As opium smugglers threaten China, a young and naive Beggar So Chan (Donnie Yen) carelessly chooses the wrong side to fight on which puts him at odds with Wong Fei-hung (Wong Gok) and a local commissioner who are waging a war against opium.

Had Yuen Wo-ping’s Heroes among Heroes been released early in 1991, it would probably be on everyone’s top ten list (albeit at the bottom), but by 1993 doing the ‘Wong Fei-hung versus opium smugglers’ thing was played out. Rehashing elements of his ’80s-era slapstick while offering more wire fu extravagance, Wo-ping cast his star protégé Donnie Yen as another popular folk hero named Beggar So. Unfortunately, its the casting of a completely unknown actor as Fei-hung and the fact this project is nothing more than a pieced together rip-off of Once Upon a Time in China and King of Beggars that makes the film disappointing and mostly irrelevant. Then again, looking back from the hollow pop drivel of the early 2000s, Heroes looks increasingly good.

I hate to knock the incredible Master Yuen or Donnie, but even their pairing can’t do much for this film’s story. Opium smugglers are ruining China again – snore. If this were a serious treatment of the subject it would be welcome, but not so for another over-the-top martial arts romp. The saving grace here is that the massively talented Xiong Xin-xin is the lead villain who goes toe-to-toe with Donnie Yen. The other bonus is another underappreciated and versatile performance from Donnie. Give the guy credit, in 90 minutes he goes from a snot-nosed kung fu prodigy to a drug addict and alcoholic, before transforming into a more ideal Chinese hero who embodies humility and restraint. And that’s just describing his acting. For kung fu excellence, he performs at his usual outstanding level that peaks in the film’s final moments against Xiong. He breaks out some great drunken boxing. The only complaints here are that his character isn’t as central as it should be and Wo-ping glosses over his return to hero status.

Much of the action is as good as most anything produced in the ’90s, but the failure to give it the best context or any originality diminishes the impact. For instance, Wong Gok as Fei-hung is actually quite good. But there’s nothing to distinguish him from Jet Li’s peerless portrayal in the OUATIC series. Wo-ping’s Iron Monkey remains one of his best films from this period because of its many distinctive fights. In Heroes, we’re just seeing more of the same with heavy undercranking that gets out of control at times. It’s well known that Wo-ping was looking to the West and other genres by this point. Even in the stale atmosphere of this film’s action there is a sense that Wo-ping wants to move on, but is locked within the conventions of this period piece. In his follow-up, he returned more completely to his comedy roots for Wing Chun (1994) and it proved to be a wiser decision than trying to emulate Tsui Hark and Stephen Chow.

Much of the film’s comedy falls to longtime Stephen Chow co-star Ng Man-tat and a false-bucktoothed Sheila Chan as the woman who hopelessly pines for his affections while jealously abusing him at every turn. This is classic Wo-ping humor, which is bawdy and excessive. Anyone who doesn’t appreciate the comedy of Drunken Tai Chi or Wing Chun will simply find their hijinks annoying.

Heroes among Heroes still has a lot going for it, particularly for fans of wire fu kung fu. Along with Donnie and Xin-xin’s fine performances, there’s some good stuff to be seen from two ladies (Chan Wing-ha, Wong Sau-ping) who play kung fu-fighting cult leaders. The production values are good and the action is continuous. Wo-ping uses a lot of tight editing that may rile purists, but he does it to truly enhance the action, rather than to simply cover up any actors’ lack of skill. Trademark Hong Kong camera work that plows through parting crowds or flashes a scene at an extreme angle is the work of Michael Woo who is probably more responsible for taking this style to the farthest reaches after shooting such maniacal films as The Blade and All Men Are Brothers (1993).

Fans of more popular wire fu classics like Fong Sai Yuk and Iron Monkey who still crave more of the same should definitely check out Heroes.