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The story was simple. Dr. Yang and his trusty sidekick Miss Orchard tended to the sick during the day and at night robbed from the rich and gave to the poor and downtrodden. Dr. Yang was a cross between Robin Hood and Batman. In walked one of the Ten Tigers of Canton, Wong Kei Ying, and his teenage son Wong Fei Hung (played by Angie Tsang!). Initially at odds, it didn't take long for the two honorable men to recognize what was going on and what needed to be done. Along for the ride was Commissioner Gordon, I mean Master Fox, played by Yuen Shun Yee, who also provided a little comic relief. Team Iron Monkey was ready with fists, kicks, and righteous anger to take on any evil doers! They had to make a grandstand against a corrupt governor, disgraced, evil Shaolin monks, and the governor's boss who was a super powerful ex-monk. There was a little more to it, but that was the gist of the story.
The fights were fast, creative, and fun to watch. All of the good guys had time showing their kung fu stuff. When Yuen Woo Ping is in charge you know you are in for a treat. Donnie Yen has amazing footwork and it was highlighted in several scenes. The majority of this short movie involved fight scenes which would usually be a detriment for me, I enjoy at least some character development, but everyone on Team Iron Monkey was so quick, likeable, and graceful it didn't matter to me in this movie.
There were hints of romance, brief heartwarming moments and cringeless humor (for the most part). The story moved forward at the speed of Donnie's punches.
I scored this movie simply on the sheer joy I received from watching it. People who don't enjoy kung fu movies and wire fu might not enjoy it, but for those who do, this is definitely one to give a try.
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There are some movies that are so bad they are good. This wasn't one of them. As much as it pains me to say it, because I love Angela Mao, this movie was awful.The story involved a secret list of rebels (who keeps making these troublesome lists!) and more crisscross double crosses than you could shake a stick at. Few people were as they appeared to be. The most disappointing character was Angela's. No subterfuge with her character, she was just a spiteful jealous woman who jumped to conclusions about her friends and trusted the wrong guy when he was the one she should have been the most suspicious of. Rule #1, never, ever trust the guy in sparkly silver lamé in a kung fu movie.
It didn't help that John Liu's character came across as arrogant and uninteresting. Not a good sign when the male lead was boringly irritating. Chen Sing's Big Bad was really bad, complete with blue hands that could poison people and a great evil laugh. He was actually one of the few highlights of the film.
If the story is weak and convoluted, the fighting better be great. The fight scenes were atrocious in this movie. Stunt men whipped their heads back or fell back before a hit or kick was supposed to connect and the sound effects were completely off at times. Most egregiously John and Angela did this weird kicking pose that in real life would serve no purpose except to leave you horribly exposed. Though John Liu was known for being a super kicker, in this movie he did a lot of kick posing.
One positive was that, as in many Taiwanese movies, they took advantage of filming outdoors with the mountains and trees in the shots. It might well have been because they didn't have the budget for interior sets, but at least the scenery was pretty. I can only imagine how beautiful it would have been in the original cut at the theaters. That's it, that's all I have when it comes to saying something positive about this film.
The story was thread bare, the fights were poorly choreographed, and the sound effects were awful. Sorry kung fu fans, this one did not go in the win column for me.
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What I loved about it was the cast. It was fun to see the incognito martial arts masters come out of their humdrum lives and reveal what they were capable of. Any time I see Yuen Wah featured, I'm a happy camper.
The Roadrunner and Coyote special effects were over the top and fun for the most part. Although the funniest gag in the whole movie didn't involve any CGI. The closer they kept it to reality, the better I liked it.
The martial arts scenes were entertaining, I enjoyed the early trio's more believable fighting the most. The latter fights which relied more heavily on CGI were comic book style and entertaining in their own way, if less satisfying.
Visually it was a stunning movie, the sets, costumes, and cinematography were well above kung fu movie standards.
I wasn't as fond of the first half of the movie with the death and dismemberment scenes. The landlady's schtick wore thin pretty quickly with me although she redeemed herself in the end. Bruce Leung made for a creepy supernatural kung fu madman. I found Stephen Chow's hustler more annoying than funny for most of the film. When he finally picked a side and came out of his cocoon I could get on board with his character even if his character growth and kung fu skills weren't properly explained. This movie cried out for a hero, not a Chosen One who did nothing to earn his greatness.
Perhaps the biggest problem I had with this movie is that I didn't care about most of the kung fu misfits and the ones I did care about didn't last long. Even in a comedy I need some thread of the story to be emotionally compelling and the only one they really offered was lollipop girl and the hustler which didn't touch me at all. The juxtaposition of slapstick over-the-top humor and brutal over-the-top killings failed to resonate with me as well.
While there were parts of Kung Fu Hustle I found amusing, more often I found it borderline cruel and repetitive with flashes of humor. The trio's fights and the final fight saved this movie for me. Oh, and Yuen Wah getting to strut his badass kung fu self helped a lot, too.
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If you are inspired to watch this because you saw a badass swordswoman on a poster like I was---seriously don't bother.
If you thought A Man Called Hero and The Storm Riders were masterpieces---this movie is for you. It comes from much of the same team and might serve your viewing needs.
If you are looking for grand sword fights or kung fu, you won't find it here. The few sword fights were hindered by posing and sped up action and enhanced by terrible CGI. My grandmother would have looked like a martial arts master the way they filmed these blurry fights.
The women were portrayed as vapid, lovesick, airheads. Unless the translation was wrong on the copy I watched, one of them fell in love with her half-brother. Eww.
The star of this comedic marvel was Nick Cheung as an ancient James Bond wanna be, Dragon 009. He knew all the criminals, was a master of deduction and loved hitting on women and making innuendos about his 8 1/2 inch third leg. Charming. He made a mildly amusing lecherous investigator though his actions are quite dated now. For the most part, the movie was a dull murder mystery. I'm sure Wong Jing and Manfred Wong, the writers, thought the big twist at the end was brilliant but I saw it coming from a mile away. The duel in the title came at the end and was quite anti-climatic.
Some of the sets were nice although I've seen more opulent throne rooms in web dramas. Must have been a very poor emperor.
There were a few funny moments and interesting fights. This movie might hit the target with fans of the other two Andrew Lau/Ekin Cheng movies, but it missed the mark with me.
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After watching dozens of martial arts movies I decided to revisit this classic. Even though it followed the revenge theme fairly closely and the antipathy toward Japanese occupiers, Fist of Fury stepped away from the pack in terms of quality. Though the majority of sets were indoors or on the lot, they were beautifully crafted and believable as real homes and dojos for the most part, especially given the budget.
When Bruce Lee’s Chen Zhen returned home to find out his master was murdered, he did not take it well. In Fist of Fury all the Japanese were EVIL, there was no nuance which seemed like a missed opportunity for story depth. Bruce stacked the bodies up during his rampage to avenge his master. Most kung fu movies have a revenge theme, Fist of Fury leaned into it---hard. Bruce did have some say in how he wanted the movie to end, to show that crime and killing doesn’t pay. The story was definitely a step up from most kung fu revenge stories.
I’ve always felt Bruce Lee was better at conveying rage in his fights or staring down his opponents with an intensity born of confidence in himself, here he also showed real tenderness in his scenes with Yuan Li Er (Nora Miao), the woman Chen had returned to Shanghai for in order to marry. At his master’s funeral, they touched hands in a way that only lovers do, sweetly and sensually. As always, he was beautiful and compelling. There’s no denying he had real magnetism.
Books have been written about Bruce Lee’s fighting skills and I have nothing significant to add. All I will say is that he was lightning fast and amazing to watch. After scrutinizing other martial artists in movies, I have to say he is still the best. And that’s saying something, because for me, there are few things better than martial arts movies with Jet Li, Donnie Yen, or Gordon Liu.
As I’ve said in previous reviews, I don’t watch kung fu movies for the story or acting, it all comes down to the fights and the beginning fight with Bruce clearing out a dojo and the final fights were magnificent. Fist of Fury was not a perfect film, but it was entertaining and bittersweet, knowing how few films Bruce Lee would make.
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There wasn’t much plot. Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse played two brothers from two mothers. The father’s relationship with the women was not explained. The mother of Dragon, took the oldest brother from the Gate when he was a child. Dragon soon became an orphan when his mother died. A triad leader, Kun, took him in and became a surrogate father to him. The biological father and mother of the younger brother, Tiger, disappeared and an “uncle” raised the youngest at the Gate. The uncle was played by an actor well known to kung fu fans, Yuen Wah.
Here is where I give props to this movie. The brothers, though in rival positions, did not become mortal enemies. A girl was involved with both brothers but no triangle developed. A typical kung fu story unfolded when Shibumi, the Big Bad, decided to take out Dragon’s boss/surrogate father, played by kung fu star Chen Kuan Tai. The bodies started stacking up at this point and the road back to brotherhood was opened up. The brothers were joined along the way by a nunchaku fighter, Turbo.
A liberal use of CGI and wire-work was used but not to the film’s detriment. DTG was like a super hero movie only using kung fu. I found the action scenes, designed by Donnie Yen, to be exciting and entertaining, certainly not realistic, but I grew up on Batman and Superman so this wasn’t much of a leap.
The sets and CGI sets were well done in this unknown time period with advanced phones and bell bottom jeans where cavernous criminal hideouts were buried deep beneath Hong Kong. The costumes were laughably bad. The hairdos were even worse. Poor Donnie had to go through the movie like a sheepdog with his hair down over his eyes most of the time. It did help obscure the fact he’s twenty years older in real life than the actor playing his slightly younger brother.
Donnie had a strong screen presence even with a thinly drawn character. Nicholas’ character seemed less well defined as the “good” brother, but he made the most with what he had to work with. Turbo (Shawn Yue) was largely extraneous and didn’t add a lot to the movie. It really felt like they should have concentrated on the brothers more. Though they didn’t share the screen much, Donnie and Nicholas had nice brotherly chemistry.
There were two female characters as love interests who were largely indistinguishable, one “good”, one “bad”. It was great to see old kung fu guys, Yuen Wah and Chen Guan Tai being used. It made my geeky kung fu heart happy.
If you can check your brain at the door and accept this movie for the comic book come to life that it is, you might find this movie entertaining, I know I did.
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Amanda/Fream and TJ/Fuffy are the perfect married couple, just without the sex, living together, and marriage license part. They are tactile and completely supportive of each other. The film follows the romantic rollercoasters in their respective lives, especially Amanda's. At the beginning of the movie TJ says he will write her 1001 letters and his narration of them throughout the movie hint he may have had deeper feelings for her, something that is left up to the audience to decide.
Both Amanda and TJ have ups and down in their romantic relationships but the constant source of love and support is their friendship and almost constant banter. Fuffy was handsome, strong, with an unknown source of income, and always there for Fream, he would have tempted any other female lead into succumbing but time and again they stated there was no physical attraction between them, much to the chagrin of Amanda's grandmother.
Secondary characters were barely more than out of focus movement in the background. Fream and Fuffy were the nucleus, without the actors' powerful performances, this movie would have floundered. De Rossi could be manic and comedic in one moment and tearful and vulnerable the next, her performance was the heart of this movie. If she was the energy, Piolo Pascual was the sturdy foundation, given the more difficult role of appearing to be the 2ML in his own movie.
The Philippines setting felt like a character in and of itself. The film used many lush and beautiful locales for the friends' conversations and interactions.
My Amanda isn't a perfect film, and at times it was hard to be sympathetic with Amanda's poor life decisions. Though the story dragged in places the journey to the end was worthwhile. It's a film which doesn't seem to go anywhere, and maybe that was the goal, to show the anchor of love between two friends when storms and change raged around them and whether the anchor could hold and whether it should hold.
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Sonny Chiba plays the perfect Big Bad. He has the evil laugh down to an art form. Ekin Cheng as the kindhearted Wind and Aaron Kwok as the unpredictable Cloud make for an interesting pair of men raised as brothers by the man who killed their fathers. Kristy Yeung and Shu Qi are there more for adornments and a little lusty conflict and humor respectively, but not particularly integral to the story. Of course, the movie hits its stride when Cloud and Wind must combine forces into a storm to try and take down Lord Conqueror and avenge their families while also freeing themselves and the world from his tyranny.
There's a fiery monster, a fighting monk, destiny, magical glowing red fruit and an arm seeking it's master. The movie rarely slows down to let the viewer catch their breath. The special effects were very good, but at times over-powered the fight scenes. I would liked to have seen a few more actual martial arts moves during the fights.
I tend to struggle with movies based on comics as often the movie makers assume the viewer is completely familiar with the story and they tend to skip about or not flesh out the main characters, but this story was told in a comprehensible straight forward manner and granted the main characters enough story development for me to care about them. The Storm Riders was a fun, entertaining movie.
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Despite his unkempt appearance, Mifune Toshiro saunters into town with a posture like an old-time gunfighter ready for a fight. In this town gambling, lying, cheating, and murder reign supreme. Prostitutes and townsfolk peer out of windows watching the play unfolding before them. The people are dirty and you can practically smell them in the desolate landscape. Western heroes before this were squeaky clean, but this ronin is roughly dressed and seems to scratch at fleas in his hair. I kept expecting to see a tumbleweed skitter across the dirt road in front of him.
Mifune Toshiro’s subtle and fluid body language and ever-changing facial expressions conveyed more than 10 pages of dialogue could about his character. He is the coolest ronin ever. Masterless, broke, and hungry he strolls into town taking inventory. While he has compassion on the townsfolk oppressed by two vicious rival gangs vying for control, he also needs to make some money. He has no problem doing what needs to be done to turn the gangs against each other and pocketing a few coins. This is not the cowboy with a white hat who adheres to an unbudging ethical code, this ronin toys with his prey before ultimately killing it. Sanjuro (the name the character chooses at random) is a classic anti-hero and fascinating to watch.
There is humor interspersed among the mayhem. One of my favorite scenes is after Sanjuro had stirred up trouble between the gangs, he climbed to a high point to gleefully watch the confrontation.
I’m no film student, but my amateur eye can pick up on the skill that went into the cinematography of this film. Every shot and frame felt filmed with care and an eye toward what was necessary for the story to be told.
The music varied from ominous to playful with some kooky 1960’s horns and cymbals thrown in for good measure.
Yojimbo is not a non-stop action film, though there are a few good action scenes in it. Sanjuro is as deft with his strategy as he is with his sword which is fun to watch as he pits people against each other. Yojimbo is a classic for a reason and well worth trying. I found it highly entertaining.
29 June 2021
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A Time for Love, is set in 1966. Shu Qi plays a young woman who works in a pool/snooker hall where she meets Chang Chen's character who is about to join the military. The Platters' Smoke Gets In Your Eyes plays in the background. The colors are warm and gauzy with a strong use of green. And these two are young, green and tentative as they give each other shy glances across the table. There is very little dialogue in this vignette, the tale told through actions, and body language. They write to each other after he leaves for the military and we see her smile as she reads his letter. Innocent and full of hope, this was easily my favorite story. "They asked me how I knew, My true love was true, I of course replied, Something here inside, cannot be denied." (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)
A Time for Freedom is set in 1911 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Shu Qi works in an upscale brothel and Chang Chen is her long time customer who comes and lives there when he is in town. Here the lighting is as subdued as the acting. The restraint is only broken when Shu Qi's character sings her sad songs. There are no spoken words in this vignette, though it is obvious much dialogue is being spoken, only a few words are shown on placards for the audience to read like in the old silent movies. I felt for Shu Qi's character, trapped in what amounted to indentured servitude with her only hope of someone making her his concubine. Chang Chen's character didn't approve of taking a concubine, but apparently staying at a brothel with girls as young as ten wasn't a problem with his ethics. Here again, there isn't much spoken conversation with some letters providing the rest. This story was sad and filled with longing as the couple and their world suffered. "Although this place has torn my heart, it is wrenching to leave it." (Liang)
A Time for Youth is set in 2005. The colors are harsh-cold grays and icy blues. Life is chaotic, fast, and real communication even with cell phones, email, and blogs is shown as being more difficult than in the past. Shu Qi plays a woman in a lesbian relationship having an affair with Chang Chen's character. He has a girlfriend who knows something is going on, just as Shu Qi's lover does. The two border on obsession as they meet in secret, creating tumult in their wake. "No past, no future, just a greedy present." (Jing)
The characters are molded by the times they live in, each one feeling authentic. Shu Qi gave brilliant performances. Her characters required a greater emotional breadth than Chang Chen's did and she absolutely nailed them. It's no wonder she won a Golden Horse for Best Actress for her work in this film.
This movie is not for everyone. It is slow and subtle, the endings not clearly written out, the characters not always likeable. If you don't mind the aforementioned you might be in for a quiet, gem of a movie.
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This is one of the Millennium films and it's not bad. The film did start off on the wrong foot with me by declaring Mothra a bad guy. If they got on the bad side of Mothra they had to have either been messing with her tiny twin besties or trampling the environment, but I digress.I was impressed with the FL, Yashiro Akane. Women are often prominently featured in Godzilla movies, this time they got it right. Even though the failure of not defeating a new Godzilla with her weapon and being unable to control her vehicle leading to another vehicle getting crushed under Big G's feet were laid squarely at hers she was able to redeem herself. She was strong, smart and no damsel in distress or screamer as is usually required of women in monster movies. A welcome relief. Ultimately, she was put in charge of controlling Mechagodzilla in the fight when Godzilla returned.
Kiryu, the mechanized Godzilla, built on the 1954 Godzilla's skeleton unfortunately had some DNA memory of the destroyer unknowingly coded within it. I wasn't sure or not if this was a deliberate message that building bigger weapons of mass destruction can be as dangerous as the foe before you.
The humans in this movie were the best of any I've watched. However, the training sessions went on too long for me. I watch Godzilla movies for the monsters, not the people. The star of the show was missing for huge chunks of time as if they'd forgotten about him. Long, loving shots of the mechanized Godzilla and the soldiers' training sessions could not replace him. When he finally showed up the fights were good, but lacking in energy and urgency. It's a perfectly fine way to spend 90 minutes on a lazy Saturday afternoon, but it could have been so much better.
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The acting in this film was natural if a bit stiff at times, but the actors were able to convey their characters' discomfort of adjusting to each other, accepting each other, and then revealing their truths. The music fit the emotions, though at times it felt unpolished. The cinematography was appropriate for the small, almost play-like atmosphere, no beautiful grand shots.
The chestnut in it spiny bur becomes a metaphor for the protections we put around the most sensitive parts of ourselves. Each of the three characters work to peel those layers back to confront the precious secret inside of themselves.
A short, spare, film big on heart.
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If you are able to embrace the absurdness of a hero who is trained first by a girl and then a pot-bellied condor, you might just enjoy this movie. Leslie Cheung is beautiful and vulnerable in this role of a young man who is the son of a traitor and must overcome trials and tribulations to find his way in the world.I might have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with the source material, Jing Yong's "Return of the Condor Heroes". As it was I could tell that there were characters I should know and story lines left dangling at the end. Even though it seemed there was way too much story to tell in 90 minutes it was an entertaining and intentionally or unintentionally hilarious movie at times. Not to say there wasn't darkness woven through the tale as well. Sexual assault, buckets of blood, people and animals cleaved in half, and someone made a meal out of a family pet.
Cheung as Yang Guo and Yung Jing Jing as the titular Dragon Maiden, had good chemistry together as she taught him to fight and as they fell in love. Lo Lieh shows up briefly as a seemingly crazy kung fu master completely immersed in the Toad style of fighting. Chen Kuan Tai plays the uncle who tries initially to set the young hero on the path of righteousness but ends up unknowingly putting Guo in a sect bent on revenge for the father's actions.
The story rarely slows down with either fighting or training scenes containing lots of wire action and creative weaponry in most scenes. The Big Bad and his minions create havoc as well as other rivals for the Dragon Maiden's affection and Guo gets plenty of practice taking a beating and learning his way through the martial world.
For a 1980's kung fu movie it lived up to expectations and the production values were much higher than most of the 1970's kung fu movies I've seen. Even if the condor looked like a reject from H.R. Pufnstuf.
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Butterfly and Flowers is a heartwarming coming of age story. Huyan is a young Muslim teen struggling with poverty. His mother died and his father is a laborer. He’s an excellent student and popular with the other students. When his father chooses to pay for a school fee instead of buying rice for the family Huyan decides to drop out of school. Selling popsicles on the street he hopes to earn enough money to send his siblings to school. When an accident pushes the impoverished family closer to the edge he feels he has no other choice than to go to work for the rice smugglers so that they can survive. The question he keeps asking of himself is, “what does it take to be a good person?” The young rice smugglers hide bags of rice on trains and try to avoid the conductor checking for tickets by riding on the top of the trains. The work is dangerous and the risk of getting hurt or arrested looms over the boys every day. Far from being a gloomy story, Huyan makes friends and provides for his family. A sweet romance develops between him and Minpee, a girl he knew from school who loves flowers and butterflies.
Huyan will ultimately have to make decisions for his family’s future and his future with Minpee. Whether those decisions will lead to him being a good person of course is always the question.
The acting in this movie is very natural. I was quickly drawn into Huyan’s life and desire to take care of his family. There are no villains, only people trying to feed themselves and their families. Much of the action and conversations take place on trains. Are they moving toward something better or something worse?
Huyan’s goal for himself is familiar to many people---how to be a good person? “It’s tricky.”
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"Persevere through the storm, things will get better"
Meet Yourself was a tranquil 40 episodes of slice of life in a small village where wounded people went to heal. The safest place you could ever travel to or live in, where everyone might not know your name but they were always glad you came.After the loss of her best friend, Xu Hong Dou escapes to a small village to reassess her life. In the place she is renting she is befriended by a writer, a singer, a man who meditates most of the day, a woman who runs the local café, and a man who is working diligently to put the village on the map and attract tourists. Numerous other people come into her life from all ages-from the auntie brigade to the munchkin squad. No one is allowed to hibernate, but all are encouraged to become involved in the village happenings and helping neighbors. Hong Dou is only staying for three months which becomes problematic when she and village problem solver Xie Zhi Yao begin to develop feelings for each other.
I will get what didn’t work for me out of the way. It’s a short list. I could not keep up with all of the characters in this village, especially as it seemed to grow day after day. Business bores me so I tended to check out when there were lengthy and oftentimes redundant trade talk. Singing sessions felt like filler more often than not. As in real life, there were characters I was invested in and those that I was not. That’s about it, which for me is a short list. Lol
I’m a sucker for redemption and personal growth stories and Meet Yourself had plenty of both. Nearly every character experience emotional growth except Yao’s grandmother who was practically perfect in every way. Nature was appreciated even as villagers came to realize that farming was not going to keep the young people from moving away. Traditional crafts and skills were encouraged as Yao continually fought to find markets for the locals’ produce and crafts. Beijing was praised but the drama pushed finding alternate forms of income for the village so that families could stay together and parents didn’t have to leave children behind to work in the larger cities.
No one ever went away hungry. In every episode people were cooking and eating, often in the outdoor kitchen. In this idyllic place, the open kitchen was never plagued by insects, rodents, birds, or any other multi-legged creatures attracted to the smell of food. With the exception of a few animated aunties, everyone spoke in the gentlest of whispers. Problems were solved with a can-do spirit and a little help from their friends.
Friendships old and new had unbreakable bonds of trust, loyalty, and forgiveness. Grief and tears were replaced with happy memories and smiles. There were no surprises and no real conflicts. Meet Yourself was simply 40 episodes of the nice being nice to the nice---the ultimate in soothing slice of life.
“Dark clouds are passing and the wind will always rise.”
12 June 2025
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