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Dir.: Wong Jing
Cast: Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, Deannie Yip, Tze Miu, Wang Lung Wei, Chan Chung Yung, Damian Lau, Adam Cheng.
A.K.A. Hung Hey Kwon
Year: 1994
Jet Li plays yet another Chinese hero, Hung Hey Kwon, on the run from the government. With him is his son, Man Ting (Tze Miu)who you may remember from "My Father is a Hero", an 8 year old martial arts prodigy. Hung takes work as a bodyguard for a local man of wealth (Chan Chung Yung), but ends up spending most of his time guarding him from his new bride-to-be, Red Bean (Chimgmy Yau), who is actually part of a pair of infamous theives known as the notorious mother and daughter. The plot thickens when Kwon has to escort a group of five young Shaolin students to the headquarters of the Society of Heaven and Earth. Each child has part of a map tatooed on his back that, when pieced together, will show the way to the hidden Shaolin treasure. However, Hung is opposed by the Poisonous Monk, a horribly scarred villan who drives around in a deadly, blade-shooting mini-tank and who himself is nearly invincible.
While this is certainly not the best HK film ever made, I have to admit that it is one of my all-time favorites. Naturally, the film has some excellent fight scenes and a good dose of humor. However, this film goes over the top without going over the edge, and in doing so satirizes the other films in the genre. Li plays the ultimate straight man, but unlike Li's character in Once Upon A Time In China, Hung Hey Kwon seems to attract chaos instead of promoting stability and order. However, it is Tze Miu who really steals the show as the junior Kung-Fu expert Man Ting. His super-straight performance is hilarious, and the scene where he and Li fight side by side is one of the best I've seen. Even better than the fight scene from "My Father is a Hero." Plus, anything with Chimgmy Yau is a treat all in itself. I rated this movie 9 out 10 stars.