THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER
Review by John Beachem
* * * *
Directed by: Chia-Liang Liu Written by: King-Sang Tseng, Kai-Chi Yun
You know, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the plot to Drunken Master 2 was, but I'm going to attempt a plot summary anyway. Wong Fei-Hong (Jackie Chan) is a master of drunken boxing. This apparently means that while he's a great martial artist to begin with, when he has a little alcohol he becomes just about invincible. Wong was on a trip with his father, Wong Kei-ying (Ti Lung), when a parcel he was carrying is stolen by an old soldier (Lau Kar Leung). Wong believes he has recovered the parcel after a long (and simply amazing) fight, but he has grabbed the wrong package on accident. Wong and his father go back to their home, where his father teaches martial arts and is a respected physician. Soon the old soldier comes calling and Wong finds himself embroiled in a plot involving a business man's (Ken Lo Houi-Kang) theft of Chinese art. Wong must try to stop the plot, but he has a few other things to worry about as well. He has to reconcile with his father after the two have a fierce falling out, and he must try to keep his pregnant step-mother (Anita Mui) from fighting.
For those of you who don't know, The Legend of Drunken Master is actually a re-release of Drunken Master 2 from 1994. Why would Dimension choose to take such an old Chan flick and release it again with a new title and a massive publicity campaign? It's simply because Drunken Master 2 is Chan's best flick. Forget everything you've seen in Jackie Chan movies before, and prepare yourself for fight scenes like you've never experienced. The really amazing part about the movie isn't that the fight scenes are so spectacular, it's that during the lulls between fights it is so funny you shouldn't be bored. In particular, Anita Mui (who plays Chan's step-mother but is actually younger than him) is an absolute hoot as a woman who just might be the epitome of "strong willed". Her scene where she is trying to distract Wong's father's wrath is simply too funny for words. Yet the film's best comic moments come from Chan himself when he gets a few drinks under his belt and starts babbling about things like monkeys stealing the wine. For those of you who saw Shanghai Noon, remember the scene in the bordello? When Chan gets drunk and thinks his horse is dead? Well imagine a movie packed with scenes like that.
Alright, let's face facts here. The acting in a Jackie Chan movie is about as important as the acting in your average Friday the 13th sequel. The fact that the film contains some of the most horrendous dubbing in history makes the acting even more unimportant, but I'm going to give a critique a shot anyway. Chan is hilarious, showing some of his great comic timing in two scenes. One is where he fights five men at once while trying to get drunk, the other is the aftermath of this fight where he must deal with his furious father. Veteran martial-arts actor Lung Ti does an admirable job as the father. It's strange, but while Lung fights very little in the film we always get the impression that he could beat just about anyone black and blue with his eyes close. Anita Mui is an absolute riot as Chan's mother, though I wish she'd had just one chance to fight. Finally we have Ken Lo Houri-Kang, who may not be much of an actor (I don't speak Chinese, but I could tell his line delivery was more than a little off), but this man has moves like you've never seen before.
Speaking of moves, whoah boy, you want to talk about some astounding action scenes? Drunken Master 2 is overflowing with them. The opening fight scene, in which Chan and Lau Kar Leung battle it out under a train is excellent, filled with moves so fast I couldn't follow the action half the time (that's not an insult, it was amazing). Then, just as I was getting over this fight and a few similar duels that followed, we're hit by Chan and Lau Kar Leung fighting an army of axe-wielding warriors. This one scene must have required more choreography than nearly every other scene in the film combined. So, as I was reeling from that battle, this vastly entertaining movie hits us with yet ANOTHER battle scene at the end, between Chan and his real life bodyguard, the amazing Ken Lo Houi-Kang. Houi-Kang has the most amazing balance I've ever seen, being able to attack repeatedly with one foot kicking from every different angle. In one truly amazing shot he stands on one leg, holds the other leg up in the air till they form one straight line, and doesn't falter at all. Yeesh, I'm lucky if I can kick straight out without falling over.
I do have one small complaint with Drunken Master 2, and it's the way characters are wasted. I'm referring specifically to a young lady seen near the film's mid-point, who seems to have a romantic interest in Jackie. We don't see her again till close to the film's conclusion, and at that point she seems to have no interest at all in Jackie. A friend of Chan's who knows a different form of martial arts (the two have a heated argument over which is better) is also sadly underused. All that aside, let's it. Anyone who complains that this movie doesn't have enough plot or character development doesn't know what they're talking about. I'm not trying to be rude, but it's the truth. People going to see this movie want great action. They shouldn't care about plot and character development, and if they do they've obviously never heard of Jackie Chan before (in which case they've been living in a cave for the past ten years). Drunken Master 2 runs what could have been a long 102 minutes, but it didn't feel half that long to me. I'd recommend the to any Jackie Chan fans out there and give it four out of five stars.
Comments? Send to: johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net
Past reviews can be found at: http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem
* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year. * * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk. * - See this one only if you enjoy pain.
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