An Exercise In Nonsense

Admirable film.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

So this film is fairly uneven. On one hand, its story is either lacking in tonal coherence or is generally scatter brained. On the other hand, the fight choreography and stunt work is genuinely breathtaking.The story isn't necessarily incomprehensible, though it seems to try very hard to be. I get the distinct impression that there was either difficulty in getting all the coverage required for the plot, or that the editor had a very fuzzy understanding of how to put all the scenes together in a way which made sense, mostly it feels like the former. At a certain point it literally feels like scenes are missing from the film. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it makes it difficult to be especially invested in the characters and their motivations. Speaking of characters, they're mostly fine I guess. Jackie Chan at least represents some kind of arc or emotional conflict that the audience can get involved in. For the most part though, a lot of characters feel underdeveloped to the point of being sort of place-holders. I guess the main takeaway is that this film would be kind of bad if not for the martial arts. The martial arts and accompanying stunt work in this film is of the highest caliber. It's sort of to be expected of a Jackie Chan feature, but even so, there are some fights in this film which seem to defy all conventions of action and the laws of physics. Admittedly, a lot of it is pretty cornball. The sort of levity which is characteristic of a lot of the action is very fitting I think. It better compliments the light comedic tone of this film than more serious encounters might have. I mean, the fighting can often be a lot funnier than the sort of weird attempts at humor that come during the "down time". I'm not trying to undermine the legitimate tension that comes during some of the fighting. I'm just saying that the tone of the action fits very well into the rest of the film. Despite the largely messy story, the martial arts action in this film is executed with absolute mastery. It's worth checking out by virtue of its highlights. Go for it, it's good.

Drunken Master was a rather mediocre movie with some of the most amazing martial arts fights of all time. The Legend of Drunken Master is a somewhat better movie, overall, yet honestly, I didn't enjoy it quite as much. I liked the fight scenes, but somehow I felt less moments where I was blown away. Surprisingly, my favorite thing about the movie is not Chan's fighting but rather a wonderful comic performance by Anita Mui as Chan's stepmom. I never really understood why she was always so intent to help Chan at the expense of her husband, but she was wildly entertaining.The story is mainly coherent and moves well, and Chan does offer up some terrific fights, but I would not be as inclined as some here to declare this Chan's best movie. (caveat, I had a terrible cold when I watched this movie, which honestly could have affected my perception somewhat.)

This is a Jackie Chan movie made by his Hong Kong producers. Jackie Chan directed this movie himself (as he seems to do a lot) so all the bizarre stunts that he does, he does because he chooses to do them. This movie is not a movie sponsored by American money, as was Rumble in the Bronx, and thus has all of the typical quirks of Hong Kong Cinema.Jackie Chan, his brother, and his father go into China to get hold of some ginseng. As they come to the border post they realise they must declare the goods so they smuggle it on board through a British ambassador. They then must get it back so they sneak into first class and take the package. Unfortunately there are two similar packages and they take the wrong one. They also confront another martial artist who wants the other package. Through this they uncover a plot by the British to overthrow the Chinese Emperor (or so it seems).As with typical movies of this sort, there is little in the way of deep, in-depth thought. Jackie Chan is about stuns and martial arts, and you get plenty of that here. The interesting thing in this movie is the portrayal of the British. They have their guns while the Chinese have their martial arts. Even with their skill, they are under the yoke of the gun. But when the Chinese get the guns, they discard them in favour of the martial arts.The specific martial art that Jackie Chan uses here is what is called Drunken Boxing. He is reasonable, but very beatable sober, but when he gets drunk he becomes invincible. Thus, when he finds that he is fighting a fight that he probably will not win, he seeks as much alcohol as possible and becomes blind drunk.This is a reasonably good movie, and as typical for Jackie Chan, quite funny as well. When you watch it though, make sure that the version you have has reasonable subtitles, because it is really annoying watching a movie when you don't know what is going on because you cannot understand the dialogue.

Unmissable for any martial arts fan, this film contains what many regard as the best fight scene of all time, and I am inclined to agree, making this film unmissable for MA fans.The other fight scenes in the movie are almost just as good, the film features Jackie getting drunk and fighting his enemies using Drunken Fist which makes for hugely entertaining bouts.Unlike most of Jackie Chans movies, this doesn't have any stunts or any strictly comedy related antics, and instead is held up by the sheer quality of the fight scenes.Obviously the plot is completely irrelevant, and in this film it doesn't matter as the fights come thick and fast, and leave no chance you leaving you underwhelmed.