost didn’t watch this one because of the title, but I’m glad I did. Actually, it’s a lot like Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow. Jackie plays the sort of lazy grandson of a master who’s teaching him kung-fu. He gets a job with a couple of con artists who are supposed to be starting a school, but it’s basically Jackie getting paid to fight people. He does it in disguise to put them off their guard, and that part’s hilarious! One of his disguises is a woman, so he spends the whole fight fending off the amorous advances of his (obviously sight challenged) opponent. You can’t tell me he wasn’t influenced by The Three Stooges as much as Buster Keaton! Then, his disobedience gets his grandfather killed and his training is completed by an old cripple. Yet again, the training scenes are incredible! Watch for him doing sit ups while hanging upside down from a tree! The negatives include the ‘slap,block,kick,block’ slower style of fighting prevalent in the 70s and Jackie not dubbing his own voice. However, the ’emotional’ style of fighting he uses adds humor to the final fight scene and the positive of Jackie doing the training scenes shirtless WAY outweighs the negatives.

Ro’s Rating: 7/10 (add a star if you like the shirtless scenes)

By Master of the Stick

This movie has everything that I like about old school kung fu movies: zany comedy, a wacky supporting cast, a fiendish villain, and a cheesey plot that strings together fight after fight after fight! What more could you ask for? Obviously, Jackie borrowed a lot from Drunken Master when he made this one, but it’s still a damn good film. Even his best movies have average plots compared to the rest of the cinematic world, and anyone who watches them for the stories is missing out. So, for me, the lousy plot just added to the coolness factor. In short, you wouldn’t want to show this to someone who’s never seen a Jackie Chan movie before, but for the established Chan-fans out there, it’s a great flick. I loved it.

Master of the Stick’s Rating: 9/10

By Marcia

Looking at this title, I was afraid. Very afraid. But once I learned that this was the film where we get to see a crossdressing Jackie (having unfortunately seen clips of that in one of those ripoff montage films), I decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised; it wasn’t terrible. Although I have a hard time overlooking the annoying “grandfather” (knowing the actor is actually of comparable age to Jackie, having seen him in several of the other Lo Wei films), the rest of it is OK enough. The “emotional kung fu” (which Jackie totally made up just for this film) is weird and rather lame, but I’d certainly rather watch this film than many of the earlier Lo Wei works.

Marcia’s Rating: 7/10

By Superman

This was the first old school blackbelt JC movie I saw. I must say that I enjoyed it every bit as much as his newer films. His use of obscure weapons in this one is amazing. He kicks butt using benches, Swords, Staffs, Oranges (which also doubled as his fake Chi-Chi’s in a cross dressing scene) and the Hyena kung-fu style. If you shy away from his older stuff you just might enjoy this one. I haven’t seen Young Master yet , but this ranks right up there below Drunken Master. This one is also easily available, so sit back relax about the lack of story and just enjoy the show.

Superman’s Rating: 8/10 (yes 8! Its cool corny fun!)