A martial arts whiz and his ambitious friend open a kung fu school, but only draw the attention of an angry student from the town’s only other school. A confrontation leads to a fight in a brothel that causes both schools to become targets of the brothel owner’s wrath.
Imagine that you were so good at kung fu that you could invent your own style. That’s essentially the premise behind Kung Fu Genius where Cliff Lok’s so-called “genius style” proves to be unbeatable.
Cliff Lok plays a kung fu expert so sure of his abilities that he decides to call himself a Kung Fu Genius and his technique becomes the genius style. Genre funnyman, Cheng Hong Yip is his close pal who persuades Lok to open a kung fu school to make money. The two venture into a town and open shop. After a tussle with some gamblers nearby, they manage to recruit a few students who all seem to disappear for the rest of the film. The master of the town’s only other kung fu school which specializes in the “spiritual style” is uninterested in his new competition, but Chow Li Shou, his hot-headed student is not. Chow and his buddy, who is played by Hsiao Ho challenge Lok to a match, but lose miserably. Out of spite, Chow literally beats Cheng Hong Yip senseless. Later, Lok finds Chow and begins to exact his revenge at the brothel where he is found, until the owner comes out with his cronies to bust some heads. Once again, Lok’s kung fu is too much for his opponents. After teaching them all a lesson, he grabs the badly beaten Chow and leaves.
In a fit of rage at having lost face, the brothel owner decides to kill both men and destroy their respective schools. He brings in a real kung fu expert played by the film’s director, Wilson Tong and together they wipe out the spiritual school. Then they go after Lok who eventually leads the brothel owner and Tong out into a deserted location for a final showdown.
Its generally a safe bet that most any film where Wilson Tong is involved is going to have at least some quality kung fu action. The same holds true for Tong’s directorial debut, although it compares less favorably to higher profile films from the same year such as Fearless Hyena (1979) and Dirty Ho (1979). The main reason is that while the action is decent, the acting and plot tanks.
The secret to this whole “genius style” of kung fu is a little too vague until the very end. Also, the script is incredibly sloppy. As mentioned before, the students who join the genius school never show up for class and Lo and Cheng just spend the rest of the film getting into fights. Poor Cheng, who usually plays the weasel-like comic relief, is brought down even further to the level of becoming a basket case after getting kicked in the nads. In one awful scene, he even joins another character who has also been rendered incompetent for an “idiot style” fight. Its not as funny as it sounds. None of the characters are engaging and Cliff Lok seems to just stroll through the lead role with disinterest.
The best aspects of the film are the fights themselves and there are plenty of them, practically non-stop at times. Tong’s experience in the industry pays off with some great choreography. Although it’s obvious in numerous shots that actors are swinging wide with their weapons, the combat is varied enough to maintain interest. The most memorable scene must be the fight at the spiritual school where the master, having seen that all of his students have just been murdered, squats down and begins performing the “duck style.” It’s sure to garner the same surprised expressions from the audience as it does from the villains. A lot of the camera work is also above average and helps to keep the attention focused. Sadly, the film loses steam by the end as it seems to stall before the final fight that takes place in an outdoor location that seems way too familiar. It looks like a big gravel pit or barren valley where countless kung fu movies have doubtless met their end. Lok’s constant weapon changing at the end is fairly dull until he whips out an iron fan, similar to the one that his opponent, Wilson Tong is wielding. Iron fans are not used much as a fatal weapon in these films and its nice to see them in action here. Although they look like ordinary paper fans, the “ribs” are made of iron plates that form a point at the end. This was often a preferred weapon for people who could easily hide these weapons in the guise of an ordinary fan, which were quite common. Tong makes good use of these fans in the final moments of the fight and they tie in nicely with the whole “genius” method.
Kung Fu Genius is nothing to write home about. Technically, most of the action scenes are good, although the overall film is not so interesting. Given that so many great films were being released in the late ’70′s, it’s a shame that Wilson Tong couldn’t do better.
by Mark PollardRelated Topics:
Genre: Kung Fu
- Junior
