This independent release from Joseph Kou manages to be adequately entertaining despite its use of too many genre clichés. While the always popular villain, Hwang Jang Lee adds a welcome boost to a familiar cast of genre players.

Joseph Kuo directed well over twenty independent films from 1968 to 1982. While few of them could match the production values of Shaw Brothers or the star power of Golden Harvest, many of Kuo’s films were a notch above other independent release in Hong Kong and especially Taiwan. “Dragon’s Claws features plenty of recognizable talent. At the top of the list is Hwang Jang Lee who is without a doubt one of the genre’s best villains. This powerful kicker who nearly broke Jackie Chan’s jaw during the filming of “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow” (1978) outshines his co-star, Lau Ga Yung. While a competent fighter, Lau lacks charisma in the mostly forgettable role as a young man training to avenge his father’s death. Wong Biu Chan who appeared as the Shaolin monk at the beginning of “The 36 Deadly Styles” returns as wandering Drug Seller who ends up being the young hero’s great uncle, who not only saves Lung but teaches him the martial arts necessary to win. This is obviously an attempt to tap into the success of both “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow” and “Drunken Master” which featured the terrific Simon Yuen in a similar role as an old vagabond who mentors Jackie Chan. The comical Hon Gwok Choi who starred in “Crack Shadow Boxer” has a small but memorable role as Lung’s friend. While not much of a martial artist, Hon gives an amusing acrobatic performance. Kan Chia Fong, as Lung’s mother does the best job of acting as a woman who both hates and pities her husband. And while not well known, she shows off some surprisingly good martial arts. Chan Lau, who plays one of Hwang Jang Lee’s cronies (Green Monster) is disappointingly dry after a much funnier role in Kuo’s “36 Deadly Styles.”

While the cast may be quite noteworthy, the story is oh so dreary. Another ho hum revenge plot gets a tiny spark of creativity when it turns out that the hero’s father, whom Hwang Jang Lee is partially responsible for killing is not so innocent. In a flashback, its discovered that Chen-tien slipped a woman some chloroform and essentially raped her. Her subsequent pregnancy forces them to marry but she refuses to bed with Chen-tien again and eventually uses the vicious Dragon Claw style on him from which he never recovers. The son, Lung turns out to be less of a womanizer but still ends up suffering the effects of the Dragon Claw when he tries to tangle with Hwang early on. Enter the old man with the cure, pills the size of a tennis balls and a ridiculous witch doctor remedy involving the use of children’s urine. Lung recovers, learns the Strange Strike form of kung fu and defeats Hwang Jang Lee.

As far as the fighting is concerned, the film does feature one of the best chopstick matches ever filmed. Seen in countless kung fu movies, two or more people sit over a dinner table and spar with their chopsticks as they try to eat. Lau and Kan make the scene a lot of fun to watch. It should also be noted that some of the fight scenes are under-cranked to speed up the action. Unfortunately, its done rather poorly, making these scenes look a bit silly.

“Dragon’s Claws” may be slightly better than your average low budget kung fu flick, thanks to a solid cast, but this doesn’t excuse the fact that the story shamelessly rehashes tired genre themes. There really isn’t anything to see that hasn’t already been done better in other films, although Hwang Jang Lee fans should take note.

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