Drunken Master (1978) Review

Posted on January 24, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Drunken Master" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“Drunken Master” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Yuen Woo Ping
Producer: Ng See Yuen
Cast: Jackie Chan, Simon Yuen, Hwang Jang Lee, Lam Kau, Dean Shek, Hsu Hsia, Linda Lin Jing, Tino Wong Cheung, San Kuai, Lee Chun Hwa, Chiang Kam, Fung King Man, Ho Tin Shing, Huang Ha, Max Lee
Running Time: 106 min.

By Mairosu

Is there any genre in this world more prolific than the Hong Kong martial arts one? For decades already the good folks from the ex-British colony delight us with their portraits of fearless heroes and evil villains, cheesy soundtracks, cheap “crash-swish-hack” sound effects and, most importantly, a roller-coaster ninety-odd minutes worth of sheer, harmless, moral-ridden bone-breaking fun.

But then again, there’s only that much clichés which you can swallow. A solid 80% of all kung-fu capers (well, okay, maybe I¹m exaggerating, but it does sound funny if you say something like that) work something like this:

* Young hero/hero/whatever knows good kung fu.

* Young hero/hero/whatever meets a better kung fu guy who beats him up.

* Young hero/hero/whatever goes into seclusion to better his skills.

* Young hero/hero/whatever mauls some local big shot to gain confidence.

* Young hero/hero/whatever meets that better kung fu guy from three lines before and takes his revenge.

And, sure ’nuff, Woo-Ping Yuen’s 1978. film Drunken Master doesn’t fall far from that standard, roughly looked at it. But…but – Drunken Master manages to be different, and it sticks out of the genre by implementing a genuine oriental brand of slapstick humour into the already worn out “kick flick” genre. And from what I hear, it may be also one of the first kung-fu films to come up with the above given filming pattern…although that’s debatable.

The movie tells us the story of young Wong Fei-Hong (played by then relatively unknown Jackie Chan), a Chinese folk hero in historical terms (who happens to be a staple topic of the Chinese film industry – later also played in a more “serious” role by Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China franchise), and his shenanigans at his father’s martial arts college. Wong is a real rascal – he’s a talented fighter, but spends his free time in a more hedonistic fashion instead of perfecting his kung-fu, which comes back to bite him in the behind when he finally crosses the proverbial line of fatherly toleration and his dad decides to send him off to his uncle as a punishment. Now that might sound like a holiday trip to someone, but not to Wong – his uncle is no one else than the legendary “drunken master” Su Hua Chi (played by Siu Tien Yuen, father of the director Woo-Ping), who has his unique style of kung fu which is most effective when you’re well tanked with alcohol, and his training methods are no cakewalk either. To complete the story, insert an evil kung fu master come hired gun…err, fist called “Thunderleg” (Jang Lee Hwang, who’s quite frankly looking like a Cantonese 70s disco artist), who plays the role of the “better kung fu guy who beats the hero up” and gets arse-whupped in the end.

So as you can, highly substantial fare. But it’s all worthwhile when the kicks start flying. The martial arts on display are typically dazzling (director Yuen choreographed the fight sequences for all three Matrix films and worked on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well) and the gentle touches of early Chan brilliance come into spotlight when he learns the “eight drunken gods technique”, and starts beating up baddies while stuttering about, drunk as a skunk which was let loose in a brewery. While Jackie will captivate you with his martial arts trickery, the real delight of the film is Siu Tien Yuen (who was – watch this – 66 years old at the time of the shoot), with his mop-like hairdo and a nose which would make Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer look ordinary, his arsenal of wacky kung-fu moves being a key part to his on-screen appearance. And can that be Bolo Yeung as the restaurant bouncer (I definitely saw that chest muscle routine before) ?

Drunken Master is the film which definitely buried Jackie Chan, the Bruce Lee heir apparent and gave birth to Jackie Chan, the drop-kicking comedian, such being an important landmark in the Asian cinema history. The humour, although evidently present, isn’t as polished as in later Chan films (Project A, Armour of Gods, Wheels on Meals), and the accent in this one is more on fights than on slapstick, but even so it’s well worth of rental and/or purchase. Beware of the Columbia Tri-Star DVD release which is reportedly five minutes shorter than the original and has an incomplete Cantonese voice track which is every now and then “filled” with English dialogue (nothing bad with the dub which is quite fine, just the language switch can be annoying sometimes).

Mairosu’s Rating: 8/10

By Ro

Finally I managed to get hold of a copy of this classic (my Blockbuster had it in the ‘Foreign-drama’ section! Go figure!). Yes, this is the one – the movie that made Jackie a star and changed the course of Hong Kong cinema forever. It’s pretty obvious why – at last Jackie is set free from the bad writing and directing and is allowed to relax and let his natural charm and charisma show. And boy, does it show! You can see the joy he took in the making of this film in every frame!

A lot has been written about this movie, so I won’t go into details. I just want to add that unlike some similar films (Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow & Fearless Hyena), this movie is funny all the way thru. It doesn’t get serious either during the training scenes or at the end like they do. In fact, in the final show-down fight between Jackie and the bad guy hit man, his master sits by the side of the field, shouting out techniques to use, for all the world like a drunken cheerleader. And when Jackie actually stops the fight at one point to confess that he never studied a particular one, he is roundly cursed and told to ‘improvise’! Priceless!!

Before I finish, just a word about the dubbing – it stank!!! I want to take out whoever is responsible for translating this film and shoot him! Do they really think that phrases like ‘Look at the chick’, ‘You’re a shithead’, and ‘Go clean toilets’ sound normal coming out of the mouths of these whatever century they’re supposed to be from men?

Anyway, you have to see this film, if only to see what started it all and see a naturally talented actor come into his own (he must have been naturally talented because he sure didn’t learn from ‘the director that shall be nameless’).

Ro’s Rating: 8/10

By Stockton22

Why do I love this movie?! Why?! I’LL TELL YA WHY! Well, there’s a number reasons, but to start, let’s cut to the to the true epicenter of it all. FIGHTING! To the uninitiated among you, Drunken Master is not a realistic looking fighting film. Rather, it’s typical of its 1970’s Hong Kong period Translation, its a cheesy, low-budget chopsocky flick. So, yes, a lot of the time you’ll see people fighting in that kind of staccato, stop-pop-and-pose chopsocky manner where one guy will block a punch or something and the two guys will hold that position for a second or two before they continue. Yeah, try fighting someone in real life like that, see how well that works.

You’d think that page one in the Shaolin Temple Handbook is “Don’t just stand there and let the guy hit you.” And yes, its all punctuated all those loud sound effects (the swoosh, the pop, et al). That being said, it’s about the best cheesy chopsocky flick you’re likely to see. This comic take on the youth of Chinese legend Wong Fei-Hung, is filled with, quite possibly, the most remarkable abundance of spectacular fighting choreography ever amassed into a single film. I’m saying, not only are the fight scenes great, there’s so many of them! Jackie seems to get into a fight everywhere he goes in this movie. If his teacher says, “Let’s go to town.” it means there’s gonna be a fight in town. I’ll put it this way, when I out for a quart of milk, I come back with a quart of milk. When Wong Fe-Hung goes out for a quart of milk, he’ll beat up two guys along the way and have big showdown with the cashier at the deli.

But another reason I love this movie is, because the fighting keeps you glued, all the cheesy overtones just seem like entertaining bonuses thrown into the whole mix. Example, during Jackie’s punishment through practice scenes, why is there this freaky Greek mandolin music playing? They used the same kind of music in just about every scene of “Hercules in New York,” but in that context it made a little sense. Another thing, all the villains in the movie have names that describe their talents and/or oddities, like a kung fu version of Dick Tracy. Just like Flat Top having a head with a flat top, our main antagonist is a guy with a powerful kick named Thunderfoot, played by Korean martial artist Wang Jang Lee, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Tony Orlando(Anyone ever see the two of them together? Me neither.). I guess that either his parents had foresight, or he adopted it along the way. My guess is he showed up a the office one day, and something like this happened:

* Phil: You know something Bob?

* Bob: What, Phil?

* Phil: I love to kick things. I really love it, I just kick things all the time. Kick kick kick. I’m a kickin’ fool. In fact, you might as well just call me Thunderfoot.

There’s also a guy with a really hard head, who, based on the way he introduces himself, was apparently raised on James Bond films. “They call me Rat. Ironhead Rat.” But my personal favorite is King of Sticks. What’s with this guy? They say, “Who are you?” and he says “KING OF STICKS!” First of all, anybody who proclaims himself to be the king of something has serious insecurity issues, and if there’s any doubt that that’s true, look no farther than Lord of the Dance Michael Flatly.

Second, this guy can’t fight without a stick? Jackie shows up at King’s (or is it Mr. of Sticks?) place, and the guy turns to his lackey and says “Get my Stick!” The next time you get into a fight on the street, see what happens when you say, “Hold up, I’ll fight you guys, but first I have to go home and get my stick.” Throw a Freudian interpretation of that into the whole mix and you got one screwed up bad guy. All this and: the buck-toothed waiter, the fact that in the dubbed version, instead of Fei-Hung, Jackie is called Freddy, Jackie gets hit butt kicked by an old lady, and so much more. I LOVE THIS MOVIE!

Stockton22’s Rating: 9/10

By Dead Channel

This one is pure gold. Of course it can’t touch the sequel in terms of moderness/dopeness, but that shouldn’t stop anybody from peeping the “roots”. Hah! It’s just fucking great the way Jackie gets his arse beat by his aunt without him even knowing who she is. Fei-Hong gets into all kinds of trouble in this one, quickly yet ultimately leading up to his dismissal. As mentioned numerous other times, this one is quite similar to Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. I say because all the actors are the same, and they’re all playing the same parts!

The drunken boxing was held off until the final fight scene, where it isn’t even that explosive (of course, after Drunken Master 2, what is?) granted the time period (Dinasaur age-the 70’s ewwwww!). Hah, in all seriousness, this is the epitome of kung-fu cinema. This is the kind of shit that as a kid I waiting all week for – the saturday kung-fu movie. Remember the time? *Sneef* Anyway, check it out…by any means necessary suckerz!

Dead Channel’s Rating: 10/10

By DJ Nixon

Ok, let me say this, the plot stunk but the action is one of the best you will see in a Chan film. Even though Jackie not a really good kung fu fighter he still gets in some good fights through out the movie. I thought the funniest part was when Jackie ate all of the owner’s food and he didn’t have any money to pay for it, but one thing I don’t get is that the owner and his helpers always try to beat the guy up I he doesn’t pay his bill ( Heart of Dragon), my opinion is that thats pretty stupid but the more action the better. There are some good fights in the movie but the best are when Jackie starts drinking and then beat’s the guys up, and the final fight is the best. Go see this movie it’s definately one of Jackie’s best.

DJ Nixon’s Rating: 10/10

By Numskull

Looks like I’m one of the few who didn’t much care for this (white subtitles made illegible by the picture despite the letterbox format certainly didn’t help). Sure there’s lots of “fighting,” but it’s mostly those damn Buster Keaton routines where Jackie’s opponent is made to look like an absolute dipshit and there’s no serious combat. Plus, Jackie’s character is very diificult to sympathize with… in fact, he’s a reprehensible little prick. And then, towards the end of the movie, a character who we haven’t seen in an hour reveals his diabolical plot to mine Jackie’s father’s property for coal. Of course! From drunken fist kung fu to coal!! It’s where the movie was headed all along!!! This wasn’t a BAD movie but it was definitely disappointing in light of all the hype. I would much rather have spent my time giving the Spice Girls a fully interactive tour of a medieval torture chamber.

Numskull’s Rating: 6/10

By Snake

The old man in one of Jackie Chan’s earliest efforts wasn’t the only one who had too much to drink. The scriptwriters, and we use that term very loosely, must have been tanked when they came up the idea for this piece of nonsense. What I was able to gather from the terribly dubbed and horribly acted film is that Mr. Chan had to visit a fellow resembling Carl “Oldy” Olsen from the Conan O’Brien show for kung fu lessons in order to prepare himself for a climatic scene when he dueled it out with an Elvis impersonator. Elvis’ sideburns put up quite a fight, but the acrobatic Chan, who might have a career with the Flying Walendas should he seek a new line of work, was able to defeat Elvis after consuming mass quantities of some sort of bevergage that the Dukes of Hazzard wouldn’t even tramsport, let alone drink.

At an interminable 90 minutes, the film begs for fast fowarding after some 30 or 40 minutes. The unintended laughs come from the most part from a batch of sound effects that was left over from Three Stooges films. Where was Mo, Larry and Curley or even Shemp-don’t get me started on Joe Besser-when they were so desperately needed? Do yourself a favor and skip this film. Instead try one of Chan’s latest ventures where the sciptwriters are stoned instead of drunk. I always did some of my best work when I was wasted.

Snake’s Rating: 2/10

By David Bell

Mighty Peking Man, producer of this fine web page, asked me what I thought about Jackie Chan and I told him I like what I’ve see so far. So he asked me to write a review and he even offered to let me see one of his copies, so here we go. I went over to Jeff’s house and caught Drunken Master. Here’s what I could figure out from the movie.

First a guy that looks like Elvis says he’s taken a kung fu bounty on some guy and proceeds to kick his heiney in, culminating a freeze frame of Elvis kicking the guy in the chest with both feet to deliver the death blow. Which was kind of cool ’cause it looked like the “to be continued” last panel of an old issue of Tales of Suspense where Batroc the Leaper kicked Captain America right in the star on Cap’s chest (Don’t worry. In the next issue Cap wipes the floor with Batroc.). After the credits, Jackie’s practicing kung fu with his class but he decides that his teacher, this guy with a huge mole and more hair coming out of it than is on Bruce Willis’ head, is a real dork. So Jackie kung fu’s him all over the floor until Mole Man calls recess.

On the break the guys in Jackie’s class see a babe so they bet Jackie that he can’t get a kiss AND a hug. Why is the hug the second thing? I’ve hugged women I’ve barely met. But try getting a little lip action and that’s all she wrote. Anyway, Jackie cons her into a kiss and gets the hug when he scares her with a snake. The babe’s mother comes out and tells Jackie “Hey, that’s my daughter and did you know I was one of the original Solid Gold dancers?” But Jackie tells her that Donna Summer sucked so she disco fu’s Jackie all over the court yard. Upset that he got whupped by a woman, he sees a guy in a Good humor suit pay a dime for a piece of jade that an old guy is selling for ten bucks. When good humor refuses to pay up, he smashes the jade so Jackie teaches him a lesson in supply-side economics and does $100 in collateral damage to the old guys shack to get the ten bills out of the ice cream guy. Jackie goes home to find that the disco queen is really his aunt (which makes the kiss from the babe really weird since that’s his first cousin, but nobody thinks twice about it) and Good Humor’s father comes in to moan about Jackie not working and playing well with others.

So old man makes Jackie pretend he’s a Barco-Lounger and crouch with his arms out for three hours. but Jackie cheats and his dad says that it’s time for the big guns, his uncle is going to teach him kung fu. But Jackie hears that his uncle is badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junk yard dog, so Jackie runs away. He winds up in a restaurant where he tries to scam some food, but he gets caught and an oriental Arnold Schwartzenegger kung fu’s Jackie until he horks back up the whole meal. After Jackie’s last technicolor yawn, he’s rescued by the Drunken Master, who turns out to be uncle. He trains Jackie a little but Jackie runs away and meets up with Elvis. Elvis plays “Don’t Be Cruel” on rib cage and Jackie figures he better head back to his uncle, not only to train but because the old guy has the Beefeater.

The Drunken Master tries to get Jackie into the kung fu training but Jackie doesn’t care until they decide to run a three card monte con. This bald guy sees his rent go into the Drunken Master’s pocket and decides to deliver some vigilante justice. Jackie plays the drum solo to “Wipe Out” on the guy’s skull, and before the bald guy lapses into a coma he tells them, “I’m gonna get my big brother! Then you’ll be sorry!”. Then the Drunken Master makes Jackie pretend he’s Rocky Balboa and they do some training until the bald guy, moments away from the aneurysm, shows up with his brother stick man. Stick man does the job on Drunken Master because Jackie brought back Perrier instead of Stoli, but Jackie still manages to take him down. Then the Drunken master explains that the only way to fight is completely wasted because even if you can’t beat the guy at least you’re numb.

So they Rocky a little more and then Jackie does his drunk Rocky so we know he’s ready to face Elvis again. But Elvis is busy using his swivel hip fu on dad because the Good Humor guy’s old man took out a contract on him. Jackie shows up just in time, but Elvis whips out a little “Teddy Bear” ands starts winning. Then the Drunken master shows up, tosses Jackie a bottle of Jack Daniels and tells him “Make him pay for Kissing Cousins and a Change of Habit!” So Jackie drunk fu’s Elvis all the way back to “Jailhouse Rock” which even Jackie has to admit was not bad. And the whole family walks off into the sunset. Overall I have to say that I like Chan’s later stuff better than this. After ten minutes, as good as the choreography is, it really is all the same. The last third of the movie was viewed in fast forward and I don’t think I missed any of the plot.

David Bell’s Rating: 5/10

By The Great Hendu

I’ve heard all the raves so I just had to see it. Now that I have, (infact I watched it twice back-to-back), I can honestly say, THIS IS THE BEST CHAN MOVIE I’VE EVER SEEN!!! I am continually astounded by Jackie’s ability. This movie showcases everything. He uses snake and crane as well as all eight Drunken Gods methods. He also does an excellent job acting. The movie was well written, easy to follow and never had a dry moment. The production is lightyears ahead of Fearless Hyena or even Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin. I love this movie. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go watch it again!

The Great Hendu’s Rating: 10/10

By Dan-O

Drink a little wine; kick a little ass; get down tonight! I was hesitant about renting this one. I kept having bad flashbacks of “To Kill With Intrigue” and that Fantasy Mission Crapola thing. But DAMN this was good. Lemme say that again, just because…; DAMN this was good. It was so damn good I bootlegged it. Hey, anybody else notice that you never actually see the old guy performing the really tricky moves; you only saw his back, never his face. Anyhow, as good as the fight scenes are in this lil’ gem, the dubbed dialogue was even more entertaining! Some of the better lines include “I THINK I’M HOOKED!!”… “You call that Gung-Fu?! Who the hell teaches you?” “MY DAD DOES!!!”… and who could possibly forget “A FART for the STICK KING!”.

Dan-O’s Rating: 10/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , |

Magnificent Bodyguards (1978) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Magnificent Bodyguards" American Theatrical Poster

“Magnificent Bodyguards” American Theatrical Poster

Director: Lo Wei
Cast: Jackie Chan, James Tien, Bruce Leung, Wong Ping, Lau Ming, Wong Gwan, Lee Man Tai, Chui Yuen, Fang Fang, Ching Kuo Chung, Chu Siu Wa, Ko Keung, Mau Ging Shun, Shikamura Yasuyoshi, Wong Ching, Yau Pang Sang
Running Time: 78 min.

By Numskull

Another corny kung fu melodrama from the cinematic mastermind who brought us Killer Meteors and To Kill With Intrigue. This is far superior to those two, though… actually, I thought it was pretty enjoyable for one of Lo Wei’s cheese-flavored excretions. The only ones I like more are Dragon Fist and maybe Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin. The general consensus on this movie is not good, but, it’s a permanent part of Jackie’s filmography and, much like the corn it’s filled with, it won’t go away no matter how hard you push…

From Lo Wei’s recycling bin: Jackie gets beaten up by a woman; Jackie’s father was killed by the main villain; Star Wars music (it was Lo Wei who first recognized John Williams’ star potential! Got that? Lo Wei! And then he runs off and signs a contract with George Lucas! Ingrate! Lucky for him he got in touch with Jimmy Wang Yu before the Triads got medieval on his ass!!!).

From Lo Wei’s acid trips: death by bell-ringing; a guy who supposedly has six fingers on each hand (they only had the budget to show ONE of his hands for 0.4 seconds); the synthetic face technology of “Darkman” hundreds of years before its time.

From Lo Wei’s intestinal tract: the toxic green smoke used to poison our heroes in the trap-filled temple. Justification for shooting this movie for 3-D: a weapon being thrust towards the camera; another weapon being thrust towards the camera; another weapon being thrust towards the camera; another weapon being thrust towards the camera.

From Lo Wei’s pre-production conversations with Jackie:

LO WEI: Here’s the script for our next movie. It’s called Magnificent Bodyguards. It will be so good, people will wait in mile-long lines to kiss my ass!

JACKIE (leafing through script): What the hell is so magnificent about this?!? It looks just like all the other movies we’ve done.

LO WEI: Not so… we’ll shoot it for 3-D and force people to wear those retina-damaging fashion accessories from the ’50s. And anybody who doesn’t like it can kiss my ass!

JACKIE: Yeah, whatever… but what’s this here about me doing Bruce’s yell? What a stupid idea!

LO WEI: I keep telling you, people want to see the next Bruce Lee! Even I’d like to see it, and the bastard had the nerve to run away after I told him to kiss my ass!

JACKIE: But I’m not a Bruce Lee type of person. Why can’t we put some humor in here instead?

LO WEI: What?!? Preposterous! If people want to laugh at the movie theater, let them stick the refreshment stand boy’s head in the toilet. I’m the boss of this company and people had better pucker up when I tell them to kiss my ass!

JACKIE: I don’t believe this. Suck my shlong Lo Wei!

LO WEI: You suck mine! And kiss my ass while you’re at it.

JACKIE: Grrr… all right, I won’t complain if you let me do a movie with Yuen Woo-ping after this one.

LO WEI: Kiss my ass and it’s a deal!

I wonder why this movie isn’t in any of those notorious 2-packs? If a Jackie Chan neophyte sees this next to a box of two equally panned movies for the same price, there’s really no decision to make…just like all of Lo Wei’s movies wtih Jackie, this is one block of cheese that won’t get better with age.

Numskull’s Rating: 6/10

By Alvin George

I can’t believe I paid two lousy bucks to rent this crap. “Magnificent Bodyguards” just happens to be the first Hong Kong movie to be filmed in 3-D, but that doesn’t make it much better. In fact, it’s even lamer than “Jaws 3-D.” The fight scenes often have parts where some object is thrust at the camera; I heard that Jackie Chan’s job as stunt coordinator was very difficult coz he had to concentrate on kicking and punching the camera, not the other guy.

Despite the fact that the video I saw was in Chinese (complete with oft-unreadable subtitles), I seriously doubt that I heard Jackie’s real voice. I must admit to not watching the whole movie. Since I am American and English is my first language, it was a sheer pain in the padded ass to sit through this shit and listen to people yell at each other in Chinese while the subtitles go off the screen.. Therefore, the fast-forward button became my best friend. In fact, I just skipped to the now-infamous fight scene toward the end where “Star Wars” music plays. It may be copyright infringement, but I felt better as memories of much better movies flooded my head.

Other than that and a scene where a woman’s face is torn to shreds by a sword, this movie sucks ass. I’d rather watch one of those various ninja films the Cannon Group churned out during the ’80s, or even watch “Jaws 3-D” all over again. Lame as the 3-D effects were on an ordinary TV screen, at least THAT movie had something to keep me going. (Read: a cute blonde woman in a scuba diver’s wet suit.) I should’ve known better than to rent a Jackie Chan movie that was directed by the notorious Lo Wei.

Alvin George’s Rating: 1/10

By Tyler

Another high flying adventure from Lo Wei. This is yet another attempt to mold a young Jackie Chan into Bruce Lee. The ending resembles the ending in the man in the iron mask (with somewhat of a twist). The only thing halfway interesting about the film is it was shot in 3D. You can really tell because every few seconds a weapon or a fist will thrust towards the camera.

Now for the highlights:

1. Bruce Liang
2. A catchy theme song
3. Star Wars music
4. A drunk woman
5. Wire and trampoline tricks
6. A six fingered merchant
7. Chinese magic that allows oneself to copy someone’s face

Tyler’s Rating: 3/10 – Corny movie watch it once for a good laugh

By Ro

This is a ‘period piece’ that I read some good things about so I rented it, basically because I was starved to find any Jackie Chan movie that I hadn’t seen yet that I could rent. Big mistake! I should have known better when the reviewer said that Jackie himself didn’t like it.

It’s boring, with a stupid plot. I know you shouldn’t hold plot deficiencies against it (God knows we don’t in any of his other movies), but who said life is fair? They also used a lot of ‘supernatural’ stunts using wires, like people jumping into craters the size of the Grand Canyon and landing on their feet. Why, I ask you, do they resort to this fakery when they have people who can practically do stuff like that for real!?!?! And the music is surreal! First, you hear a lot of Western music, and then in the middle, they play the theme from Star Wars!

If all that wasn’t enough for you to avoid the ‘M’ aisle of your favorite video store, the movie was made in 3-D!!! And it shows.

Ro’s Rating: 3/10

By Marcia

The initial fight scene with 3D effects should have warned me, but it wasn’t until the flying twins coming in to try to kick ass in the second scene that I realized it was one of “those” movies. I thought it was hilarious. (Consider the fact that I have a near-complete collection of Godzilla flicks, and take that last statement for what it’s worth.)

The plot’s a little twisted, there’s some blatant copyright violation, and the 3D fights can give you a headache, but I found it interesting that the straight man/trouble-maker/bumpkin trio seems to be universal. If nothing else, give Jackie kudos for not going insane trying to choreograph fights that have the fighters aiming at the camera as well as their opponents.

Marcia’s Rating: 6.5/10

By Jim Carrey

I like this movie even better the third time, you know after it was called the “Hidden Fortress” and “Star Wars”, now I’m not saying it was influenced, oh wait, yes it is, it even steals the “Star Wars” music used in the film.

Actually, this one is well known because it was actually made in 3D, and was the only time Jackie starred with one of those Bruce Lee copies, Bruce Liang.

It’s about… 90 mins. Jackie plays the greatest hand to hand fighter in the land (hey that rhymed), who is hired by this foxy chick to be a bodyguard for her sick brother. Jackie agrees, but only if he takes along his little friends, Bruce Liang – “master of legs” and James Tien – “master of sword”. He also takes along with him these two twin sword sisters (you think Royal Tramp had some inspiration), the foxy chick, and the sick brother who stays in a little carriage like Michelle Yeoh’s in “Butterfly & Sword”. The strange part is that no one is even allowed to see the brother – not even glance at him in the little carriage.

The reason for bodyguarding this brother is that they will be taking this invalid path in the mountains that contains all these deadly thieves. From there a battle of cool fights ensue, I’ll leave the rest to the viewer.

Now although I might have made the film sound bad when I was raggin’ on it in the beginning, I actually kind of liked it. I saw this film way after I had already seen all of Jackie’s greats and I still found interest in this one while watching it.

Even though the 3D goggles aren’t there, you still sort of get the same neat effect from the camera angles, plus, it only helps to have 3 great martial artists on the screen the whole time: Jackie and Bruce Liang did the action design.

It is definatly one of the best Lo Wei films along with Dragon Fist. Although I won’t give it away, there are quite a few unexpected surprises in this film. EXTRA — Bruce Liang also did the action design for Chow Yun-Fat’s “Rich and Famous”. It’s one of James Tien’s best performances and one of the suprises is that he actually isn’t really the bad guy.

Jim Carrey’s Rating: 6/10

By Dusty

Yup, another old chop-socky Jackie movie. This one is different though. This one, I thought, was actually all right. The subtitles fell from the screen once in a while, so I didn’t pick up on all the dialect.

Basically, it goes like this: Jackie needs to escort a “sick man” across the Stormy Mountains, from which none have survived. Jackie meets his two brothers on the way, and they go together. There are some strange entanglements, and Jackie’s little brother is pretty funny at times.

What stood out to me in this movie was the music. There was an actual theme song during the middle with words, and it was cool! Also, (and this is the strangest thing), in the middle of the movie, the soundtrack suddenly turns into Star Wars: A New Hope. I was ecstatic!!! However, isn’t this illegal? Using other soundtracks in your movie? It wasn’t just the opening title track. There were many tracks used in the last half of the movie.

Anyways, in true Hong Kong tradition, there is also a surprise ending, so don’t turn it off if you hate it! I liked this movie both because of my love for Star Wars and the cool ending.

Dusty’s Rating: 7/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , |

Gallants (2009) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Jeff Bona
"Gallants" Hong Kong Theatrical Poster

“Gallants” Hong Kong Theatrical Poster

AKA: The Gallants
Director: Derek Kwok
Co-director: Clement Cheng
Cast: Wong You Nam, Teddy Robin Kwan, Bruce Leong, Chen Kuan-tai, Michael Chan Wai-man, Lo Meng, Jin Au-Yeung, Jia Xiao-Chen, Shaw Yum Yum
Running Time: 98 min.

By Jeff Bona

Cheung (Wong You Nam) is a nerdy loser who has a bottom-of-the-barrel job for a real estate company. His boss, who has had enough of his incompetence, gives him a special assignment: settling a property development dispute in a rural village.

This brings Cheung to the door steps of an old teahouse, that was once a kung fu school until its legendary teacher, Master Law (Teddy Robin Kwan), fell into a coma during a famous duel. The teahouse is operated by Dragon (Chen Kuan-tai) and Tiger (Bruce Leung), two of Master Law’s original students. Transforming the school into a teahouse was their way of keeping the school afloat while they eagerly wait for their sifu to awaken.

Meanwhile, trouble is brewing. A group of local thugs, connected to a shady martial arts competition, are after the real estate in which the teahouse stands. Miraculously, Master Law awakens in the midst of the sticky situation. Now Cheung, Tiger, Dragon, and a very confused Master Law, must bound together to keep their honor, dignity and the spirit of their school alive.

Gallants is a creative, trippy and nostalgic nod to kung fu movies of the 1970’s. It’s all here: the Joseph Koo-esque soundtrack, the fast zooming, and the crisp, pleasantly undercranked martial arts sequences. Even animated cut scenes designed to signify the impact of a kick or punch (comparable to Sonny Chiba’s X-ray head-smash in The Street Fighter) are thrown in to top off the film’s artistic flare.

Starring legendary actors/actresses and martial arts stars of yesteryear: Teddy Robin Kwan (Run Tiger Run), Bruce Leung (The Dragon Lives Again), Chen Kuan-tai (Executioners from Shaolin), Michael Chan Wai-man (Five Elements Ninjas), Lo Meng (Five Deadly Venoms) and Shaw Yum Yum (The Chinatown Kid). The fact that all these Hong Kong legends are in the same movie is a dream come true, especially if you’re a fan of the old school films they’re known for.

Teddy Robin Kwan nails his role like a champ. I admit, I haven’t seen him in a lot of movies, but I don’t think I would be out of line to call this one of his best-handled roles ever. To a similar extent, the same can be said about Chen Kuan-tai and Bruce Leung, who get the most “action” screen-time. Of course you have the new generation of talent: Wong You Nam (rising actor and member of music duo “Shine”), Jin Au-Yeung (aka MC Jin, hip hop musician turned actor) and Jia Xiao-Chen (model turned actress).

Directors Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng are perfect examples of some of Hong Kong’s more experimental filmmakers. Their humor lies somewhere between Stephen Chow and Mike Judge. Their filmmaking craft equals an inspired Quentin Tarantino and their thought process is that of a grown man’s love for a good ol’ kung fu flick.

Jeff Bona’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Bio-Cops | aka Bio Cops (2000) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Bio-Cops" Chinese DVD Cover

"Bio-Cops" Chinese DVD Cover

Director: Steve Cheng Wai Man
Writer: Szeto Cheuk Hon
Producer: Steve Cheng Wai Man
Cast: Alice Chan Wai, Chin Kar Lok, Lilian Chin Wai Ming, Stephen Fung Tak Lun, Hui Siu Hung, Benny Lai Chun, Sam Lee Chan Sam, Samuel Leung Cheuk Moon, Frankie Ng Chi Hung, Jude Poyer, Ronald Wong Pan
Running Time: 88 min.

By T-Style

Whoa, look at the cover, Stephen Fung and Sam Lee… can’t be bad, can it? I thought wrong. Bio Cops is a piece of shit! Oh man, I feel dumb sitting through the whole movie. “Zombies walking around biting people,” that should have been the movie description on the back of the box. Bio Zombies was much better in terms of casting, setting, story, zombies… and pretty much everything else. I can’t really think of anything that was good in this movie. Maybe that fine ass girl that played Bell. And maybe stupid zombie humor, like how one zombie said (yes they talk) “chew before you swallow” and “I’ll bite his head, you bite his ass.” And that fake hostage situation was pretty funny, but thats about it.

I would tell you about the story, but there isn’t one. I don’t even know how the zombies were brought into the movie, just because I missed about the first 5 minutes of the movie, which I’m guessing would explain the whole zombie situation. So, yeah… avoid this movie. Cheap-ass looking zombies walking around while having green shit come out of their mouth doesn’t impress me one bit.

T-Style’s Rating: 3/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , |

Bio-Zombie | aka Bio Zombie (1998) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Bio-Zombie" American DVD Cover

“Bio-Zombie” American DVD Cover

Director: Wilson Yip
Producer: Joe Ma
Cast: Jordan Chan Siu Chun, Emotion Cheung Kam Ching, Frankie Chin Chi Leung, Matt Chow Hoi Kwong, Bonnie Lai Suk Yin, Sam Lee Chan Sam, Ken Lok Tat Wah, Tam Suk Mui, Angela Tong Ying Ying
Running Time: 94 min.

By Alexander

Thank god for Angela Tong. Had she not been so damn pleasant to look at I might have ripped Bio Zombie from my DVD player and stacked it alongside Martial Angels and Naked Killer — both of the movies-I’ll-never-watch-again-as-long-as-I-live variety — in my closet. Fortunately, Tong co-stars with a really tight pair of shorts that get ample screen time amidst Sam Lee’s goofiness, the requisite lumbering zombies and a story so hollow George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead looks heavily layered and complex in comparison.

Aside from the pleasing sight of Angela Tong’s skin-tight wardrobe, Bio Zombie offers scant entertainment. It was obviously meant as a light summer film combining slapstick humor and over-the-top gore as evidenced by the DVDs festive box art (which is the second best thing about the film). But whereas the broad comedy patented by action star Jackie Chan actually propelled even the weakest of stories along, Bio Zombie’s attempts at humor simply involve the asinine antics of two miscreants and their rubbery, oft-contorted faces. Admittedly, Sam Lee is FAR less annoying here than in some of his later films (notably Gen-X Cops), but he’s annoying nonetheless. For example, a scene of Sam Lee picking his nose and wiping his “treasure” on Gordon Chan’s leather coat is NOT funny. It’s not. And no matter how many thousands of Hong Kong theater patrons laughed till they cried upon seeing Lee wipe his offending gift on Chan’s jacket, booger picking on film stopped being funny sometime between Animal House and episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Zombies terrorizing the occupants of a shopping mall is usually a promising premise (it also worked well in the fun ’80s undead flick Night of the Comet), but a paper-thin plot and an ending that rivals A Hero Never Dies’ in sheer lameness, kill what otherwise would have been a can’t-miss idea. There’s a brief attempt at explaining why zombies are terrorizing a largely unoccupied mall, but the set-up is so minimal it’s amazing the film had anywhere near enough material to reach 97 minutes. Plodding zombies (are there any other kind?) roam the narrow halls of a near-deserted shopping mall intent on feasting on the flesh of our bumbling cast who desperately seek a means of escape. Gore, lame sub plots and close ups of Angela Tong’s ass ensure, resulting in a conclusion so unsatisfying I actually had to skip back twice thinking I’d bought (!) yet another defective Mei Ah disk. Alas, the ending sucked (as does the alternate ending provided on this otherwise bare-bones DVD which, inexplicably, results in a conclusion so similar to the other one you have to wonder why anyone bothered filming both versions at all).

You could do worse than Bio Zombie (Sexy and Dangerous pops immediately into mind), but don’t expect to have anywhere near as much fun as the box art promises.

Alexander’s Rating: 4.5/10 (Angela Tong’s shorts: 10/10)

By Numskull

WARNING: This movie can fuck up your dreams. I mean it. The morning after I watched it, in that brief moment where the boundary between sleep and wakefulness is crossed, I caught a snippet of an otherwise forgotten dream where a white haired dude straight out of an old chop socky movie said (according to the burned-in subtitles…and yes, I know you’re not supposed to be able to read in dreams, but I say that’s a load of shit because I’ve done it loads of times):

“My kung fu is strong! With my new skills, you will soon find yourself playing the violin.”

I’m serious.

Bio-Zombie doesn’t have any kung fu or violins, and the subtitles are new and improved rather than being burned onto the picture, so don’t ask where the hell that came from. I’m not so sure I want to know, myself.

This movie taught me a lesson, too: Don’t judge a director too heavily based on one film. Wilson Yip, director of this amusing romp, is also responsible for Midnight Zone, a film so astoundingly stupid that it makes those old Lo Wei/Jackie Chan movies look like masterpieces on every level.

An unapologetically “just for fun” late-nite style flick, Bio-Zombie will no doubt be compared to any number of other zombie movies (especially Dawn of the Dead, due to the shopping mall setting), and with good reason…it features all the gore makeup and bimbos you would expect, and, as always seems to be the case with films of this nature, there’s one asshole character who yells at and disagrees with everyone else, and turns out to be the biggest wimp in the entire cast when high-pressure situations arise. In this case, the character is a shifty shopkeeper who is always telling his wife “You know nothing!” and refuses to utilize teamwork to escape from the zombie-infested mall. Most of the time, though, three other characters take center stage: Woody Invincible (Jordan Chan), a bootleg VCD merchant; Crazy Bee (Sam Lee), his partner in crime, who checks out a car mechanic’s testicles and wants to kill a man before he dies; and Rolls (Angela Tong Ying-Ying), a mallrat who spends the majority of her screen time cluelessly running around in a sleeveless top with no bra underneath and a pair of shorts consisting of almost nothing. When Woody and Bee rob her in a women’s’ bathroom without revealing their identitties…uh, identities, she suspects that they are the culprits anyway and decides to get to the bottom of things by getting Woody drunk and then seducing him…a task with which, unsurprisingly, she has little difficulty (even after throwing up on him). After that, though, she has to rely on them and the others to save her from the hordes of zombies (a few of whom are shown getting “infected” but most of whom pretty much pop up out of nowhere despite the fact that the mall is supposed to be closed), including Sushi Boy, a guy who works in a Japanese restaurant and, even in his zombified state, still has a “thing” for her (hmm…can walking corpses get erections? Better make that TWO “things”).

Bio-Zombie is certainly not without its flaws…the cop who gets sucked underneath the car has the most watery blood I’ve ever seen, and it’s somewhat less than shocking when a getaway car suddenly won’t start…but the good definitely outweighs the bad. The opening credits are cleverly done bootleg style, with irrelevant whispering and silhouettes on the screen captured by a shaky camcorder. The scene where Woody and Bee give fake alibis to a pair of cops has an unexpected twist that provides a great laugh-out-loud moment. And for some (presumably) unintentional humor, there’s the line: “You want my wife to eat your noodle?” Best of all is the scene where the protagonists take up arms against the rampaging zombies and we’re shown their “profiles” in a style similar to what you’d see for the various characters in a combat-based video game. Pity the text isn’t translated for those of us who can’t read Chinese (one of these days…).

The Mei Ah DVD (which won’t play from the beginning on my DVD player…I have to start at chapter 2 and then “search” back to about 1 minute and 25 seconds into it, after the production company logos are done and the actual movie starts) has two endings. One is included with the film, the other is accessed from the main menu as a separate feature. I’m glad they’re arranged in this way, because I definitely prefer the “main” ending to the alternate one. It’s less predictable and sets a cooler, more unique tone as the film concludes.

Some blood splattered here and there (and here, too…and over there…), a few good laughs, and more overall entertainment value than you’d find in many other similarly-themed flicks. I dig it.

Numskull’s Rating: 7/10

By Vic Nguyen

This hyper-stylized zombie flick is a surprisingly entertaining production, which can be described as Romero’s Dawn of the Dead on acid. Jordan Chan Siu-chun and Sam Lee Chan-sam star as a duo of pirate VCD salesman who inadvertantly plague Hong Kong with a race of flesh eating zombies. Finding themselves trapped inside a deserted shopping center, they must fend for themselves in order to escape alive. Inventive, flashy cinematography, along with fun performances, hilariously over-the-top situations, and great blood and guts action are just a few of the reasons that you should give Bio-zombie an hour and a half of your time.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 7/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , |

Big Heat, The (1988) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"The Big Heat" Chinese DVD Cover

“The Big Heat” Chinese DVD Cover

Director: Andrew Kam
Co-director: Johnnie To
Co-director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Waise Lee, Paul Chu Kong, Philip Kwok, Joey Wong, Stuart Ong, Michael Chow, Ken Boyle, Kirk Wong, Gordon Chan, Roy Cheung, Gwaan Gaam Ming, Kong Long, Peter Lai, Robin Shou, Tsui Hark
Running Time: 92 min.

By Numskull

The first half of The Big Heat is a big snore, and even when the story picks up, you’ll still be yawning and picking those optic boogers out of the corners of your eyes. Waise Lee has the lead role (big mistake) in a cop movie which is remarkable only because of its occasional moments of in-your-face gore. There aren’t many of them, but they do hit fairly hard (especially the body getting bounced from car to car).

Gay rights groups would just love the sub-plot about the tycoon taking great lengths to recover evidence of his homosexual activities. Apparently, fudge-packing is generally considered a more perverse activity in Hong Kong than it is in the US, and that lends a somewhat disturbing quality to seemingly innocuous lines like “You take one end, and I’ll take the other.”

Blood and guts aside, the film is painfully mediocre at best. Waise Lee and his fellow cops are totally uninvolving as protagonists, none of the villains really gets under your skin, the script plods, and nothing grabs you. Uninspired, unimpressive, unremarkable. I wish there was more to say about this film, but it’s so damn bland that I can hardly think of anything relevant to say.

A caveat for gore hounds, though: don’t make a big deal out of seeing this movie, expecting some blood-drenched masterpiece of carnage. The gory bits are few and far between.

You know that Far Side cartoon where there’s a bunch of penguins standing around, and they all look alike, and one of them is singing “Oh, I gotta be me, I just gotta be me”? That’s what this movie reminds me of. In a sea of Hong Kong cop thrillers with interchangeable story elements and characters, this one is standing up, making a pitiful attempt to be noticed, waving its arms around and grunting like a frustrated child trying to get the teacher to call on it because it knows the answer to the question that’s baffling the bigger kids. Well, you know what happens to movies like this? That’s right, they get beaten up and robbed of their lunch money during recess by movies with more muscle….and somehow, I doubt The Big Heat would have the balls to show up at school the next day with a submachine gun. Don’t let the extra gore fool you into thinking this movie is special. It does not deserve your support.

Numskull’s Rating: 4/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Born to Defend | aka Final Fight (1990) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Born to Defend" Movie Poster

“Born to Defend” Movie Poster

AKA: Born to Defense
Director: Jet Li
Cast: Jet Li, Paulo Tocha, Cho Wing, Dean Harrington, Mark King, Deon Lam Dik On, Dan Mintz
Running Time: 90 min.

By Numskull

Jet Li’s directorial debut is better than some of his other films with more accomplished and recognized directors, but don’t be too quick to chalk that up to an abundance of talent on his part. When “some of his other films with more accomplished and recognized directors” includes the likes of New Legend of Shaolin (Wong Jing) and The Master (Tsui Hark), he could probably film himself picking his nose for an hour and a half and it would look good by comparison.

After a fierce firefight between Chinese and Japanese forces at the end of World War II, our hero finds himself struggling to readjust to a (comparatively) peaceful life in his old home town. He crashes with an old friend who claims his daughter is dead and drives a rickshaw to support himself.

Trouble brewing: obnoxious members of the U.S. Navy, of only marginally higher character than the Nazis they’ve just helped defeat, are molesting women, endangering the townsfolk, and generally wreaking havoc on Jet’s turf. I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with someone who dismisses this aspect of the film as little more than a childish, pissy attitude about Americans or Westerners, but justification certainly exists for the “glory hog” factor; these gwailos would have you believe that they single-handedly put a stop to the war, sort of like how many people today (April 6th, 2002) can’t sing the praises of American troops deployed in Afghanistan loudly enough while neglecting to mention the invaluable contributions of the Northern Afghan Alliance. Just goes to show you how a movie can achieve a certain sense of timelessness even when the specifics are out of date. (Fuck, THAT sounded pretentious.)

Anyway, when Jet’s friend gets hospitalized, he donates a huge amount of blood (drawn from his veins in wince-inducing close-up shots with the biggest hypodermic you’ve ever seen) and goes into the rickshaw-hauling biz himself to keep the cash coming in. He also fights pugnacious Americans in a bar with a boxing ring in it and befriends a kind-hearted prostitute. The fight scenes, all wire-free, are few in number but make up for that with their length and intensity. Jet has to rely on his fists more heavily than he would like and actually gets pummeled quite a bit. He really has only two noteworthy opponents, with the grueling match against the really tall captain in the middle of the film being the highlight.

It’s a decent enough fight fest, with the vengeance factor being sufficient to overshadow the sappy subplot, but it’s not Jet Li at his best. Seeing him get pissed both off and (literally) on will get a rise out of you, but certain other elements, like the simultaneous thunder and lightning (how often does that actually happen?) when a villain removes his oh-so-badass sunglasses merely provide unintentional comic relief. It’s also worth noting that there is a large amount of English dialogue in this movie and that, unsurprisingly, it tends to make the Westerners sound like even bigger jackasses than they’re supposed to be. The film isn’t exactly bursting with promises of things to come, but still, if Jet announced that he was directing another one, I wouldn’t complain.

Numskull’s Rating: 7/10

Posted in All, Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , , |

Big Bullet | aka EU Strike Force (1996) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Big Bullet" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“Big Bullet” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Benny Chan
Cast: Lau Ching Wan, Jordan Chan, Spencer Lam Seung Yi, Theresa Lee, Woody Chan Chin Pang, Francis Ng Chun Yu, Anthony Wong, Yu Rong Guang, Berg Ng Ting Yip, William Tuan Wai Lun, Steve Brettingham, Bruce Fontaine, Vincent Kok, Michael Ian Lambert
Running Time: 91 min.

By Reefer

Cop roles are like assholes, every actor has at least one. Lau Ching Wan has certainly had his share. Full Alert, Running Out of Time, and Black Mask are only a few of the titles. As everybody knows, Lau Chin Wan has amazing screen presence. Like Chow Yun Fat, he achieves instant credibility in each role he plays. His performance as Bill in Big Bullet is no different. The man acts his ass off.

Unfortunately, his performance is irrelevant because the movie itself seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. In my opinion, HK cinema has two schools of action movie-making: Ringo Lam gritty realism or John Woo apocalyptic chaos. Benny Chan’s Big Bullet chooses to skate right through the middle. Too many glamorized shootouts and beat-downs conflict with its real life procedural tone to be considered of the Ringo Lam variety and not over-the-top gung ho crazy enough to come close to Woo’s kickass mayhem. This movie is quite simply the ugly spawn of two beautiful parents.

The casting of Anthony Wong and Yu Rong Guang as the major villains is a stroke of maniacal genius. That is, if you give them something to do besides kill everyone in sight! These guys can provide enough menace for three or four movies. Anthony Wong replaces dialogue with a dozen varieties of “screw you” stares. Look into his eyes as he confronts an Interpol agent leading to a massive shootout. The bad intentions of that stare alone are enough to elicit a month of nightmares. Yu Rong Guang readily exhibits his natural athleticism, so much that you wonder again why he isn’t a huge star.

This brings me to the action sequences. The are ok. Nothing special. It helps that Lau Ching Wan and his squad give us someone to root for. Despite a huge continuity error, the shoot-out in the middle of the city is well-staged. The finale happens to be a poorly lit group fist fight on an airplane!!! By the way, why in the world would you pit Lau against Yu Rong Guang??? Anthony Wong ok, but the Iron Monkey!? Whatever. I guess I had higher expectations.

Overall, Big Bullet didn’t stink. But it didn’t inspire any philosophical truths about good and evil either. It didn’t excite me. It didn’t move me in any way. It passed time and sucked $10 + shipping/handling off from my credit card.

Reefer’s Rating: 5/10

By TheFrankEinstein

Lau Ching-Wan in a Benny Chan film. Sounds good, right? Yes, it does. It’s got decent performances, an uncharacteristically logical plot with rational characters and dialogue (even the mandatory car chase’s cardboard boxes are stacked in a sensible location), the cute as a button Theresa Lee pulling duty as the vicious-yet-sweet young female officer, and even a laugh or two. Lau Ching-Wan is credible as the cop with a bad attitude (though not overdone), and Anthony Wong is chilling as Bird, the main villain’s right-hand-man (both mentioned later). So it’s got all of the ingredients to be an above-par action flick, but it just never seems to come together like you’d hope. The stars’ charisma isn’t quite enough to hook you, the story and its subplots aren’t quite interesting enough to grab you by the *ahem*, and the action isn’t quite exciting enough to push Big Bullet into the style over substance winner category. Big Bullet just isn’t quite enough.

Lau Ching Wan’s Bill is a believably rogue cop, not as far-fetched as, say, Mel Gibson’s Riggs from the Lethal Weapon series. But I still can’t decide if the believability of his character is a flaw or a quality. I never howled out at the absurdity of a line of dialogue or situation, but would that have been more exciting? It might just be boring to watch a movie about a cop that could exist in the real world. That’s not what we watch Hong Kong movies to see. On the flip-side, Anthony Wong’s bad guy Bird has what it takes. He shoots people’s hands off, indiscreetly stabs people on bustling streets, and takes the gutsy (if lame) Bond villain method of destruction by throwing a grenade into a large stack of water bottles, thereby flooding a stairwell to push pedestrians all over the place to divert the cop hot on his trail, rather than just throwing the grenade into the actual crowd of civilians/cops. Overly complicated, unrealistic and silly, sure, but stylish. The problem being that Bird gets no back story, no depth, and very little screen time, all of which pretty much negates anything positive he brought to the film when weighed out. So what you end up with is a story that’s boring enough to be in the local newspaper, a generic musical theme, a painfully abrupt cop-out of an ending and a few positive points to the film that just don’t make the movie worthwhile. That Theresa Lee sure is cute, though.

TheFrankEinstein’s Rating: 5/10

By Numskull

Yet another action movie about a tough, uncompromising cop who does things his own way when standard operating procedure just doesn’t cut it. It’s been done before, and it’s been done better.

Lau Ching Wan takes the role in question and doesn’t do a whole lot with it, but then again, it’s not as if there’s a dynamite script to work with. He gets booted out of his unit for assaulting an incompetent superior and transferred to an emergency unit where he has to team up with a gun freak, an overly loquacious storyteller, a goofy girl inexplicably named Apple, and a strictly-by-the-book type with whom he inevitably has a clash of philosophy. They have to take down some bad guys who did something or other that they shouldn’t have. The details aren’t important.

There are moments of levity sprinkled throughout the film. They don’t always work, but they try. The vast majority of the action comes at the end, when Lau Ching Wan and company surprisingly do some hand-to-hand fighting instead of the shooting and chasing that one would expect. Aside from that, this is just a basic cops and robbers movie, totally unapologetic in its averageness. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but many of us have seen a few too many of these from both Hong Kong and the U.S. If you’re not yet tired of cops having all the fun, dig in.

Numskull’s Rating: 6/10

By Vic Nguyen

Director Benny Chan Muk-sing once again proves why he is one of the most talented men working in the business, transforming an average screenplay into an enjoyable, action packed romp. Credit must also go out to Lau Ching-wan, Cheung Tat-ming, Jordan Chan Siu-chun, and Theresa Lee, who are just a few of the actors and actresses who light the screen up with their terrific group chemistry, while the baddest of the badasses, Yu Rong-guang and Anthony Wong Chau-sang are wise choices as the sadistic villains. Touches of light humor and some tension-filled action sequences are just a few of the perks featured in this production, and aside from a disappointing ending, this is one of the best pictures of 1996.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in Chinese, Golden Harvest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , |

Peace Hotel (1995) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Peace Hotel" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“Peace Hotel” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Wai Ka Fai
Writer: Wai Ka Fai
Producer: John Woo
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Cecilia Yip Tung, Chin Ho, Lau Shun, Annabelle Lau Hiu Tung, Liu Fan, Mai Kei, Joe Cheng Cho, Lee Siu Kei, Victor Hon Kwan, Terrence Fok, Patrick Hon Jun, Gary Mak Wing Lun, Nam Yin, Sung Boon Chung, Four Tse Liu Shut, Bobby Yip Kin Sang, Wu Chien Lien
Running Time: 89 min.

By Numskull

Peace Hotel is a farily intriguing film that makes good use of Chow Yun-Fat’s strengths and takes advantage of his well-known “lone killer” persona without giving you the feeling that you’re watching just another gunslinger movie. His character…who, in an awe-inspiring stroke of originality, is called “the killer”…runs a safe haven for people on the run from the law, from their pasts, and/or from people they’ve pissed off. No violence is permitted within the hotel’s walls, but once someone leaves, its open season on their ass.

Cecelia Yip plays a real bitch who seems to be both a kleptomaniac and a pathological liar. She cons her way into CYF’s good graces and, for reasons explainable only in the logic of cinema, they fall in love. He knows she’s not being totally honest with him, though, and it comes back to bite him in the nuts.

Performances are generally good all around, though it’s hard to take the kid seriously when his character is inexplicably named “Doggie.” The action sequences are limited to a brief shootout and some sword fighting. They’re not the crux of the film, not by a long shot. American westerns obviously served as inspiration here, and it’s not exactly what I would call a “classic,” but Peace Hotel is decent enough to serve as an introductory film for someone just getting into HK movies.

Damn, this is one of the shortest reviews I’ve ever done. Well, it’s a short movie, too, and there ain’t a whole lot to say about it. So stop reading my babble and go out and live life to the fullest. You’ll thank me someday.

Numskull’s Rating: 7/10

By Vic Nguyen

Reminicent of an American western, Wai Ka-fai’s directorial debut is a highly engaging, misunderstood masterpiece that also happens to mark Chow Yun-fat’s last Hong Kong production to date. Here, Yun-fat stars as “the killer”, the proprietor of a sanctity called the Peace Hotel, where troubled fugitives and their families can reside without fear. However, this tranquilty is put to the test upon the arrival of a mysterious women, who brings trouble to both the reformed killer and the hotel.

The spagetthi western-ish score is stirring and grand; the cinematography lush and superb; the screenplay complex and intelligent; and the performances excellent and finely textured- these are just a few of the reasons why Peace Hotel is a terrific film, and is a worthy final ode (or is it?) to Chow Yun-fat’s illustrious Chinese film career.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 9.5/10

Posted in Chinese, Reviews | Tagged , , , |

Occupant, The (1984) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"The Occupant" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“The Occupant” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Ronny Yu
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Raymond Wong, Sally Yeh, Lo Lieh, Mak Git Man, Mama Hung, Kenny Ho, Wellington Fung Wing, Leung Ga Git, Yiu Yau Hung, Melvin Wong
Running Time: 95 min.

By Numskull

One paragraph is all I’m writing for The Occupant, because that’s all it deserves. It’s a painfully dull ghost story starring Chow Yun-Fat (shortly before A Better Tomorrow made his ass famous) and Sally Yeh; they must have known they would be making The Killer a few years later and decided to save their energy for that, because they have no chemistry here. Hansom Wong (Raymond Wong) is the third primary character, and he is so annoying that you will want to crawl into the TV and strangle him. To give you an idea of how stupid this film is: near the end, Valentino (Chow Yun-Fat’s character) gets shot. He screams in agony, clutches his heart, and drops to the floor. In the next scene, Valentino is miraculously alive. Why? Because, as we soon find out, the bullets in the gun that shot him were blanks…AND VALENTINO HIMSELF WAS UNAWARE OF THIS. I guess blanks packed a hell of a lot more punch in 1984 than they do now.

Director Ronny Yu tries to combine horror, comedy, and romance, and fails so spectacularly on all three counts that one seriously wonders how he ever secured the funds to make any more movies ever again (including his overpraised “masterpiece” The Bride With White Hair). Hell, a good 50% of the budget for this piece of crap probably went for the scene where Hansom Wong drives a car through a wall and destroys a waterbed. All right, I’m as tired of writing about this movie now as I was of watching it before the half-way point came and went. Avoid this movie. Thank you and good night.

Numskull’s Rating: 2/10

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Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Once Upon a Time in China and America" International Theatrical Poster

“Once Upon a Time in China and America” International Theatrical Poster

AKA: Once Upon a Time in China 6
Director: Sammo Hung
Cast: Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Hung Yan Yan, Benny Chan, Patrick Lung, Johnny Koo, Jeff Wolfe, Joe Sayah, Jean Wong Ching Ying, Roger Yuan, Richard Ng
Running Time: 99 min.

By Reefer

Once Upon A Time in China & America is a departure from the other five entries in Tsui Hark’s series based on the adventures of real-life historical figure and martial artist Wong Fei Hung. Except for some heavy-handed commentary on cultural unity and racism, this is on all accounts a full-blown action extravaganza that has more in common with Sammo’s 1986 film Millionaire’s Express than Hark’s work.

Filmed entirely in Texas with a largely American crew and directed by Sammo himself, OUATIC&A jumps from one action sequence to another with not very much in between, starting with a rousing runaway stagecoach scenario. At the conclusion of the chase, Wong suffers from, that favorite of cinematic devices, amnesia and is adopted by a struggling Indian tribe. Meanwhile, Aunt Yee and Clubfoot search for their friend as Bucktooth Sol’s Po Chi Lam clinic franchise is constantly under racial attacks from a town full of rednecks. That’s about all you have to know about the story, which is as loaded with contrivances as it is with wire-enhanced action.

Because of the setting and the nature of the OUATIC series, Jet Li and his friends get plenty of…gasp!…gweilo actors to contend with. Now HK film fans everywhere know what this means. But here, they are wrong. This film has some of the best white actors in HK film. The blonde gunslinger Billy, played by unknown Jeff Wolfe, is unexpectedly good as Wong’s tall, cocky ally. Plus, the mayor, sheriff and townspeople aren’t noticeably bad. They just aren’t given much more to do other than pick on the chinese and ultimately become punching bags.

The grand finale explodes onto the scene as Wong and his followers, a corrupt mayor, and a gang of vicious bankrobbers (whose leader looks like a vampire and uses his spurs in deadly fashion) all cross paths. Wong Fei Hung’s end fight with the leader takes a step towards absurdity but is so stylishly filmed and edited that you won’t mind it too much.

I have heard that normally fans of the Hark-directed entries (which I am) generally hate this final outing, but I must be the exception. In fact, I enjoyed this installment so much that I am surprised that they haven’t added a few more episodes to the mix. Here are some suggestions:

OUATIC&L (Once Upon A Time In China and London)—-Wong Fei Hong can scarf crumpets and then let his dental work go to hell. Maybe have John Cleese supply him with some cool gadgets and an Astin Martin. Clubfoot can learn to drink tea with his pinky extended.

OUATIC&SC (Once Upon A Time In China and South Central)—–Wong Fei Hong travels to LA to visit a colleague but the pollution clouds his senses and he spends the rest of the film teaching kung fu to Puerto Ricans. Aw, crap. I think Tsui Hark already did something like that in The Master. Nevermind.

OUATIC&TDOC (Once Upon A Time In China and The District of Columbia) AKA Mr. Wong Goes To Washington—-Wong can’t be president because he is a foreigner but they could make him in charge of health care reform or something. Acupuncture would, no doubt, get full coverage.

Side Note: This film is well-known mostly for the allegation that Sammo stole the idea from Jackie Chan who released an American western Shanghai Noon three years later in 2000. Seems that since Sammo pilfered his idea, Jackie worked in some details lifted right from OUATIC&A for his film. For example, Jet Li’s character finds himself engaged to a squaw just as Jackie’s does. A hanging sequence is foiled in both films. Each film has rednecks, bank robbers, and corrupt officials. One of villains (Roger Yuan) from Sammo’s film was even cast as the main bad guy in Shanghai Noon. There are probably even more examples than this.

Reefer’s Rating: 8/10

By James H.

Talk about trying to squeeze more money out of a franchise. Chasing in seems to be a religion these days, what with all of the sequels and remakes out there. This is where “Once Upon a Time in China & America” comes into play. It’s one of those films that just fails on all levels. I have not seen any of the preceding “Once Upon a Time.” films, but I guarantee they cannot be as bad as this.

In this, the sixth film in the series, Wong Fei-Hung travels to the good old United States of America and encounters all sorts of trouble, well, enough to keep him busy for 90 minutes. The plot is a little hard to follow, what with the subtitles being transparent and all.

The fights are, as always, the real centre of attention in this movie. They are filled with all sorts of outrageously bad looking wire-work. Not to mention, they’re sped up too. I don’t know how a film directed by Sammo Hung to turn out so bad. The fights aren’t exciting, in fact, some of them are down right laughable. And let’s not forget the kung fu cowboys. I’m sorry, but can this get any more inaccurate? Cowboys didn’t know kung fu, I ‘m sorry, I’ve put up with a lot of shit, but kung fu cowboys is where I draw the line.

This will, undoubtedly be the last in the “Once Upon a Time.” series. And if this film is any indicator, that’s a good thing. It was very low budget, and sadly, unentertaining. Oh, and the reason I gave it such a high rating is because I laughed at some of the wire-fu shit.

James H’s Rating: 3/10

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Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Once Upon a Time in China II" Japanese Theatrical Poster

“Once Upon a Time in China II” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan Chi Lam, David Chiang, Max Mok Siu Chung, Hung Yan Yan, Zhang Tie Lin, Paul Fonoroff, William Ho Ka Kui, Yen Shi Kwan, Deon Lam Dik On, Ernest Mauser, Mike Miller, Mike Leeder
Running Time: 112 min.

By James H.

We all know the rule of the sequels. We all know they match the original. However, there are a few exceptions to said rule: “Godfather, Part II”, “Evil Dead 2”, “Terminator 2”, “The Empire Strikes Back” (and “Jedi”), “Star Trek II” and “Superman IV”. “Once Upon a Time in China II” isn’t quite up there, but it does come close.

In this film now, we meet up with Wong Fei-Hung, Aunt Yee (13) and Foon (Porky and Buck Teeth are left behind), as they are on their way to Canton. While there they get caught in the middle of an uprising by a crazed religious sect, known as the White Lotus. Punching and kicking ensues.

The ante has been upped for the sequel. The pace is faster, the action is more intense, and the humor is more broad, and funnier. I liked a scene where Fei-Hung demonstrates acupuncture on Foon, when they are bombarded by a barrage of burning arrows. The only thing that was taken down was the script. It is less complex, and as a result less involving.

No matter though, this is a sequel. Like “A Better Tomorrow II”, this is all about the cash cow; pack the asses in the seats and make some money. Along the way, it has some great stops. The fights are longer and more imaginative. Li’s speed and ability will dazzle you again.

The first of the five sequels may not be on par with the epic original, but it sure is a fun ride.

James H’s Rating: 7.5/10

By Tequila

OUATIC was a bonafide classic wire-fu movie but I actually prefer this sequel as it has two great final fight calibre battles. The story is still great although you do have to see the original first or you may complain about the lack of character development. The OUATIC series is just so engrossing and you can see why they were hits as the films on the big screen must be amazing (I have the VCD).

The soundtrack for the movie fits in well, as do the comedy scenes involving Wong Fey Hong thinking his protege is a lecherous pervert and the only real bad point I can think of off the top of my head is that the film ends. This is one of the best wire-fu films around and is my favorite Jet Li movie I’ve seen so far, although I am awaiting five VCDs as I write. Still, you can’t argue with the quality of this…

Tequila’s Rating: 10/10, no questions asked.

By Andrew

When you’ve got a hit you know that a sequel is right around the corner, and when you make a sequel that was as well received as the second installment of Once Upon a Time in China, it’s only a matter of time before you see the next sequel, and so on and so forth ad infinitum. Fortunately, Tsui Hark’s third Wong Fei Hong film is every bit as good as the first two, IF you get a good copy.

I first saw this film from a friend’s collection. I didn’t understand a word of it because the dialogue was in Cantonese (or perhaps Mandarin-I’m not certain) and the subtitles weren’t made up of the King’s English, but rather Korean characters. I couldn’t figure out a word, but the impact of the film was still clear enough, as Jet Li kicked his way to victory. All of the various fight scenes were contrived, but that didn’t matter, because by the time I got to the end of the film everyone was fighting each other in lion costumes that could fly, breathe fire, shoot spears, etc. and it was ridiculously cool.

I was quite happy when I finally acquired an English dubbed version of the film. Of course, I had to settle for a poorly copied VHS tape, but that is pretty much the way it goes when you’ve got to have dubbing. I was surprised and frustrated, however when I discovered that the film I had purchased was substantively different from what I had previously seen. There were several new fight sequences, and the old ones were shorter. The new stuff wasn’t bad at all, but it simply didn’t fit well with everything else that was going on in the film. Also, I think some of the important dialogue was cut as well, because the English-speaking characters made about as much sense as when they were speaking Cantonese.

Andrew’s Rating: 7.5/10

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Once Upon a Time in China (1990) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Once Upon a Time in China" American Theatrical Poster

“Once Upon a Time in China” American Theatrical Poster

Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Jet Li, Yuen Biao, Rosamund Kwan, Kent Cheng, Yen Shi Kwan, Jacky Cheung, Yuen Fai, Karel Wong, Jonathan Isgar, Yuen Cheung Yan, Hung Yan Yan, Mark King, Lau Shun, Leung Kam Shan, Sham Chin Bo, Steve Tartalia, To Wai Wo, Wang Yu, Yau Gin Gwok, Anthony Carpio, Bruce Fontaine, Mike Leeder, Wu Ma, Hui Sze-Man
Running Time: 128 min.

By James H.

I wonder if Tsui Hark and Jet Li knew that they were setting up one of Hong Kong cinema’s most lucrative franchises when they made “Once Upon a Time in China”. In the six years that followed, five sequels were produced.

There are many things to admire in this film. Jet Li gives what is probably his strongest performance (of the films I have seen) as legendary folk hero Wong Fei-Hung. The directing, editing, costumes, choreography, score, everything is executed with competence, tact and precision. The look and feel of the film is reminiscent of the melodramatic Westerns of Hollywood in the late 1960’s. Even the titled suggests homage to Sergio Leone, one of the most talented directors of the genre.

For the most part, the story is entertaining and interesting. It deals with complex issues of progress, colonization, and tradition. Hark treats this subject well, taking a fair middle ground, presenting both sides of the story.

The only problem with the story is that it is bogged down by too many uninteresting characters. Too much screen time is allotted to goofy sidekicks Buck Teeth So and “Porky” Wing. The humor they bring to the story is, most of the time not needed and/or not very funny.

However, the rest of the film makes up for that. The acting is a genuinely good (I mentioned Jet Li’s performance), everyone holds their own against each other. But when the fists start flying, none of that matters. The fights are, to say the least, spectacular. They are focused, gracefully shot and smoothly edited. The actors move with speed and power. They are a sight to be seen.

“Once Upon a Time in China” is a highly enjoyable film. There’s something for everyone to like here, which unfortunately keeps this film from being a complete success. But aside from that, it is an epic film that will have its own special place among martial arts film.

Footnote: The Columbia/TriStar DVD includes the original 134 minute cut of the film with either Cantonese or Mandarin language tracks with English subtitles, or an English dubbed version which runs only 99 minutes.

James H.’s Rating: 8.5/10

By Vic Nguyen

Tsui Hark directs this film of epic proportions, recounting the Wong Fei-hung legend into his own blend of fast paced martial arts and drama, without dispensing of his patented themes. Mainland martial artists Jet Li is perfectly cast as the martial arts icon; here, Fei-hung must contend with foreigners and corrupted Chinese citizens vying to cripple his homeland with their own evil intentions. Featuring stunning visuals, a stirring heroic theme song, striking performances, and a great amount of wire-fu, Once Upon a Time in China will forever remain an undisputed classic.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 10/10

By Andrew

This film has spawned at least five sequels to date, the majority of which have Jet Li playing the central character, the historical Chinese hero Wong Fei Hung (also Wong Fei-Hong). Wong was a physician and a master of a fighting style known as Hung Gar boxing. With trademark flying stunts, the beautiful Rosamund Kwan, and JC Opera brother Yuen Biao, this film has something for everyone. There’s even westerners, some good, and some that are not so good. It has been a little while since I first watched this film, but as I recall there are massive fight sequences every few minutes and “cousin” Yee shows her interest in Wong Fei-Hong. Watch for the ‘ladder fight’ sequence towards the end of the film, it’s quite funny. I also picked up the title theme to this film on a cd of the same name featuring an assortment of HK cinema music- if you like the intro you should look for this CD!

Andrew’s Rating: 9/10

By Yates

Jet Li’s 2nd greatest film (after Shaolin Temple of course). I agree that this is an art house kung fu movie. Tsui Hark is a great director and he truly shines in this movie. This film also benefits from a great supporting cast that includes Yuen Biao and Jacky Cheung(really great in his role as Buck Tooth So). But this film belongs to Jet Li. No martial artist has(or will ever have) his screen presence. And dont forget the utterly amazing final fight sequence with those ladders. I was in awe of that scene the entire time. It is amazing! Of course there is not TOO much martial arts in this film. The film is more along the lines of Peking Opera Blues. See this movie. You owe it to yourself.

Yates’ Rating: 10/10

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Who Am I? | aka Nobody (1998) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Who Am I?" Japanese DVD Cover

“Who Am I?” Japanese DVD Cover

Director: Benny Chan
Cast: Jackie Chan, Michelle Ferre, Mirai Yamamoto, Ron Smerczak, Kwan Yung, Ron Smoorenburg, Michael Ian Lambert, Steve Brettingham, Kane Kosugi, Ken Lo
Running Time: 108 min.

By Vic Nguyen

Hot on the heels of the lackluster Mr. Nice Guy, Jackie churns out this little wonder that recalls some of the good ole days. Jackie plays his usual self named character who goes on a secret mission, but falls out of a helicopter and gets amnesia. He wakes up, finds himself in an African tribe, and utters the words Who Am I. The tribes think that that is his name, so they now refer to him as that. Who Am I then finds himself chased down by various orginizations that want him dead.

Who Am I? is a very entertaining film that homages some of the earlier great Jackie films. For example, Jackie gets cuffed but tries to make an escape, and so he does ala Project A 2. Also, that super flexible American guy mirrors some of Ken Lo’s exact moves that were featured in Drunken Master 2. The action sequences are some of Jackie’s best in years. The car chase sequence is one of his best ones, and the fights are nothing short of amazing, even the minor ones are great. The highlight fight sequence is, of course, the last one, where Jackie takes on 2 guys at the same time. This fight ranks as one of Jackie’s best. The best stunts is the ones where Jackie slides down that building and the one where Jackie gets chased up a tree by a lion.

Overall, Who Am I is Jackie’s best film in years and proves that this 43 year old man still has it in him.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 9/10

By Numskull

Anybody who thinks Steven Seagal’s stuff is the epitome of action cinema should be made to watch this movie Clockwork Orange-style and then write “Fuck Hollywood” 500 times on a single sheet of paper with a little stub of a No. 2 pencil.

The plot here is stronger than in most JC flicks, and as such there is little action in the first half of the movie. The whole time, I bore the hype in mind and felt confident that it would get better. I don’t normally gloat but hot damn was I right. Jackie gets to kick ass in the streets of Rotterdam while wearing wooden shoes. Then there’s a car chase that renders the one in WHEELS ON MEALS impotent with shame.

And then there’s the rooftop fight with not one but TWO villains who make those punks in RUMBLE IN THE BRONX look like Miss America contestants (not much of a stretch, upon reflection…). I had already read that this fight was a refreshing departure from the feeble-ass finales of RUMBLE, FIRST STRIKE, and MR. NICE GUY. So, I expected a decent brawl with some stunts and props like the ones that often pop up in the middle of Jackie’s movies. What I got was just about the greatest all-out, no-fucking-around, go-for-broke fight scene it has ever been my near-orgasmic pleasure to witness. Seven and a half minutes of GOOD fighting, not like in Drunken fucking Master where the action stops every ten seconds so Jackie can make a face or fart or whatever. There’s a little bit of humor in this fight but it doesn’t detract from its intensity in the slightest. The only problem is that it looks sped up a bit, but unlike Mr. O, I don’t mind this much if it’s used in moderation.

Minor gripes: First half hour or so could have used some spicing up, the ending seems a bit rushed and incomplete (say it ain’t so…), and the part where Jackie yells “WHOOOOOOO AMMMMM IIIIIIIIII?!?!?” to everyone within earshot was just too lame to be believed.

P.S.: As I type this, I have been without sleep for 37 hours, so any mouths issuing complaints about the comparative lack of humor in this review will be directed to my crotch.

Numskull’s Rating: 9/10

By Dan-O

I think we can all agree that Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, Operation Condor, Mr. Nice Guy ect. all had their respective shining moments, and were cute and fun and light-hearted and, well, whatever… according to the raw dollar figures, the good ol’ U S of A, for the most part, couldn’t give a tinker’s damn about these movies, or Jackie in particular. Most people simply cannot be entertained in this country, and what they DO consider to be entertaining, well, how much money did “Jungle 2 Jungle” make?… Really? I see. Gimme the goddamn gun; I’m outta here… screw this place!! >click< *BLAMMO*!

Actually, while I don’t have much respect for my fellow Big Mac quaffing North American’s taste in movies, I can’t really blame the poor schmos for passing up most of Jackie’s U.S. theatrical releases, because every last one of ’em was mediocrity gumbo. WHO AM I? is NOT mediocre, nor is it gumbo. Here’s my analogy, try to keep up; those movies I mentioned in the first paragraph are scurrying little gnomes, screaming in bloodshot terror, and WHO AM I? is a mighty giant standing around the outskirts of their peaceful village and urinating on those poor, diminutive, innocent people. Could I have put that in a more genteel way? No.

This movie, if I may be so blunt, kicks all 31 flavors of ass (flavours for you Brits out there). Any nagging complaints? Well, I do kinda-sorta feel there should’ve been more scenes of Jackie and the African tribe. Actually, there probably were, as I’ve seen a photos of a scene where a bushman teaches Jackie the pleasures of poking a stick into an ant hill with the intention of finding and consuming only the plumpest, juiciest biting insects. I thought (foolishly) that there’d be an epilogue where WhoamI goes back to the tribe and gives the kid back his compass (Jackie promised to return it), which would’ve brought the movie full circle. But there wasn’t, and that’s OK, because of one little line dialogue, the best line in the whole friggin’ flick, that made everything all right, and it goes like this, “Feels Good?!”. That’s all I’m sayin’.

Q: “But Dan-O, while I enjoyed your blathering soapbox speech disguised as a movie review, how do I know you’re not just over exaggerating like you did with that stank-ass first Drunken Master 2 review? Man, was that ripe! I mean, are you jivein’ my ass or what?!”

A: No sir, I wouldn’t think of jivein’ your ass (or doing anything else with your ass, whilst were on the subject). This movie is The Real Deal. Forget you ever saw First Strike or Rumble in the Bowels. Forget them; and cute and campy as they were, just forget them. This is the one you’ve been sitting on your hands for. This is the movie you have prayed to the porcelain god for. Blee’ da hype. Trust us, believe our every word, and don’t question for a minute that we would steer you wrong, you impressionable, trusting little lemmings. We know what’s best for you. This movie can cure cancer. Betcha didn’t know that did ya? It’s true, ’cause some guy who said he was a doctor told me so. The guy stole my wallet, but he was wearing a stethoscope, and if that ain’t proof enough for ya, then go watch “Fire Down Below” and grow a few brain tumors. Peace man.

Dan-O’s Rating: 9.5/10

By Ro

As I sat thru the first 10-15 minutes or so of this movie, I caught myself waiting for the action/fighting to start. Then I relaxed and really got into it. I love a film that has me asking, “What the HELL is going on?”. I mean in a good – curious, intrigued sort of way; not the exasperated, start plotting elaborate torture scenarios for the screenwriter sort of way. They gave us just enough information so we were one step ahead of Jackie, but still unsure of the ultimate plot. Worked for me!

Much has been said about the action and fighting, so I’ll just add that I agree with all the good stuff. The car chase, handcuff and clog scenes were great and the final fight was AWESOME! Man, do I love a guy who can kick!

I had to take 1/2 point off for some incredibly lame dialogue (the ‘Friendship’s song between the 2 bad guys for a painful example) and equally lame acting. Where did they find the guys for the initial CIA boardroom scene? It couldn’t have been a SAG call – no way these people have their union cards! As for the reporter, I actually cheered when Jackie said, “You’re just so young.”! Did anybody card this chick? Is she even of legal drinking age? During the ‘handcuff removal, break the code’ scene, she and the car racer looked and sounded like a couple of valley girls harassing a favorite uncle. If he wanted somebody young, he should have cast the little girl from Rush Hour. At least she can act! Also, did I miss something – or did they cut out an important scene where he finds out he has no fingerprints! It gets mentioned casually, by the racing girl in the above mentioned scene.

Other than those negatives. WOW! Got to see! (Watch the outtakes for Jackie teaching the African children ‘The Macarena’)

Ro’s Rating: 9.5.10

By Dembone

I had been anxiously awaiting the US release of ‘Who Am I?’ for months and rented it the day of it’s release. I WASN’T disappointed. I believe it lives up to the hype it’s recieved on this site. There really wasn’t a dull moment. I don’t know why I always expect Chan movies to have plot… This one certainly didn’t, but it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the film, Jackie himself sums up the plot of just about all of his movies… “My Fadda always tell me, always do woss right and stop doze who don’t.”

The main variation among his movies are the girls, of which ‘Who Am I’ has probably my favorite. Not whiny, stereotypical whimps like ‘Condor.’ The reporter is an interesting ethnic mixture. Can’t act her way out of a wet paper sack, but cute. One thing though, Jackie is looking a little tired. ‘Who am I?’ was great, probably best JC flick of the 90’s, but the energy dropped about 30% from ‘Mr. Nice Guy.’ I can’t quite put my finger on it. Well, I’m enjoying it while we can. He can’t do these outrageous movies forever!

Dembone’s Rating: 10/10

By James H.

What was the budget for “Rush Hour”? $35 million, right? As I take a glance through the little pamphlet for the “Who Am I?” DVD, I see it was made for $20 million. Now, I ask, which film looked better? Yup, “Who Am I?” did. Although, there are some scenes in which the low budget shows through (the explosion at the beginning).

“Who Am I?” is, without a doubt, one of Jackie’s best films. After being somewhat disappointed with “Mr. Nice Guy”, fans can finally see what a Jackie Chan film really is. Unfortunately, the execs at Columbia/TriStar did not want to take such a risk releasing the film theatrically, and I can see their reasoning behind it.

Now, to the film. I’m sure you’ve read the synopsis at the top of the page, so I’ll spare you. What is unusual about this film is the attempt at a plot. And because it tries to have more substance, it runs 108 minutes long, making it the longest Jackie Chan film to be released in the United States. It’s a shame really, I’m sure “Twin Dragons”, “Thunderbolt”, and “Police Story 2” will all be cut down to 90 minutes or less. Although a shorter “Twin Dragons” might be better.

So anyway, this film was directed by both Jackie Chan and Benny Chan. I was very impressed with the direction. I loved how the camera circled around Jackie when he yelled out “WHO AM I?” The film is very well paced, too. It kept my attention, but there were some parts I was thinking to myself, “When’s he gonna kick some ass?” But all in due time. The fights started off good and just kept getting better. The fight with the clogs on the streets of Rotterdam was great. Nothing can prepare the viewer for the finale. Jackie fights two guys on the roof of a skyscraper, and it in nothing short of fan-fucking-tastic. The camera work is phenomenal, and the editing is flawless.

Again, I was impressed that this film was made with such a small budget. The film takes the viewer from breathtaking South Africa, to the gorgeous skyline of The Netherlands. All the while looking like a Hollywood film. Ah, if only all JC flicks had this quality.

I bought the DVD, and it’s great. There are very few features. It has both widescreen and full frame formats, but I don’t see why anyone would want to watch the full frame version. There is also a very cool trailer, and scene selections. I hope in the future Columbia/TriStar acquires the rights to more of Jackie’s film and treats them with the care they deserve.

James H’s Rating: 10/10

By Jordan

This is undoubtedly one of the best Jackie Chan movies of the nineties, maybe even one of the best Jackie Chan movies ever. There was nothing lacking in this excellent movie. The fights and stunts were all up to Jackie’s high standards, it is very funny and it contains something that has been lacking in Jackie Chan films since “Drunken Master II”- the end 1-on-1 fight with the main villain (or in this case, villains). It was excellent watching him battle it out on the roof of a 21 storey glass and steel office building in Rotterdam with Ron Smoorenburg, the expert kicker, and that other guy who is an expert puncher.

The superstunt was even more spectacular than ever, with Jackie sliding down the side of the building-which is sloped 45 degrees-all the way to the ground. As I said, one of the best Jackie Chan movies of the nineties and one of his best ever.

Jordan’s Rating: 10/10

By Eric

I don’t understand why this wasn’t released in the U.S., because it’s a better movie than any other of his U.S. releases (except maybe for Rush Hour, which is more well made and funny but not as exciting). Of course, it made over $200 million in Asia, so what’s another $30 million anyway? This had good action and stunts, and it’s even more amazing that you realize Jackie Chan is forty-four years old. Watch for the part when he is handcuffed in the back, and he jumps over the handcuffs! The final stunt proves Jackie’s brilliance (and insanity), but it isn’t his only great stunt. The rope/barrel part is tight, too. The only seriously bad thing in this movie is the acting of the reporter. She seems like someone who was randomly chosen for the role, cause she can’t act at all.

Eric’s Rating: 8/10

By Hendri Liato

WHO AM I? is a return to a more serious Jackie Chan vehicle, kinda like his CRIME STORY which is a mighty good attempt by JC to do a gritty, realistic thriller. This film is more Hollywood-ize than RUMBLE IN THE BRONX and FIRST STRIKE, complete with a generic shadow conspiracy plot among corrupt government agents, a retrieval of “something important” in a Third World country, and fanciful location shooting (this time the heavenly Rotterdam). There is even a serious existential discourse about identity crisis, supposedly mirrors Chan’s real life (But the shot of Chan screaming an unconvincing “Who am I?!!!” as the camera pans majestically is a little too cheesy for my taste).

Directed by Benny Chan (BIG BULLET, MOMENT OF ROMANCE) the film is a little flat and too polished, like a warmed-up HBO-made thrillers, maybe even worse. The supporting actresses play a little more pro-active roles this time and that’s a refreshing in a Chan’s movie. Yamamato Mira fares better than Michelle Ferre, easy on the eyes and certainly exotic mix of French and Japanese, whose line-reading is as convincing as her lame portrayal of a supposedly tough and smart journalist. Ferre’s performance is so abysmal here that someone needs to be blamed for it. And we know Chan has a penchant for courting pretty young things to co-star opposite him.

There is one nifty and outlandish car chase in the middle and some decent fights along the way. The final fight on top of a city skyscraper is underwhelming at best. There’s no way this tops or even equals the mythic final of Jackie-vs-Ken-Lo brawl in DRUNKEN MASTER 2. Even the so-called climactic stunt only looks good on paper. When Chan is done scaling the side of a very tall building, a great looking stunt anyday, it has that no-big-deal feel to it. WHO AM I? is a good vehicle for Chan (though he looks tired here) and for once, the caucasian actors “act” adequately and there is a semblance of a coherent plotting. But then, it also takes away some of Chan’s old magic.

Hendri Liato’s Rating: 6/10

By Dark Fury

Before getting a chance to see this film, I thought in my head, “Which vehicle will Jackie use to run over the main bad guy at the end this time?”, after I finished viewing it i thought ,”Holy shit!, Jackie is going back to kick ass fight scenes at the end!”. This film was awsome. It is the second best Jackie Chan movie I have every seen, (“Drunken Master 2″being the first ofcourse), though in time I may like this one a little better due to the fact that it has a more interesting plot. Whenever I see a Jackie Chan movie what I look for first is fight scenes because no one does em better then Chan…Though a few of them were very short but they were great anyways and the ending made up for everything. Truly a classic. My favorite part was Jackie kicking ass with handcuffs on. I was like, ” Damn,what cant he do?”. What I dont understand is how this was not released in U.S. theatres? Oh well, I guess we have to wait and see how “Rush Hour” is Bottom line is: this movie rocks!

Dark Fury’s Rating: 9/10 (It would be a perfect ten if i didnt see “Drunken Master 2”)

By Shazbot!

Who am I? is the first JC film that looks like a Hollywood film. It has location shooting, stunning cinematography, and decent acting by Anglo actors. The downside is less Jackie. Normal are strange head scratching plot developments (WAY too convenient for the reporter to be at the car race!) However, while the viewer is denied quanity, he is not denied quality. I found myself hitting the rewind button after every stunt or fight scene. Even scaling up and down walls seems impressive here, although its old hat. The impressive scenes involve fighting with clogs in Rotterdam, an escape from a security office in Africa (Jackie coils himself in a rope and unfurls from the second story to escape), a humorous auto getway in a confined alley, and a fight scene atop a skyscraper that I’d rate up with Benny “the Jet” in “Wheels on Meals” (you’ll be amazed at one fighter’s flexibility).

Although purists will be disappointed, it is entertaining, and I rank it right behind Operation Condor as my favorite for repeat viewing. I’m disappointed this is a straight to video (by way of HBO Sep 11 8:45 pm CST), because this is a theatrical quality movie ( and much better than Mr Nice Guy). I viewed this movie on a Hong Kong DVD I purchased through the internet. The Cantonese track is majority in English, but you must play subtitles to understand the story development while he is with the tribe.

Shazbot!’s Rating: 10/10

By Wei Xin

The plot for Who AmI? was mediocre, but then again I don’t watch Jackie Chan movies for the excellent plot twists or witty dialogue. Getting “adopted” by an African tribe was amusing though. Anyway, the stunts and fighting were pretty cool. Fighting in clogs must’ve been pretty tough for Jackie. It’s weird for me to say this, but seeing Jackie jump off of buildings is starting to get “boring”. The highlight for me was seeing the showdown at the end with the two martial artists (in nice suits too!)The first guy was pretty good. He seemed to be some kind of Chinese Shaolin boxer. (30 seconds!) Getting beat up with your own suit jacket and tie must be embarrassing. You have to see it to believe it. The second guy was even better. This is the first time I’ve seen a Tae Kwon Do specialist really show his stuff in a movie. This fight scene between Jackie and the two martial artists make this movie a must see

Wei Xin’s Rating: 8/10

By Aloho

Uh, I don’t know where to start. I won’t mention the plot synopsis since you can just read it above. What I will mention is how much it SUCKED! Never since “Thunderbolt” have I experienced such the dumbest storyline ever. All the subplots and the deception and the betrayal are portrayed at their worst. First, you have Chan and his case of amnesia. That I can deal with. So then, they have to spring a whole bunch of CIA guys to kill him. Somehow, this is connected to a hyper energy rock like “Flubber”. And the story goes on with breaks here and there for the fights etc… Then after all this, it goes into a disk possession sort of case that has no meaning than an excuse to see Jackie kick someone’s ass. Maybe I just don’t understand, because the creators try to make it so convoluted until they say “Screw it, lets just have all these guys that want a disk.” It’s just another extended chase film like “Mr. Nice Guy”. But this time, they include all those plot twist thingy’s that do absolutely nothing but make it drag on longer.

It doesn’t set up to a finale, the latter of the film is a whole new ballgame. And the script. It was so basic and stereotype. I won’t blame the acting for being bad, but that’s because it sounds like a 5 year old wrote it. On the plus side is the film’s sheer enjoyment and charm. It moves at a steady pace I might as well add. This is one of the most fun and intweeging films of Jackie Chan I’ve sat through. It’s just plain fun. When you need to forget about you’re surrounding enviroment and enter the realm of brainless plots and high intensity acion, this is that movie. It starts with high-tech covert operation. That just paints the background. In the first half hour, Jackie is with a tribe. It is so well filmed, you forget you are watching an action film. Jackie still shows off his talent. He climbs up a couple of trees and does other little tricks such as kicking a flashlight out of a womans hand and catching it. But this is literally nothing compared with whats to come. After an inane switch to the city, you really get a treat.

The non stop fights and chases we expect of our hero. One car chase in the middle was good, but I wouldn’t go so far as calling it brilliant like the one’s in other films. In fact, it stoops down to a lower level of just driving around away from other cars. Just something I noticed, it doesn’t seem odd that the good guys are in a white car and the others all drive black cars. The best way I can put the chase is that it was smart but wattery. It wasn’t crazy. It was actually in a way, realistic. On to the fights, which is what saved the movie. The first one, Jackie is in handcuffs and he uses chairs to cripple his enemies. Running off to a hotel, a couple of thugs try to catch him, closely resembling what happened at the hotel in “First Strike”. Later, Jackie wears clogs. This one has a funny theme to it, stepping on peoples feet. And finally, what I’ve been looking foward to is the finale. We’ve waited years for a movie with a finale fight and stunt, and this one gets an A in my book. The rooftop thing was exhausting, and definatly a fight to watch over and over. All these fights make up a third of the movie, and really show you how cool this movie is. This is the fun stuff. It is very witty too.

The way Jackie spins is really cool and makes you love this movie. Who Am I? is also full of all those little insignifigant tricks that make us say something like “Wow cool yipdee I love jackie chan” This is a good Jackie Chan film and I highly recommend it, however, I cannot call it a classic such as the “Police Story” and other films like that. Sadly, it’s attempt to be good at the story and acting fails, watch it for the totally insane fights. It defines action in a whole new way. It is hard making a review for a story so bad, but the best action of any of his films in the 90’s. However, plot is never really a factor in Jackie Chan’s films. Fortunatly, it doesn’t interfer with the action such as “Thunderbolt”. To summarize my summary, it’s best action of any Jackie Chan film. It’s the worst plot of any Jackie Chan film. Department of redundancy department.

Aloho’s Rating: 8/10

By Chris E.

This was probably one of Jackie’s strangest movies ever. He plays a CIA agent who loses his memory after falling out of a helicopter. When he awakes, he finds himself among an African tribe. They ask him his name. He keeps saying “Who am I?”, so that’s what they call him. Slowly, he starts to regain his memory. Well, it’s a good thing because suddenly all of these people are trying to kill him. That’s the basic premise. Absurd as usual. How’s the action? Pretty damm good. Although there’s no fighting until thirty minutes into the film, there’s a good deal of it from there ’till the end. One fight scene has Jackie handcuffed the entire time where he does some amazing things(ala Project A II). Another fight scene has him using wooden clogs.

And the best part of all, the finale features an extended fight scene with Jackie going against two guys. First one at a time then both at once. Some of it was really over the top but still very impressive. There are two great stunts featuring Jackie unraveling like a yo-yo while he jumps off a platform. You have to see this one to believe it. The other stunt is similar to Project A II when he runs down a falling wall. This time he slides, tumbles, and runs down the side of a very tall building. There’s also a pretty cool car chase.

Some minor complaints other than the crappy plot: His two female co-stars are terrible, I don’t think I’ve ever seen worse acting although the bad dialogue didn’t help. The movie ends a little abrubtly. There’s an attempt at some special effects, I don’t think I have to tell you how that turned out. Aside from this, it was a pretty good movie. Plenty of action and it never dragged. Although at times, you shake your head and say, “What the hell was Jackie thinking?”

Chris E’s Rating: 8/10

By Jim Carrey

Well, well, well…look who has come back to making awesome films like the rest of the HK cinema. Who Am I? is such a damn good movie, it is one of Jackie’s best films technically. This time he went out and got himself a great director again for the first time since “Thunderbolt”. “Mr. Nice Guy” & “OUATIC & A” prove that Sammo is no longer great, just good. The director of this film is Benny Chan, who directed “Big Bullet”, “A Moment of Romance”, & “The Magic Crane”. The movie is also given the chance to develop as well, it clocks in at a suprising 115 mins.

The plot is actually competent for the first time since “Thunderbolt”. The stunts and fights are spectacular! Since “Thunderbolt”, the gwailos have some sense of acting. That’s right, the unknown female leads are actually quite cute and enjoyable this time, he learned after Mr. Nice Guy. This film also has his most dangerous stunt ever, even more so than “Project A”. The best part to us Americans is that the movie is in English, the whole entire thing. This is live too, not a dub, so we hear Jackie’s own voice. I won’t spoil anything, just see the film.

Jim Carrey’s Rating: 8/10

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Iron Monkey | aka The Young Wong Fei Hong (1993) Review

Posted on January 23, 2011 by JJ Bona
"Iron Monkey" Chinese DVD Cover

“Iron Monkey” Chinese DVD Cover

Director: Yuen Woo Ping
Producer: Tsui Hark
Cast: Donnie Yen Chi Tan, Yu Rong Guang, Tsang Sze Man, Jean Wong Ching Ying, Yen Shi Kwan, Yuen Shun Yee, Lee Fai, Mandy Chan Chi Man, Hsiao Ho, James Wong Jim, Chan Siu Wah, Derek Cheung
Running Time: 89 min.

By Reefer

This Yuen Woo Ping directed prequel to Once Upon A Time In China is about as wire-fu-crazy as a film can get. Though not necessarily a bad thing, it does require adequate suspension of disbelief. In fact, most of the battles in this movie are enhanced through editing or wires. This proves to be tiring in some respects, especially when there are no boundaries set on what exactly a martial artist can and cannot do. Running across rooftops seems to be permitted. Jumping straight up into the air and landing on the other sides of building can be done too. This maybe picky. But I wish we, as the viewer, knew the limits.

That said, this is a very entertaining film. Yu Rong Guang is simply amazing as the Robin Hoodesque Iron Monkey. Donnie Yen, in his best performance to date, plays Wong Kay-ying, the father of future folk hero Wong Fei Hong, with a certain stoic grace (if that makes sense). And surprisingly, Fei Hong is played by a girl in young boy drag. And his/her fight scenes, using an umbrella, are especially a treat.

What sets this one apart from other kung fu epics is the attention it pays to its characters, even with just an 86 minute running time. Even the whore-turned-doctor’s assistant is developed. It would be a throwaway role in most films of this genre, but Yuen and the screenwriters really want us to care for her. Yen shows immense likability in this role as well. In other of his films, he plays mostly surly, hot-headed guys. A real turn-off in an action hero, if you ask me. Yuen takes this type and makes him quietly emotional when it comes to the well being of his son, Fei Hong. The audience is immediately won over by this tough guy who simply doesn’t know how to express feelings of love for his son and thus, making him all the sterner.

I can’t end this review without mentioning that the end fight, taking place on burning poles, is just about the wildest fight sequence I have ever seen. I constantly found myself amazed at the audacity of the filmmaking. Then again, that is why we all love HK cinema.

Reefer’s Rating: 9/10

By Numskull

Hot DAMN! THIS, by fuck, is how you make a wire-fu movie. After sitting through one of those pre-movie advertisement slide shows that had four consecutive factoids on Britney Spears (so she covers “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” on one of her albums, does she? How much you wanna bet there’s at least a million little girls out there who think SHE wrote that song instead of The Rolling Stones?), I sat back and had 85 or so of the most fun-filled minutes I’ve ever experienced in a movie theater.

What sets Iron Monkey apart from the BAD kind of wire-fu movie is that the wire tricks accentuate the fighting, rather than simply replacing it. In some cartoony shit like Butterfly & Sword, the characters fly around, throw little exploding thingies, bounce shit off their heads, and generally do just about anything EXCEPT hit each other. Not so here. People can’t fly…they can just jump really high. People can’t fire death rays from their fingers…they have to take people out the old-fashioned way. Undercranking is used in moderation, which still looks kind of silly at times, but I’ve seen worse. MUCH worse. The silliest thing to be found here is the head bad guy’s expanding sleeve (which somebody actually balances on). Aside from that, it doesn’t get too carried away.

Yuen Wo Ping uses the “widow forced to sell herself to bury her dead husband” bit again in Wing Chun. Just thought I’d mention that for the hell of it.

The thing that bothered me the most wasn’t the movie itself…it was three black youths in the theater who thought just about every little thing they saw was either riotously funny or deserving of an “OOOooOOoHhhH!!!” of pain by proxy. And speaking of which, what’s this “director by proxy” shit where Quentin Tarantino is concerned? Asshole.

Loads of fun…highly recommended.

By the way, I read somewhere that the kid who plays young Wong Fei Hung is actually a girl.

I thought they stopped doing that kind of thing back in the ’60s?

Numskull’s Rating: 8/10

By Vic Nguyen

Tsui Hark produced this Yuen Woo-ping martial arts adventure depicting the exploits of a Chinese Robin Hood known as the Iron Monkey. Here, Wong Key-ying, played by Donnie Yen, is assigned by the government to take down the Iron Monkey, but not before collaborating with his intended target in order to take down the government themselves. Acclaimed by enthusiasts as the definitive modern martial arts movie, this film contains excellent wire fu choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, star turns by Donnie Yen and Yu Rong-guang, and some decent slapstick humor. Recommended to anyone in need of a good, old fashioned wire fu movie.

Vic Nguyen’s Rating: 8.5/10

Posted in Chinese, Golden Harvest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , |
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