DVD cover

Legend of the Dragon

1991

Director: Danny Lee

Action directors: Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen

Stars: Stephen Chow, Teresa Mo, Leung Kar Yan, Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen, Shing Fui-On, Lok Ying-Kwai, Amy Yip, Jimmy White

Stephen Chow plays a small town bumpkin who is sent by his father (Yuen Wah) to Hong Kong with his unscrupulous uncle (Leung Kar Yan) to shape up and become famous. Even though Stephen's dad has forbade him from gambling, he has quite a talent for snooker (pool), which the uncle happily takes advantage of. Eventually, though, uncle gets too greedy and puts up the town as a bet, which Stephen loses in a game against real-life snooker champ Jimmy White. Distraught, Stephen must put himself back togther in order to get the town back as the world watches during a prestigious re-match against White.

This movie was one of Stephen Chow's first "nonsense" comedy movies, and as such, it doesn't feel quite as polished as some of Chow's later films. Sure, there's the requisite fast-talking and potty humor (one sequence has Steven becoming entranced with Amy Yip's boobs), film parodies (Bruce Lee movies in particular), pop-culture references (Jimmy White had to that point never won a major tournament), and also a bit of action and romance. However, these elements never quite gel together. Some of the humor seems forced and the changes in tone in the story are too abrupt in points. Stephen seems to be trying a bit too hard -- he doesn't come off as naturally funny as he does in other movies.

Still, this film generated a good amount of belly laughs -- Stephen's "rubber face" works well in this one -- and the supporting cast (as is the case in most Chow movies) holds up its' own end, especially Yuen Wah in a rare comedic role that reminded me a bit of Ti Lung's great performance in Drunken Master 2. And while the story isn't really original, I liked the way it was carried out because I cared about the characters. It would take a lot for me not to like Stephen Chow in a movie, and Legend of the Dragon certainly does not fall into that trap. While it's not Chow's best work, it's definitely worth a viewing.

RATING: 7

A review of the DVD for this movie can be found here

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