Old School Kung Fu ’17: Yes, Madam

It was the start of something big, in many ways. It was Michelle Yeoh’s first film as a lead and Cynthia Rothrock’s very first acting gig. It was only the second feature directed by Corey Yuen and launched the loosely connected In the Line of Duty franchise. Some even credit it as the first of the so-called “girls with guns” action movie subgenre, but the basic elements in question seem like perennial fan favorites that have always been with us. Regardless, there is a special place in many fans’ hearts for Yuen’s Yes, Madam, which screens during this year’s Old School Kung Fu Fest at the Metrograph.

When Senior Inspector Ng is your superior officer, you darn well better say “Yes, Madam.” To resolve any doubts, we will watch her handily handle a gang of armored car in the prologue. Unfortunately, Richard Nornen, a friend and colleague from Scotland Yard is murdered to recover a piece of microfilm (remember that Macguffin?) that could incriminate Hong Kong’s biggest Triad boss. Inadvertently, two of the city’s dimmest criminals take possession of it when they swipe the dead man’s passport for their forger crony, embroiling themselves in a world of trouble.

Inspector Carrie Morris arrives from England just in time to land a few blows on the unfortunate punk trying to leave HK using Nornen’s doctored passport. She is the rule-breaking Oscar Madison to Ng’s straight-laced Felix Unger, but they both have mad martial arts chops.

Yes, Madam is just awesomely eighties. Yeoh (than billed as Michelle Khan) looks totally fab in Miami Vice whites and pastels, while Rothrock rocks the Michael Jackson jacket. Technically, it harkens back to 1978, but the cues “borrowed” from Carpenter’s Halloween also reinforce the 80s nostalgia.

Frankly, the screenplay is nothing special, but the morally ambiguous ending still packs a kick. Regardless, the climatic fight sequence entirely justifies the price of admission on its own. Set in the villain’s luxury condo (which is decked out with an unusual amount of glass furnishings and partitions), it features Yeoh’s athleticism and Rothrock’s chops to dazzling, star-making effect.

As added bonuses for the faithful, there is a head-scratching cameo from producer Sammo Hung and a weirdly poignant turn from future action-auteur Tsui Hark as Panadol, the profoundly unlucky forger. Yeoh would come back for the sequel, before turning the franchise over to Cynthia Khan, whose name was deliberately chosen to echo the two Yes, Madam co-stars. Yes, the film certainly has women with guns, but it takes flight when they use their fists and feet. Affectionately recommended for Yeoh and Rothrock fans, Yes, Madam screens this Sunday evening (8/20), concluding the 2017 edition of Old School Kung Fu at the Metrograph.

Rise of the Legend: Wong Fei-hung the Early Years

He was played by Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time franchise and Jackie Chan in the Drunken Master series. Other actors taking on the role of Wong Fei-hung include Andy Lau, Gordon Liu, and David Chiang. If you take on the part, you’d better bring you’re A-game, because there are plenty of predecessors to be compared with, going back to the 1940s. Eddie Peng Yu-yen assumes the mantle in a highly fictionalized account of the martial artist’s early years, nicely exceeding expectations in Roy Chow’s Rise of the Legend (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Abandoned and ailing on the streets of Guangzhou, Wong is nursed back to health by his soon-to-be adoptive father, Wong Kei-ying, a respected physician and martial artist in his own right, with help from his brother (adoptive and sworn), Huo, a.k.a. Fiery. Soon, they form an inseparable foursome with fellow orphans Chun and Orchid, until the latter girl is ripped away by the city’s criminal element.

That would be the rival Black Tiger and North Sea Gangs. Led by the imposing Lei Gong, the latter outfit is probably the more formidable, so Wong temporarily joins their ranks a dozen or so years later. As a reward for dispatching the head of the North Sea Gang (and bringing said head as proof), Lei anoints Wong as his fourth “godson” (in a very “Godfather” kind of way). However, Wong is secretly coordinating with the righteous new Orphans Gang, led by Huo and Chun, relying on Orchid (now a courtesan) as their go-between.

Rise has a reasonably sweeping narrative, but it all boils down to Wong Fei-hung putting fist to gang-member face. Fortunately, action director Corey Yuen keeps things appealingly gritty and old school. He lets them get it on, which is what we want to see.

Peng also deserves serious props. Some viewers might know him more for his romantic comedies or as the dandyish villain in the Tai Chi Zero/Hero films, but he exhibits hitherto unseen steeliness and legit action cred as the early twenties Wong. He really rises to the occasion.

Of course, Master Sammo Hung makes a larger than life villain as Lei. For extra, added gravitas, “Big” Tony Leung Ka-fai dispense wisdom and flashes some moves as the good doctor, Wong Kei-ying. Wang Luodan shows poise and sensitivity as Chun, but Angelababy’s Orchid gets all the juicy dramatic bits, which she makes the most of. As Fiery, Jing Boran also demonstrates some considerable skills, but he is largely overshadowed by flashier characters (nickname notwithstanding).

Rise definitely has plenty of good stuff for fans of martial arts cinema and costume historicals. It is just tragic enough to stay true to tradition, but not to the extent it becomes maudlin. The fight scenes are crisp and energetic, while the period production values are quite high. It is not the ultimate exemplar of the genre, but it is a thoroughly satisfying addition to the Wong Fei-hung canon. Recommended with enthusiasm, Rise of the Legend opens this Friday (3/11) in New York, at the Village East.

The Avenging Fist: HK Dystopia Gone Nuts

Oddly enough, the Federal government is actually popular in this dystopian future. It is just ridiculously ineffectual. Combat 21 and his storm-trooper cult basically terrorize the futuristic capitol city with impunity. Only a group of genetically-enhanced twenty-something looking teenagers can stop them in Andrew Lau & Corey Yuen’s wildly over the top The Avenging Fist (trailer here), which releases today on DVD from Well Go USA.

Sadly, Mega Nova and Belle never knew their father Thunder, an elite policeman killed in the line of duty—except not really. Thunder and their mother Wing were part of the Power Glove pilot program, one of the unpleasant secrets of the former government. Nova and Belle were tests cases in the next phase of the government’s efforts to harness the supposed unused 80% of the human brain (which implies mankind is devolving).

Rather than consign them to a guinea pig’s life, Wing spirited them away. Now they live an underground existence, if by underground you mean constant clubbing and jet-scouter drag racing. However, when Combat 21 gets wind of their X-Men like abilities, he unleashes his brainwashed army in their National Socialist uniforms, which tragically enough includes Thunder. At least they might have an ally in Inspector Dark, Thunder’s former colleague—the one who supposedly killed him, but he clearly didn’t do it decisively enough.

Everything about this film is totally nuts, in both good and bad ways. It started out as a rip-off of the Tekken video game franchise so blatant it led to billable hours, but apparently screenwriter Sap Sam (Thirteen) Chan resorted to time-tested strategy of convoluting the plot into such a nonsensical rat’s nest, nobody would want to claim it resembled their I.P. Seriously, this is a film in which a glove is used to access unused portions of the brain. If you are waiting for logic to show up, you will see the closing credits first.

On the other hand, The Avenging Fist also features Master Sammo Hung sporting a shiny silver fedora and Gigi Leung rocking an Afro-cut. Indeed, there is something reassuring about his presence and Cecilia Yip adds some class as “Aunt” Wing. Frustratingly, the cosmic fireballs and psychic force fields water down Yuen’s action choreography, but Biao Yuen still has his moments as Thunder. As for the special effects, they might have been considered state of the art in 2001, but they have not aged well. Gee, the cast is cute though, especially Leung as Erika, the supermodel.

Frankly, it is hard to fathom how Avenging Fist managed to miss becoming a midnight tradition at the Alamo Drafthouse. It is absolutely impossible to explain the film’s bizarre chain of events or how any of its internal systems supposedly work, but it is kind of fun to stare at it in utter disbelief. Recommended for fans of cult film lunacy, The Avenging Fist is now available on DVD from Well Go USA.

Wu Dang: The Martial Arts Treasure Hunt is On

Every five hundred years or so, a prestigious martial arts tournament is held at the Taoist monastery on Wu Dang Mountain.  It might sound like the perfect set up for a kung fu movie, but it is really just a pretext to allow its sponsor to hunt for seven mystical treasures hidden throughout the exotic environs.  Call it distraction by Kumite.  Prof. Tang Yunlong might be an adventurer, but he has a pressing need for the mythic treasures in former John Woo protégé Patrick Leung’s Wu Dang (trailer here), which Well Go USA releases today on DVD, Blu-ray, and various digital platform.

A western dressing, modern man, Prof. Tang could be considered Republican China’s Indiana Jones, except for his daughter Tang Ning, whom he has schooled in the martial arts.  He does not need the treasures for financial reasons.  Instead, he hopes their storied power can cure the rare genetic disease his daughter inherited from her late mother.

Tian Xin is also after the treasures, or at least one of them.  An Excalibur-like sword forged from a meteorite once belonged to her father and she is honor-bound to reclaim it.  Prof. Tang will not need it for long, so he is happy to make a deal with her (especially since she is played by Mi Yang).  Unfortunately, there are others after the treasures, whose motives are far less noble.

Action choreographer Corey Yuen (director of the original Transporter) really ups the ante with some spectacular fight scenes.  There are some nifty matches staged for the tournament’s ring, picturesquely perched precariously on the edge the mountaintop.  Yet, when Prof. Tang and Tian Xin start fighting together, in a scorching sort of martial arts tango, Wu Dang really puts films like Mr. & Mrs. Smith to shame.  These are sequences genre fans will immediately re-watch and enjoy just as much a second and third time around.

Stepping out for the first time as the co-lead of a martial arts film, Yang is a fantastic as Tian Xin.  Deceptively flirty and all kinds of lethal, she puts her stamp on the action heroine role.  In the rare event a Hollywood actress takes on such a part, it is hyped to the heavens as something extraordinary, but every HK and Mainland star of note eventually gets an opportunity to flex their kung fu chops.  That’s one of the reasons we like these movies.

Likewise, as Tang Ning, Jiao (Josie) Hu kicks butt pretty darn well too, at the youthful age of thirteen.  So endearing in Tom Shu-yu Lin’s Starry Starry Night, she is definitely a movie star of the future.  While she looks somewhat older than her limited years, the admittedly chaste pseudo-romantic relationship between her and Louis Fan’s doofus novice still seems a bit inappropriate.  However, the father-daughter rapport between her and Wenzhuo (Vincent) Zhao’s Prof. Tang is surprisingly touching.  A veteran of the Once Upon a Time in China franchise, Zhao knows how to conduct himself in a fight scene and also develops real chemistry with effervescent Yang.

Granted, Wu Dang ends in a smorgasbord of New Agey sentimentality, but that happens sometimes.  Yuen’s fight choreography and the two appealing central relationships more than compensate.  A kung fu film more or less suitable for family viewing, Wu Dang will still thoroughly satisfy genre connoisseurs.  Recommended with surprising affection, it is now available in home viewing formats from Well Go USA.