“Heroes Among Heroes” Theatrical Poster
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
Co-director: Chan Chin Chung
Cast: Donnie Yen, Wong Gok, Fennie Yuen Kit-Ying, Ng Man Tat, Kwan Hoi San, Sheila Chan Suk Laan, Lee Ga Sing, Hung Yan Yan, Bao Fang, Lau Yue Ching
Running Time: 91 min.
By Numskull
A sluggish misfire from acclaimed director and martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping (with the, uh, assistance of Chan Chin Chung) dealing with fine, upstanding Chinese trying to put an end to the opium trade in their beloved country. Sound like Tai Chi II? It is, but Heroes Among Heroes came first and, in my opinion, is the lesser of the two movies. Furthermore, the gap in quality between this and Yuen Wo-Ping’s other, more well-known period kung/wire fu films…Wing Chun, Iron Monkey, and The Tai-Chi Master…is even bigger.
Donnie Yen stars as So Chan, a member of the beggar clan (even though his dad is rich) who gets hooked on opium by a corrupt official and finds himself at odds with the heroic Wong Fei Hung (played, this time, by Wong Gok). The large supporting cast includes Sheila Chan, sporting a very fake-looking set of buck teeth, as Aunt Jean, a character so annoying that you’ll want to skip every scene with her in it. Then there’s Yiteh, So Chan’s love interest and a sort of predecessor to Christy Chung’s Tai Chi II character; far too big a deal is made of the fact that she has studied abroad and she tries to improve women’s education in China while wearing an ugly hat. Far more interesting, as female characters go, are the women of The Red Lotus Cult, who casually start cutting people to ribbons whenever things don’t go their way.
The whole thing resembles nothing so much as a combination martial arts/classroom drug scare film. So Chan’s ignorance regarding the insidiousness of opium and the ease with which he succumbs to addiction result in him making a half-assed…no, ONE QUARTER-assed attempt to murder Wong Fei Hung (“Assassinator!”, he yells), who is pushing a newfangled pill that eases the quitting process. Naturally, he sees the error of his ways after being sealed up in a drugless room (a la Trainspotting, but without the baby on the ceiling) and joins the anti-opium crusade soon enough. Straightforward battle is eschewed in favor of gimmick fights, like a seated duel involving an opium pipe (Wong Guk’s hand catches fire, but he doesn’t seem to mind) and a Red Lotus Cult member lashing out with her deadly ponytail (yet another Tai Chi II parallel).
Heroes Among Heroes is definitely one of Yuen Wo-Ping’s lesser films, both as a director and a choreographer. The highlight is So Chan’s dad indicating Aunt Jean and saying, “Look, she’s just like a bitch.” Little of the greatness displayed in Iron Monkey and The Tai-Chi Master (both of which were also 1993 productions…two out of three ain’t bad, I guess) can be seen here. It’s not as much of a bummer as the D.T.s, but still unworthy of high praise.
Numskull’s Rating: 5/10
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