| |
Review
by Kozo: |
It's cheap cinema deja
vu. The My Way Films-produced martial arts movie Kung
Fu Fighter looks enormously like Kung Fu Hustle,
from the English title to the Chinese title font, to
the costumes, sets, situations, and even the actors,
many of whom were in Kung Fu Hustle, and some
play similar roles here. Lam Chi-Chung is the portly
sidekick, while Chan Kwok-Kwan is a suit-wearing, goatee-sporting
gang boss. Tin Kai-Man was Chan Kwok-Kwan's lackey in
Kung Fu Hustle, but here he's a gang boss. Leung
Siu-Lung, the big bad from Kung Fu Hustle gets
a role-reversal and plays a good guy this time. And
lovely Lee Wai, who wasn't in Kung Fu Hustle,
but appeared as the girl who slipped on a banana peel
in Shaolin Soccer, shows up as a cheongsam-wearing
bad girl. There's your Six Degrees of Stephen Chow update,
which may constitute 25% of the audience's interest
in Kung Fu Fighter.
Another 25% of the audience's
interest is probably reserved for Vanness Wu, the uberhot
member of JVKV (formerly known as F4). Wu stars in the
film as Manik, a nice kid who left his home in the sticks
to visit bustling Shanghai. He's looking for his father,
whose problems with nefarious individuals led to the
death of Manik's mother. Manik seems like a swell
fellow whose personality screams "vanilla", but when
he gets provoked, he demonstrates uncommon kung-fu ability
and sometimes a murderous, Hulk-like rage. When Manik
hulks out, it provides an opportunity for his shirt
to come flying off, which will probably earn an immediate
thumbs up from Vanness Wu's female fan base. Wu is chiseled
but not charismatic as Manik, and doesn't seem to star
in the picture as much as simply wander through it.
For all his movie star looks, Wu is a remarkably passive
performer, and barely registers as the star of Kung
Fu Fighter.
Then again, that passiveness
may be a problem of the whole film, in that it introduces
numerous plotlines and characters, and fails to make
any of them compelling. Besides Manik's generic "looking
for daddy" plotline, there's a snore-worthy rivalry
between mob bosses Don Ching (Chan Kwok-Kwan), and Sam
Cho (Tin Kai-Man). Don also has a long-suffering girlfriend
named Goldie (Emme Wong), a showgirl who struts her
stuff during a poorly edited musical performance, and
even befriends Manik in an obligatory attempt at character
connection. Meanwhile, Sam Cho is pissed at Manik and
pal Porky (Lam Chi-Chung) for some reason or another,
but they take refuge in an inn populated by hidden martial
arts masters, all led by Bruce Leung Siu-Leung. Seeking
revenge, Sam hires a bunch of other martial artists,
led by an amusing Louis Fan, who plays a super-supreme
martial artist and also does double duty as the film's
action director. The above is all very generic and strung
together with the barest of narrative need, meaning
it all connects, but in a limp and uninteresting manner.
Likely audience interest for the film's story: 0%.
Which leads to the final 50%
of audience interest: action. Even though Kung Fu
Fighter has only a generic story and uninteresting
acting, all would be forgiven if they can serve up some
tasty action sequences, right? Well, the filmmakers
certainly try, though their efforts are only are only
half-successful. Louis Fan delivers some nifty choreography
during the numerous fight sequences, but much of the
action feels slow and not very exciting. Part of the
problem is the cinematography, which is murky and muddled,
and another is simply that the players are never defined
enough to make the fisticuffs all that interesting.
Besides Vanness Wu, Louis Fan, and Bruce Leung, most
of the actors are unfamiliar and barely get enough screentime
to register as more than colorless character types.
The "inn full of kung-fu masters" gimmick is good for
some anticipation, and some of the staging is clever.
Also, the fighting is a step up from the heavily-edited
stuff one usually sees in popstar-filled fight movies.
But without a narrative need or charismatic actors,
whatever creativity that exists seems to fall flat.
When the movie finally ends, yawning could be a likely
response.
Who's to blame for this? Probably
the producers, who should have created an all-out parody
of Kung Fu Hustle instead of a vaguely similar
copycat with needless similarities to the Stephen Chow
blockbuster. Director Yip Wing-Kin should shoulder some
blame too, because the direction is so uninspired that
it could lead to the audience becoming narcoleptic.
There are plenty of opportunities in Kung Fu Fighter for the cool or unexpected to take place (any film with
hidden kung-fu masters has the chance for coolness)
but the whole production seems to lack creative spark
and energy. Kung Fu Fighter is simply dull, which
is pretty much the kiss of death for any film purporting
to qualify as entertainment. Overall, there isn't much
reason to seek out Kung Fu Fighter, unless you
miss Stephen Chow so much that you'll shell out money
for a film starring a bunch of his friends plus the
cute guy from Dragon Squad who wasn't Shawn Yue.
If you meet the above criteria, then congratulations,
this movie is for you, as is any regret that comes with
seeing it. (Kozo 2007) |
|
