Any self-respecting kung fu movie fan should already know about Wong Fei-hung and at least a few of the many movies based on his legendary exploits. More discerning fans may recall he had several students nearly as famous. One of them was Lam Sai-wing, a portly pig butcher popularly known as Butcher Wing. Mention portly in the same sentence with kung fu and Sammo hung comes to mind. It was inevitable that Sammo would end up playing the character, which he did in the spectacular classic THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER. Released shortly after was BUTCHER WING, a lesser stab at the exploits of Butcher Wing starring a far less popular, but equally rotund kung fu star named Ng Mming-tsui. Butcher Wing is more exploitive and will forever live in the shadow of Hung’s film, but it’s still an entertaining effort with plenty of faithfully executed Hung Gar kung fu to satisfy the purists.

Straying from the popular legend of Wong Fei-hung, the filmmakers seem to have decided to mix the folk hero up with one of his students as played by Jason Pai Piao and name him Ling. It’s not altogether clear, but an opening exposition of Hung Gar technique by what looks like a genuine practitioner rather than Pai is meant to represent this student. In short, don’t look to this film to find any truths or enlightenment on the legend of Wong Fei-hung.

The film is really about the underdog overcoming insurmountable odds through sheer determination and this is where the otherwise standard plot ends up being engaging. Wing (Ng) and his buddy Tang (Hon Kwok-choi) are your typical, rural street vendors who know a kung fu move or two which is good enough for the usual rabble. But their confidence is soon shattered when they come up against opium smugglers led by kung fu master Wu Jen-chien (Lee Hoi-san). Witty verbal sparring, employing such insults as “Porky,” “Monkey” and “Gimpy Eye” give way to several increasingly painful brawls between the two street vendors and Wu’s thugs. After a particularly bad beating, the pair makes their way to Ling (Jason Pai Piao), a local doctor and kung fu expert who reluctantly agrees to teach them.

Wing proves to be the more apt pupil and is forced to go back to basics to correct his poor stance and lack of footwork. This is where the film shines in its training sequences. The importance of the horse stance and footwork as the foundation for Hung Gar kung fu is clearly shown as Wing humorously develops his strength and technique. As Wing improves, he’s given several opportunities to test his skills against those of Wu’s thugs. But Wing is never a match for Wu himself. After he stumbles upon a stash of Wu’s opium, he and Tang are forced to confront the vicious kung fu master after their own master Ling is beaten in a challenge. It takes all their skills, a lot of determination and several dozen eggs to do so.

BUTCHER WING benefits from having very little of what could be considered gimmicky or flowery kung fu. Tommy Lee is one of the better action directors who worked primarily in independent film and his contributions no doubt added to the unadorned, but precise and dynamic kung fu action. Nothing is outstanding, but there is a sense that we’re seeing more authentic styling, mostly taken from Hung Gar. The viewer gets a realistic sense of progress that, rather than the superhuman feats seen in more outrageous training films, leads the unlikely heroes to try their best which still may not be enough. To compensate, they resort to a few dirty tricks and this allows the comedy to infiltrate the action. Even though you don’t get the satisfaction of seeing an unstoppable hero as played by Gordon Liu or Jet Li stomp on the baddies, there is value in seeing a lowly, pudgy fellow and his skinny pal beat the odds.

Ripping off other films is a tradition in Hong Kong filmmaking and its quite blatant here. BUTCHER WING first and foremost tries to capture the magic that made Sammo Hung’s THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER such a winning success. They also have a scene that rips off Karl Maka’s cameo as a police officer in KNOCKABOUT. The average viewer shouldn’t really care about this except that it shows laziness on the part of the filmmakers and helps to explain why the film isn’t as good as it could have been.
Yet there’s something special about this humble gem of a film that deserves notice. Ng Ming-tsui is no Sammo, but he still has some terrific moves. Lee Hoi-san, the Christopher Lee of kung fu movies, is just as wicked here as he was in THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER. Pai Piao is a pretty generic master, but has a great fight with Lee. The dialogue on the English-dubbed version is above average and features some funny one-liners.

As a budget release, BUTCHER WING offers reliable, old school kung fu entertainment and is definitely worth picking up.

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