Since fractures don’t heal so quickly at age 46, Chan has been smart to concentrate on comedy lately, letting American costars like Chris Tucker and Owen Wilson carry a share of the story burden formerly given entirely to his athleticism. But if you’d like to see what he was capable of a few years ago, check out this reissued 1994 period chopsocker set in turn-of-the-century China. Chan plays Wong Fei-Hung, a historical character who originated the “drunken boxing” school of kung fu and became a national hero by battling British imperialists and their collaborators.
This stuff is absolutely amazing. Utilizing a bit less prop fu than usual – unless you count alcohol as a prop – Chan, who says his movie idol is Buster Keaton, shows off manic fight choreography that makes almost any other martial arts film look by comparison like a panel discussion on 16th century Belgian architecture. This is Three-Stooges-on-meth, Bruce-Lee-meets-Baryshnikov territory, and climaxes with a gonzo brawl, set in a steel mill, that supposedly took four months to shoot. Yeah, the comedy is often hopelessly broad by Western conventionality, the dubbing is bad, and the Chinese badguys speak with the same deep British accents as their occidental masters, but who cares. I was awed from start to finish by Chan’s use of the drunken school, the “mad monkey” school, and what I think was a move or two from the “sneaking through subway turnstile without paying” school. Trying to follow Chan’s movements is like trying to count the revolutions of a tornado. There’s no one else working in film today who could get away with saying, “I don’t need special effects. I am a special effect.” B+
Get your own Free Home Page