With appearances in well over one hundred films, the folk hero character Wong Fei Hung is one of the most iconic in Hong Kong cinema history. So, as you might expect in a group that includes the Drunken Master and Once Upon a Time in China series, it takes a lot for a Wong Fei Hung movie to stand out. The 1992 cheapie Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung doesn't add anything new to the mix, but fans of wire-fu should still be able to enjoy the proceedings.

Chin Kar-Lok steps into the shoes of Wong Fei Hung here, and he finds himself in a quandary after the death of his father. As he spends his days gambling and carousing, taking over the prestigious Po Chi Lam kung fu school doesn't sound too appealing. But after those damn dirty gwailos open up an opium den in his own backyard, Wong decides it's time to grow up and get justice for the Chinese people -- at least, if a Japanese warrior (Lam Ching-Ying) determined to kill all of China's best martial artists doesn't get to him first.

To be blunt, the first act of Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung is Hong Kong film-making at its' worst. With an over-dependence on dopey comedy and melodrama, most viewers will find their index fingers itching to hit the fast-forward button. However, once things are in place, this ends up being a pretty decent wire-fu picture. People who don't like this style of exaggerated martial arts action aren't going to find anything to change their minds here. But if you're in the mood for a brainless kung fu movie, this entry is right up your alley.

And that's really Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung's main downfall. In the end, it fulfills the quotient of most aspects kung fu fans normally expect well enough, but one never gets the sense that anyone involved with this production was extending themselves in any way. Like many releases that came from Hong Kong in the early 1990's, everything about this movie just screams that it was pushed out fast in order to make a quick buck for an audience that would seemingly eat everything up that was thrown at them.

RATING: 5.5