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The two sons of the great Tai Chi master stumble into a powder keg
and when they save two girls from a primitive tribal sacrifice they
meet Christy Chung. She is parading for democracy in China in the
middle of the Opium wars, and seems quite taken with the teenage
kung-fu master (Jacky Wu) who saves her life. However, her fiancé
(Mark Cheng) is a pawn in the drug trade, and he's pretty much lost
out on the battle for the girl's hand. It is up to Jacky to bring
the opium smugglers to justice.
Directed by Yuen Woo Ping this film has a very similar aesthetic
to his film 'Hero Amoung Heroes'. Budget-wise it one step above
the former but does in no way compete with the grand scale of the
epic 'Once Upon a Time in China' series. From the outset it is clear
that this is a showcase for the star Jacky Wu (here making his debut).
He is very well cast in the role of the naïve kung fu master,
and the story too is well above par. Wu certainly emerges as a more
than competent screen fighter (in some cases he even out jets fellow
wu shu exponent Jet Li). However, it would be hard to imagine him
playing a more mature part than this and I am sure that he would
not adapt to the modern day genre as well as Jet has. The fight
scenes are very well choreographed (as one would expect from Yuen
Woo Ping), with little or no use of wires. Billy Chow has a very
good introductory sequence showing off some impressive kicking but
when he meets Wu he is beaten with ease. This is one of the film's
faults - Wu does not really get to fight any worthy opponents and
seems to just beat the bad guys until he has had enough and then
decides to finish them. Christy Chung is also a bit wasted in a
simple window dressing role and for some reason she doesn't quite
work in a traditional setting.
One of Yuen Woo Ping's more understated films probably brought about
by the lack of big name stars. However, thanks to the entertaining
storyline and well realised comic sequences this film really delivers.
Jacky Wu makes an impressive debut but at the moment does not quite
have the acting ability or screen presence to break into the mainstream.
If you are a fan of Yuen Woo Ping or fancy a break from the more
well known new wave films this is one to watch. But one question:
where's the Tai Chi?
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