CrazyFrog
02-26-2009, 06:11 PM
Legendary Weapons of China (1982)
Director: Lau Kar-Leung
Cast: Lau Kar-Leung, Lau Kar-Wing, Liu Chia Hui (Gordon Liu), Kara Hui, Hsaio Ho, Alexander Fu Sheng
Brief synopsis: Lei Kung, a former leader of the Boxer Rebellion, has quit to lead a peaceful life as a woodcutter in Guangdong province. His former comrades in the movement, practitioners of mystic kung fu arts such as Spiritual Boxing, Magic Fighting, and Maoshan (a sort of voodoo here) are ordered to kill him by the movements chief, Li. Each clan sends their own assassin to take him out but are unaware of each other. To confuse things more, Lei Ying, Lei Kung’s brother, is a Maoshan disciple who hires someone to impersonate Lei Kung to draw him out of hiding. Mistaken identities, con jobs, and treachery are the name of the game as the sects close in on Lei Kung.
Review: For some reason, I really liked this movie. Which may seem funny as it is not exactly dissed on but the reason I like it is not so much for the epic showdown between the Lau brothers (excuse me, the Lei brothers) which is certainly awesome but I liked all the intrigue and performances in this film. It is a total Lau family affair here and they all bring their “A” game performance-wise. What really stood out to me was Fu Sheng’s performance as a con artist impersonating Lei Kung. Now I see what a tragedy it was for HK cinema to lose such a vibrant star. This guy is the Chinese Belushi (John, not Jim), a real prodigy at hamming it up and slapstick. It was a blast to see the performance he puts on as Lei Kung, simultaneously demonstrating a goofy con-artist portraying a kung-fu master. The cherry on top is you can really tell Fu Sheng is pulling it all off with a physical grace that belies his shtick.
Another great performance was by Gordon Liu, who can pull off the dead-serious Shaolin monk in his sleep but goes a little further here in his portrayal of a man blinded by a false belief system but still is a formidable opponent. Kara Hui does her thing here with Hsaio Ho and they have some good scenes together mixing it up as assassins competing to kill Lei Kung.
The Lau brothers actually put in some great performances too; Pops doesn’t pontificate too much and Kar-Wing is suitably treacherous as his evil brother. I was actually confused for a while in the middle of the film as to who was who but got straightened out a little later!
The action is- well, it’s the Lau brothers with Hsaio Ho, Kara Hui, and Gordon Liu- only some of the best kung fu on screen! Actually, the action is more stealthy and ninja-like in the beginning and I sensed a subtle Five Venoms vibe in the beginning, with all the mystical arts and whatnot being portrayed. There are some acrobatics (with Hsaio Ho) and some invincible armor styles (Gordon) to spice things up. But in the end you get a whirlwind showdown between the brothers using the 18 different weapons of Chinese culture against each other and it’s pretty much a pinnacle of this kind of martial arts movie. The only sad part is that I wish there could have been more weapons work before hand to whet your appetite for the main showdown but it still is pretty much mandatory watching.
Pops did have a message with this one too- the movie is a large treatise on how the mystical branches of kung fu were nothing more than smoke and mirrors and how that some people were deluded into thinking practitioners could withstand bullets from foreign invaders. Not that these people didn’t have any real skills but rather they were just not able to go up against such technology at that time. It’s a good message but probably 70 years late? Of course I’m being a little facetious but I think it was a lesson that Chinese absorbed rather well over those years, so I’m not sure what his real take-home was for audiences but it still fits in with the MO that Pops seems to have over his career- real kung fu is a lifestyle, a philosophy, a tool. Kung fu does not make you invincible or a god but a better person. On top of that Pops doesn't even kill his opponents in this film (although a few die early on to show their allegiance to the mystical clans).
My favorite line? Gordon Liu to Hsaio Ho: “You smell like shit. You’re not even worth fighting. Take a bath.”
16 out of 18 Legendary Weapons
Director: Lau Kar-Leung
Cast: Lau Kar-Leung, Lau Kar-Wing, Liu Chia Hui (Gordon Liu), Kara Hui, Hsaio Ho, Alexander Fu Sheng
Brief synopsis: Lei Kung, a former leader of the Boxer Rebellion, has quit to lead a peaceful life as a woodcutter in Guangdong province. His former comrades in the movement, practitioners of mystic kung fu arts such as Spiritual Boxing, Magic Fighting, and Maoshan (a sort of voodoo here) are ordered to kill him by the movements chief, Li. Each clan sends their own assassin to take him out but are unaware of each other. To confuse things more, Lei Ying, Lei Kung’s brother, is a Maoshan disciple who hires someone to impersonate Lei Kung to draw him out of hiding. Mistaken identities, con jobs, and treachery are the name of the game as the sects close in on Lei Kung.
Review: For some reason, I really liked this movie. Which may seem funny as it is not exactly dissed on but the reason I like it is not so much for the epic showdown between the Lau brothers (excuse me, the Lei brothers) which is certainly awesome but I liked all the intrigue and performances in this film. It is a total Lau family affair here and they all bring their “A” game performance-wise. What really stood out to me was Fu Sheng’s performance as a con artist impersonating Lei Kung. Now I see what a tragedy it was for HK cinema to lose such a vibrant star. This guy is the Chinese Belushi (John, not Jim), a real prodigy at hamming it up and slapstick. It was a blast to see the performance he puts on as Lei Kung, simultaneously demonstrating a goofy con-artist portraying a kung-fu master. The cherry on top is you can really tell Fu Sheng is pulling it all off with a physical grace that belies his shtick.
Another great performance was by Gordon Liu, who can pull off the dead-serious Shaolin monk in his sleep but goes a little further here in his portrayal of a man blinded by a false belief system but still is a formidable opponent. Kara Hui does her thing here with Hsaio Ho and they have some good scenes together mixing it up as assassins competing to kill Lei Kung.
The Lau brothers actually put in some great performances too; Pops doesn’t pontificate too much and Kar-Wing is suitably treacherous as his evil brother. I was actually confused for a while in the middle of the film as to who was who but got straightened out a little later!
The action is- well, it’s the Lau brothers with Hsaio Ho, Kara Hui, and Gordon Liu- only some of the best kung fu on screen! Actually, the action is more stealthy and ninja-like in the beginning and I sensed a subtle Five Venoms vibe in the beginning, with all the mystical arts and whatnot being portrayed. There are some acrobatics (with Hsaio Ho) and some invincible armor styles (Gordon) to spice things up. But in the end you get a whirlwind showdown between the brothers using the 18 different weapons of Chinese culture against each other and it’s pretty much a pinnacle of this kind of martial arts movie. The only sad part is that I wish there could have been more weapons work before hand to whet your appetite for the main showdown but it still is pretty much mandatory watching.
Pops did have a message with this one too- the movie is a large treatise on how the mystical branches of kung fu were nothing more than smoke and mirrors and how that some people were deluded into thinking practitioners could withstand bullets from foreign invaders. Not that these people didn’t have any real skills but rather they were just not able to go up against such technology at that time. It’s a good message but probably 70 years late? Of course I’m being a little facetious but I think it was a lesson that Chinese absorbed rather well over those years, so I’m not sure what his real take-home was for audiences but it still fits in with the MO that Pops seems to have over his career- real kung fu is a lifestyle, a philosophy, a tool. Kung fu does not make you invincible or a god but a better person. On top of that Pops doesn't even kill his opponents in this film (although a few die early on to show their allegiance to the mystical clans).
My favorite line? Gordon Liu to Hsaio Ho: “You smell like shit. You’re not even worth fighting. Take a bath.”
16 out of 18 Legendary Weapons