Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993) Review

“Once Upon a Time in China IV” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Yuen Bun
Cast: Vincent Chiu Man Chuk, Jean Wong Ching Ying, Hung Yan Yan, Max Mok Siu Chung, Lau Shun, Billy Chow, Chin Kar Lok, Elaine Lui Siu Ling, Louis Roth
Running Time: 101 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Hot on the heels of Once Upon a Time in China III, otherwise known as “the one with all the lion dancing”, director Tsui Hark felt like he had his finger on the pulse when it came to knowing what audiences wanted. The answer was clear – more lion dancing. However things weren’t going so smoothly behind the scenes. A contractual dispute led to leading man Jet Li stepping away from the franchise, which left the gaping question of who could step into the wushu wunderkinds’ shoes. The answer wasn’t far away, as in the same year Li had also taken the lead in the Corey Yuen helmed Fong Sai Yuk, a production which gave him the chance to face off against Yuen’s latest discovery (direct from the Beijing Sport University), Vincent Zhao. He had the same wushu background as Li, was also from the Mainland, and was of a similar build. It was difficult to imagine a more suitable candidate to take over the role that made Li famous.

While Zhao proved resistant to Hark’s offer of a 3-year contract, in retrospect he might as well have signed it, since the pair would go on to work together on Green Snake (also from 1993!), Once Upon a Time in China V, The Blade, and The Chinese Feast, before parting ways in 1995. In 1993 though Hark was already helming 2 big budget productions, with the aforementioned Once Upon a Time in China III and Green Snake, so adding another Wong Fei Hung adventure to the slate was going to be stretching it. Keen to ride the popularity of the OUATIC (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) franchise though, rather than wait Hark handed over the directorial reigns to Yuen Bun, who had taken over action director duties from Yuen Woo-Ping on the previous instalment. With Bun in the director’s chair, both for the movie itself and the action, Hark stepped back into the role of producer and provided the story.

It was a risky move. Bun had never directed a movie (and he’s only co-directed 2 movies since, one of which is the hilariously named Tough Beauty and the Sloppy Slop), and Zhao had never been given leading man status before. Plus, more lion dancing. By all accounts the 4th instalment should have been a disaster, and while it’s certainly different in tone and scope to the trilogy that preceded it, if you’re willing to accept that then there’s a lot of fun to be had. A much more effective name for Once Upon a Time in China IV would have been Wong Fei Hung Vs. The Germans, as that’s essentially the core of the plot in a nutshell. Throwing caution to the wind, rather than create a new story, the 4th instalment is a direct continuation of Jet Li’s last outing, with Tsui Hark still making his presence known through penning the script.

As if to announce Vincent Zhao in the role, he gets his own introduction before the distinctive Wong Fei Hung theme kicks in, busting out the wushu movies in front of the familiar sight of practicing students. It’s a scene which almost feels like it’s there for the sole purpose of saying “No Jet Li? No problem!”, but if that was its intention, then it arguably achieves it. We also get a bizarre disclaimer to kick things off advising that the events we’re about to witness aren’t historically accurate. Only when you’ve sat through the next 90 minutes, which involve Zhao balancing on oversized domino’s and fighting oversized clams, is it possible to fully comprehend the ridiculousness of the need for such a statement. 

Looking back on OUATC IV with the benefit of hindsight, its clear that it has much more in common with its new wave wuxia contemporaries than it does with the preceding trilogy. Yuen Bun may have stepped into the role of choreographer for the series in the previous entry, however here (no doubt thanks to also being in the director’s chair) it feels like he really gets to let loose. While the previous entries are praised for their balance of story and action, here it feels more like a run-of-the-mill kung fu flick, with the Germans and other foreign powers (the usual suspects – the UK, the US etc.) looking to undermine the Chinese for ill gotten gains. What makes it different is their approach to doing so, which involves challenging Wong Fei Hung to a lion dancing contest to prove that foreigners can even beat the Chinese at their own game. Hardly the most thrilling prospect, but then Bun has a few tricks up his sleeve to entertain us.

The foreigners haven’t just gone for any normal lion dance, they’ve created their own dancing entourage, and let’s just say they’ve gone big. In a couple of the standout set pieces, the screen becomes filled with these oversized members of the animal kingdom, as we’re met by huge centipedes, eagles, a clam (seriously), and what looks like a hybrid between an octopus and a crab (think tentacles with pincers on the end). If you thought the chicken dance that ends Last Hero in China was a hoot, this blows it clean out of the water. Bun seems to be channelling his inner Ching Siu-Tung, as what up to this point has been known as a series of epic kung fu movies, begins to resemble what can best be described as a new wave wuxia meets kaiju flick. 

There’s something suitably epic and mesmerising about watching series regular Xiong Xin-Xin (and frequent scene stealer) stare down a giant eagle, then proceed to go airborne and repeatedly kick it in the face until it crashes to the ground defeated. It’s not only the lion dances which are cranked up to 11, as even the sacred platform with the prize is rigged up with machine guns, making the proposition of coming out on top and not being riddled with bullets a tricky one. No doubt those clocking in for more grounded action may feel like they’ve accidentally started watching another Swordsman sequel, but Bun clearly shows off his talent here for crafting large scale, imaginative action sequences. It’s a talent which would fully come to fruition when he’d pair up with Tsui Hark 2 decades later, delivering some amazing scenes in the likes of Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon and Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back.

Thankfully Zhao is given a chance to shine, having to deal with the all-female Red Lantern sect, and also a pair of Chinese lackeys employed by the foreigners, played by the dream match-up of Billy Chow and Chin Kar Lok (who, ironically, played Wong Fei Hung the year prior in Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung). Their characters are certainly memorable, first introduced with Kar Lok literally standing on the shoulders of Chow (fans of subtext will love this scene). Sporting the same hairstyle he rocked in the fantasy elements of Operation Scorpio, Kar Lok plays a fencing expert, while Chow plays the muscle who likes to show off his power by stopping galloping horses in their tracks with his fist. Yes, if it’d been Chow in Bodyguards and Assassins rather than Donnie Yen, it would’ve been a more interesting outcome. Needless to say, such an encounter is not one to watch for animal lovers.

While the prospect of a fight featuring Zhao versus Kar Lok and Chow in their prime is a tantalising one, by the time we get to it anyone expecting the action to suddenly switch up and go from bombastic and over-the-top to grounded and hard-hitting would be kidding themselves. Sure enough, their face off is entertaining in the context of the overall action aesthetic, but purists hoping for a high impact, wire free, lengthy exchange will likely be left dumbfounded. In a way it encapsulates what Bun’s directorial debut is all about. Rather than focusing on what he doesn’t have (Rosamund Kwan doesn’t return as Aunt Yee, so instead we get Jean Wang as Aunt May – cue awkward interactions with zero chemistry), Bun focuses on his strengths, and uses his skills to propel Zhao into action star status, sometimes quite literally. 

In his first starring role Zhao’s stoic demeanour serves him well, and on the action front he delivers, with opportunities to show off his skills with a whip (I wish we’d seen more of this) and of course the trusty umbrella makes an appearance. Away from the epic lion dancing battles, a prison break scene is a standout, and features some gratuitously over the top wirework that fans of it will no doubt lap up, and those who don’t will likely have already switched off by this point. But as Zhao himself says at one point – “Oh, it’s wires only.” Indeed, chill out!

While the concept of making a new wave wuxia styled OUATIC entry may sound sacrilegious, only 4 years later we’d have Wong Fei Hung wondering around the wild west trying to remember who he is. Since then we’ve had ‘gritty’ Wong Fei Hung in Rise of the Legend and Zhao himself has recently returned to the role in the VOD entries Unity of Heroes and Warriors of the Nation. While they all may have their respective merits, personally, I’d take this entry any day. 

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10