dafrosts
I watched this in the original Cantonese and loved it. My subtitles were way off the mark so I turned them off. Lau Kar Leung is a living legend and proved in this film he could still hold his own at 67yo. Seeing Gordon and Wing in the film strutting their stuff made me homesick for other Shaw Brothers productions. It was great to see Chi Kuan Chun take another turn at playing the baddie. He is very good at being good but oh so much fun to watch as the villain. He has kept in very fine shape over the years. He proves it in a few scenes. The plot is reminiscent of old SB films, the righteous securities owner screwed over by associates, is left for dead, while the associates take control of the business. Ma Biao - referred to as Man Bill in subtitles - heals from his wounds while teaching Drunken Monkey Kung Fu to Siu-Ma, the young woman who rescued him. He later get two more students, Tak & Chan. Mischief makers who finally rise to call to help Ma Biao exact revenge upon those who had betrayed him.Seeing anyone go against Leung, Gordon and Chi Kuan Chun was difficult, because I know their capabilities. A couple of fight scenes try to hide the lack of fighting skills in the younger actors. They are no worse than a few I have seen in older flicks. When Lau Kar Leung steps into the final fray, you know it's going to be a great battle. He shows once more why he is Sifu to so many Wuxia I have come to admire over the years.The big fight with Chi Kuan Chun was unintentionally funny to me. This man is fierce. He knows his stuff frontwards and backwards. Yet, he's supposed to be taken out by these 3 students?I have no doubt Sifu could have taken Chi Kuan Chun out on his own. However, this movie was more to showcase the talents of the younger performers while reminding us the elders still have vibrancy and fight in them.
wanderingviet
After looking at the 5.9 average rating for this movie I gave it a try. Good grief! After ten minutes, I told myself I'll give it another ten minutes or so. I couldn't take it after around 25 minutes. Believe me when I say I love movies and I like all sorts. I don't watch TV - I only watch movies on DVD. There have been very few movies that I simply could not justify wasting my time watching the rest of it. As a matter of fact, I couldn't name one now if you asked me. I admit that by not finishing the movie, I don't have much of a leg to stand on. But I wanted to warn those after me to not waste their time. The acting and story is simply horrible. At first I thought it might be a comedy - they were exaggerating the acting on purpose. My conclusion was that they were serious and that was when I took the DVD out.
ifasmilecanhelp
When I discovered that Liu Chia Liang did again a movie a few years ago, as a big fan of many of his movies, I was glad... Unfortunately, this is a melting-pot which is on my opinion (even I had pleasure to see it), a rather very weak one.Even with my greatest respect to LCL, not very excellent, even not very good nor funny ! Basically traditional Kung Fu and/or comedy, I can appreciate...An LCL did so fantastic ones, that frankly I'm disappointed...It's not because the weakness of the plot (almost never mind that, it's alike in many KF stories)...In the beginning, the movie looks like a dark "cowboy KF movie." OK... hum... why not ?The first fighting scene between LCL and his son Gordon Liu, as usual in LCL movies is... just perfect ! Fast, imaginative, concise, a good short fight sequence. Super, OK.A little further, with the next scenes, suddenly I wondered if I had not a strange Alice in Wonderland copy ! Did they make a surprising mistake ? Like if they had burned a part of a complete different film together after the first sequence ?!It looked to me like if I was in a complete other movie... So I checked out, and no, it seems the movie was a whole one... Incredible !!! To put it down bluntly, it follows with a stupid comedy part... and then some fighting again... Wow ! What incoherent parts put together...And so it went on... Some parts are good... and some belong to the low silly comedy.Still with my respect to LCL, I like him a lot, and Gordon Liu too, but unfortunately, this strange mixture is a big mess...In fact the only goods things in this movie are their faces and the fights. Fights like LCL used us, very creative, even if he, LCL, for instance, survives to everything, to remain in the story... (that doesn't bother me!)But the rest in just a bag of no interest...Mr Yaguy Tajima's comment put perfectly the finger on the holes of that Drunken Monkey 2002. I agree completely with what he wrote, and advise you to read it (dated 29 November 2005).But, as I said, I had pleasure to see again LCL and Gordon Liu together, but true, for KF buffs only, and even not sure...If you like the classical type, like me, please search for Return of the Master Killer (LCL 1980, KF comedy type), or one of my obviously preferred Shaolin Master Killer LCL 1978, more deep.Not knowing these two, if you liked Drunken Monkey 2002, you just will be enchanted of an incomparable higher level... those two, among many others, show what LCL is able to... I beg you, Mr LCL, please offer us another one, but not a silly one !!! Well, let's hope...8 to 9*** for the fights, say 4 or 5*** for the rest ... 6*** all in all... and definitively not more !
taosanshin
It is true many movies from Hong Kong are strange if not awkward in the humor department. But holy crap man, this one takes the cake. I have seen hundreds of martial arts movies, and this one is among the worst. There are many reasons not to watch this. However, because Lau Kar Leung(Legend of Drunken Master),Gordon Liu(Kill Bill 1&2), and Jacky Wu(The Legend of Zu) are in it, some will watch anyway. But understand before watching that the plot was ridiculously stupid at best, and despite the martial arts talent in the movie, the fights aren't anything to brag about. And for you martial arts enthusiasts out there, who heard this movie is the first movie made by the re-opened old Shaw Bros studio- you're right. And to all those who heard this movie was a throwback to traditional Kung Fu in movies- you will be sorely disappointed; while they do fight in a traditional style they use wires so much, it seemed like it was caught in limbo between a Shaw Bros movie and a Tsui Hark movie.Damn this was a disappointing movie...........seriously, go rent Legend of Drunken Master instead.
