So much average

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

"Kung Wei" (Jet Li) is a Chinese undercover cop who has an adoring son named "Ku Kung" (Mo Tse) and a very ill wife but rather than being able to take care of her he is sent against his wishes to Hong Kong to infiltrate a gang of smugglers led by a notorious criminal by the name of "Po Kwang" (Rongguang Yu). Naturally, in order to join the gang he has to convince everyone that he is a criminal and even his son and wife cannot know the truth. Neither can the police in Hong Kong who have assigned a female detective named "Inspector Fong" (Anita Mui) to apprehend him. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this film contains quite a bit of action, drama and comedy. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of these three elements caused the movie to seem quite uneven. Throw in an overabundance of martial arts and the accompanying preposterous stunts and the result is a movie lacking coherence and realism. No doubt some viewers will really like this movie simply for the action it provides and quite frankly it wasn't that bad. However, all things considered I can only rate it as about average. No more and no less.

Spoilers contained herein; my reviews are meant for connoisseurs of Jet Li films. Jet Li's `Enforcer' is a average film in every aspect of the word. Jet Li plays Kung Wei, an uncover cop sent to infiltrate a triad gang. Herein lies the problem, weather it is the fault of the script, the fault of the dubbing, or the fault of Jet Li's acting, his character is SO far undercover the viewer forgets that he is a cop. The plot is not set up very well, we're not told WHY his cover has to be kept to such a high and extreme level. Wei's contact in the Triad gang, MR. G (I forget the character's real name) is also a mystery. I have seen this film three times and I still have yet to determine if Mr. G was also an undercover cop, or just a well intentioned thug in the gang. The plot has more holes than swiss cheese, especially early on which makes it hard to follow important key concepts such as the ones mentioned above.The movie is not without its charm however. While Wei is infiltrating the triad in Hong Kong, his wife back on the mainland dies, leaving his son an orphan for all intents and purposes. Anita Mui, who you may remember from Jackie Chan films such as `Rumble in the Bronx' and `Legend of Drunken Master' plays Hong Kong Police Detective Anna Fong. She's hot on Wei's trail for his criminal acts unknowing committed undercover back in Hong Kong. While tracking Wei she goes to his home in the mainland, and befriends Wei's wife and son, more or less adopting the son after the mother's death. The two end up tracking Wei back to Hong Kong, and discovering the truth about his undercover status.The Kung Fu scenes in this movie are nothing spectacular. The most impressive kung fu is demonstrated by Wei's son when his must defend the reputation of his father against a school full of bullies. He also demonstrates some good fundamentals in the Wushu demonstration scene. As for Jet Li, he's capable of much more artful and complex kung fu than he displays in this movie. The head triad villain is the stereotypical Chinese 1990s bad guy. If you've seen `Legend of Drunken Master' or similar films you know what I'm talking about, the buzz cut, sunglasses, the Armani suit, the white magician looking gloves, and an aura of evil about him. His goal as a villain in this movie is to hijack an auction taking place on a boat and make off with the goods and the customer's money. The fight scene at the end is anti-climatic. This evil badass who tears through people throughout the movie hardly puts up much if any of a fight at the end. Sure there's some good improvisation of the Kung Fu Rope technique, but that's what keeps this film on its average level, and keeps it from sinking to the depths of a bad film.If you're looking for a typical hong Kong action genre film along the lines of Hard Boiled killers, you might like this film. If you're looking for Jet Li's mastery of the martial arts, this film will disappoint you. As an action film, and a film itself, it rates very bland and average 4/9 stars.

*Spoilers ahead*Great action scenes, but come on... How can anyone actually endure a plot where* The very much in love Jet Li does not grieve, not even comment on, his wife's death* The top notch inspector from Hong Kong who goes to investigate a criminal in a place where she has no jurisdiction decides to actually start living with the criminal's family - telling them she is a cop - for quite some time in the vain hope that the criminal will return (what did she do all those days?). And when she returns to her office, noone comments on it.* gravity suddenly no longer applies when you are using your kid as a weaponMy rating: 3 out of 10 (and that's only because of great fight scenes)

I was entertained when I saw this Jet Li film in a second hand theater. The story is a little melodramatic but the fight scenes are outstanding. Gei Ba Ba De Xin/My Father is a Hero(1995) was the first Jet Li movie that I ever saw. One of his last films from Hong Kong before heading for Hollywood. My Father is a Hero(1995) is an unusual Jet Li picture because it mixes gunplay with plenty of martial arts. My favorite scene is the shootout at the restaurant. I hate the version released here as The Enforcer because of the English dubbing. The action scenes are aggressively directed by Corey Yuen(director of the visually splendid Saviour of the Soul{1992}). Jet Li shows that he's the closet there is to a successor to Bruce Lee. Anita Mui kicks butt as Inspector Fong Yat Wah.