Hung Hei Kwun: Siu Lam ng zou

I believe Jet Li to be a terrific martial artist. However, I thought this movie was probably the worst I have seen him do. Legend of Red Dragon is about a man whose family was murdered by people related to the government, because he was a bandit. His friend ratted out on him for money and it ended in a fight to the death for the friend. Little did Jet Li's character know that the man would come back as an evil creature on revenge. The only survivor was his own son, and now the two team journey on their own. Eight years after the tragic event, their past comes back to them.

On a side story, five little Shaolin monk children were tattooed a piece of a map that would lead to a valuable item: The Red Dragon. The "Friend" from eight years ago and the government team together to find the kids and get the map. As they try to get children, they stumble upon the father and son. Now them and the five children, along with a few other characters try to put a stop to the government from getting a hold of the Red Dragon.

What makes this a disappointment was how it was directed, as well as the storyline. You were able to see strings from most of the flying scenes, you could tell that most of the scenes were taken in a studio. Secondly, the Red Dragon was never found and it pretty much died out when Jet Li's character had a bounty on his head. Personally, I think it could have been better. Stick with the storyline, and work on the strings.

An entertaining Jet Li period vehicle, which Li co-produced. Li plays a Chinese folk hero, a rebel who battled a violent, repressive Manchu government. Li teams with 10 year old martial arts prodigy, Xie Miao, who effectively portrays Li's kung-fu fighting son. The duo have some similarities to the "Lone Wolf and Cub" team in numerous, more atmospheric, very gory Japanese movies of the 1970's. Li and son are joined by a sly mother/daughter con artist team to protect 5 young boys who each have a segment of a rebel map tattooed on their back.

Fine photography and inventive action sequences, especially the opener, and one with a clever Trojan horse variant. Li's fight scenes are wondrous, as usual, but his part seems too stiffly written for a fluffy, child-oriented action film with much comic relief. Deannie Yip and sensual Chingmy Yau are energetic and funny as the kung-fu mother/daughter scammers.

The English dubbed version, made in 2000, has excellent, witty dialogue and appropriate voices. Prolific Hong Kong writer/director Wong Jing cameos in the closing scene.

Not very clever, not very elaborate, and far from original. Yup, it's another Wong Jing movie. The opening scene is stolen directly from Kazou Koike's Lone Wolf and Cub, that's our first clue. As Wong Jing movies go, this really isn't one of the best. It doesn't match the violence and frantic pace of High Risk (Meltdown) or the exploitation fun of The Naked Killer. Yuen Kwai's choreography here isn't up to the standards of his work on My Father is a Hero (The Protector), but it isn't as bad as Romeo Must Die or Fong Sai Yuk (The Legend). If you just want to see another kung fu movie, and you don't care about the specifics, you should be able to enjoy it. Just don't expect too much.

This movie is crazy, and i mean it!! The Martial Arts in this movie is awesome. It was a shame that Jet Li used his Spear in the whole movie, but he did a great job any way. I especially liked Tze Miu as Man-ting, his Martial Arts skills is incredible. The story is about Hung Hey-kwun and his son, who is escaping from an invincible evil Manchu(Nice Martial Arts). I give this movie 10/10

Great, fun martial arts flick. Very tongue-in-cheek and light-hearted. Excellent chemistry and performances from all the main actors.

Jet Li plays a serious, heroic character like something out of a comic book - this is one of the earliest movies I've seen using this comic-book technique. His son is simply amazing and funny as a very disciplined young martial artist. On their journey they come across a couple of con-artists (mother and daughter) with the most hilarious results. A hero's quest with a range of other fantastic characters thrown in make for a great comic, action-adventure story.

Also great for all the family. It explores themes of loyalty and traditional Chinese father-son, mother-daughter, peer, and romantic relationships in a silly but highly enjoyable manner.

Make sure you see the full, subtitled version though. Not the cut-down version or the poor dubbed version.