Fearless Hyena
Reviewed by John N. Daily
I don't understand the meaning of the title of the movie as it relates to the film itself. Actually, I'm not even sure that I understand the film itself. Fearless Hyena is yet another attempt to cash in on the success of Drunken Master and, while this is not bad, it doesn't have enough unique qualities to allow it to stand on its own. Jackie plays another disobedient boy. more adept at mischief than he is at the Kung Fu he should be learning. In this one his grandfather (in some reviews I have heard him referred to as his father; this may be the case in a subtitled version) forbids him to use their family's Kung Fu in front of anyone, afraid that they will learn it. Jackie gets other ideas though, when a local man reopens a gym and asks Jackie to be the Master - paying him well, of course. This is set up rather early, and for the next thirty to forty minutes the fighting never lets up...sort of. You see, Jackie is afraid of being seen, so he must fight in disguise. While this is funny the first time (and it is definitely played for laughs), it is not as funny the third. There is some interesting choreography in these sequences, but not enough to carry it through. Later on in the film, something significant happens that forces Jackie to become a serious fighter, and the film changes tone a bit for the better. The training sequences here are almost as good as those in Drunken Master: Jackie does alternating push ups and sit ups against a wooden plank - while hanging upside down from a tree. Jackie pulls a load big enough for a horse - with his Master on top no less, and every muscle chords outward with strain; I don't think I've seen him look as good onscreen before or since. It's hard not to compare Fearless Hyena to Drunken Master with this being such an obvious carbon copy. Unfortunately, the film never seems to achieve the same level of humor or intensity that its predecessor did. It's certainly not his worst work - that distinction belongs to Killer Meteors on In Eagle Shadow Fist - but if you've already seen Drunken Master, there's really no need to watch this. Midway through the third or forth fight, Jackie removes a sword from between his thighs and declares "This is not funny." Maybe that's the problem.
RATING: 5.5 / 10
Hong Kong - 1979
?? Minutes
MPAA Rating: N/A
Version Reviewed: English Dubbed Video
Directed By: Jackie Chan
John N. Daily Copyright 1998 John N. Daily
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