Donnie Yen's first film role. The film is similar to Yuen Woo-Ping's Drunken Master, in that Yen plays a ne'er-do-well who turns serious and stars learning martial arts from a crazy old master after he gets his ass beat. Most of the film has a really silly vibe going through it -- Yuen plays a puppeteer who uses his puppets to beat up on people and Donnie loses a fight early in the movie to a fat woman. And even though the film is supposed to take place a couple of hundred years ago, modern BMX bikes can be seen and one scene has Yen breakdancing. However, the martial arts sequences are done well and make the film worth watching at least once for fans of the genre.

Back to Movie Review index

This DVD is available for purchase at www.hkflix.com