Jet Li is probably best known to martial arts movie fans for playing the legendary Wong Fei Hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films made by director Tsui Hark. The films regenerated the limping Kung fu movie genre at the time and were a big hit. In 1993 Jet went over to another film company and made Last Hero in China for director Wong Jing also playing the Wong Fei Hung character.
Anyone who knows the director’s output will realise that he is not subtle in his approach to filmmaking and this film is much the same, with the story being much more comical in tone to the Once Upon a Time in China films.
Village girls have been mysteriously going missing and the elders request that Wong Fei Hung investigate. Wong does not want to get involved, but with a plot to kidnap women for the slave trade and A temple of corrupt monks, Wong Fei Hung soon finds he must fight the battle of his life to save his village and his reputation.
The plot is all over the place as is the tone, going from silly comedy to bloody violence but it is overall a fun ride if you go in knowing what to expect.
The action is helped a lot by Yuen Woo Ping’s choreography but the battle towards the end with the chicken and centipede costumes is embarrassing at times but is saved by the final fight with the real villain, which sees Jet Li use Drunken Style to beat his opponent.
The overuse of wirework can be frustrating to watch as you wish it would be more grounded so you could see the real skills of the people involved, one such example is the fight between Jet Li and Gordon Liu in the temple cave.
It is not a sequel to the Once Upon a Time in China films, more like an oddball addition which has its moments if you can get past the broad comedic segments.
This Blu ray release from 88 Films has another great 2K restoration and the picture looks clear and colourful. Audio gives you original Cantonese with English subtitles or an English dubbed track.
The extras are a little thin, with a couple of short deleted scenes, an audio commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert James Mudge, a short film of Jet Li’s visit to the UK in 2000, a small original HK poster and some trailers.
A fun if at times very silly action comedy, with a very good remastered image.
FILM – 7 PICTURE – 7.5 AUDIO – 7 EXTRAS – 6.5
