Legend of the Dragon

Legend of the Dragon is one of my favourite Stephen Chow films, probably because it is so quintessentially Chinese. It's old vs new, rich vs poor, corrupt vs virtuous, etc, etc. In portraying all these aspects, you get a vivid impression of Hong Kong at its earthy best.

Do I need to go into the plot? I guess so. Young naive and backward Stephen lives on a somewhat backward HK island that developers want to use to make an Airport. Chow's cousin is used to fool his father out of the land, and Chow must use his kung fu snooker skills to save the day.

The film lacks the genuinely hyper-absurd moments of God of Cookery or 60 million dollar man, but isn't as oddly deflating as My Hero, or over-slick like From Beijing with Love.

It's good.

This is Stephen Chow at his best. Some may not think so, because he is extremely silly and over acts constantly, but that's exactly what's so great about it. Half the things he says are completely ridiculous, but it is in no way as ridiculous as his later "nonsense" comedies. He's not cartoonishly bouncing from one wacky situation to the next. He says these things because his character is slow-witted, naively kind-hearted, and completely under-socialized.

There are a few series of shots set to corny music that could have been taken right out of God of Gamblers, and I love that kind of thing. It actually makes me feel good to see how happy these people are. Don't want to go into specifics, but the sincerity and joy of Hong Kong movies is evident in watching this.

I also rank Legend of the Dragon right up there with The Hustler and Color of Money as a pool film. First time I saw it, I was dreading that it would be a typical Crocodile Dundee type fiasco with the "peasant" overwhelmed by the big city and whatnot, but this is actually a hardcore pool junky's movie...with a main character who is slow-witted and possibly insane. Two big thumbs up!

Legend of the Dragon (1990) was one of Stephen Chow's first star vehicles. Whilst working for Danny Lee's Magnum Productions, he noticed that Chow was more of a comedian than an action star. After a couple of attempts to make him into an action star, he wisely made this comedy and centered it around his amazing comedic timing and abilities.

Chow stars as a son of an Kung-Fu acrobat/ performer. His father portrays himself as a Bruce Lee stunt double and student of the infamous martial artist (Yuen Wah who was all of those things in real life). But Chow's not a very skilled martial artist. He has another talent that he's exceptional at, snooker. Teresa Mo co-stars as his childhood friend who has developed a crush for Chow over the years. A shady crime figure witnesses Chow's talent for snooker and wants to use him. Will Chow leave his community and head for the big city? How will his father react to him wanting to leave the family business? Will Mo express her true feelings for Chow? To find out you'll just have to find a copy of LEGEND OF THE DRAGON. Even Bruce Lee would have been pleased. Watch out for British snooker legend Jimmy White and Amy Yip.

Highly recommended.