Les Griffes d'acier

I was surprised at this movie. It seemed so unlike all the other Wong Fei Hong movies starring Jet Li. There were several hilarious gags in the movie, really funny stuff, but I also had a real problem with the casting for the role of Fu. Why they chose somebody who isn't a young rascal like the character has typically been, instead going for someone who looks much older than Jet Li, is beyond me.

The kung fu in this movie is pretty good, but the movie itself is overly comic. It's good, but not what I was prepared for in a Wong Fei Hong movie.

This film is amazing. The choreography work by Yuen Woo Ping is simply breath taking. Gnong Kau Chai as Legate Officer Lui in my view steals the film as possibly the best bad guy ever. His maniacal laughter and dialogue is but one of many good things in this film, another of which is Jet Li's gracious and best performance as Wong Fei Hung. Tak-Hing Kwan who for so many films had played the same character could feel as if he has successfully passed on his mantle to Li. The comic aspects of the film elevate this from Li's other films as Wong Fei Hung. The use of Wong's theme song ("Under the General's Orders") is my favourite thing about the film, especially when used by the hookers whose brothel is nest to Po Chee Lam (Wong Fei Hung's martial arts school). In a year in which Li made Fong Sai Yuk 1 and 2, Tai Chi Master. If Jet Li was a fine wine people would say 1993 was en excellent year.

The Last Hero In China is a movie vehicle for Jet Li. He once again returns as Chinese folk hero Dr. Wong Fei Hung, but does so with in a Wong Jing production, which means this won't be taken too seriously as a film and there will be lots of dumb jokes and slapstick. However, The Last Hero In China will not qualify as a highbrow , artistic martial arts film, I still found this to be quite enjoyable for what it is and I found the film as a whole to quite hilarious and insane. This kung fu romp has our good doctor move his school to a poor neighborhood, which Wong Fei Hung later learns is now next door neighbors to a brothel. However, he has bigger problems as he must contend with corrupt officials and rogue Shaolin monks kidnapping local girls and forcing them into prostitution abroad. This sect is led by Gordon Lui and has awesome fights between him and Jet Li. The fight chroeography is top notch and no joke and staged by Yuen Woo Ping. The action is top tier and there is a whole lot of it. At this point Jet Li has played Wong Fei Hung several times and did really well both grounding and carrying the film. While Jet Li played it mostly straight, this is the only film you can see him in a chicken suit fighting guys in a centipede suit. While this lacks the class and artistry of Tsui Hark's Once Upon In China series, this is a lighter turn in the other direction and is good, off the wall entertainment with some 1st rate kung fu fight sequences.

There are two reasons to see this movie: (1) the fighting is quite good, and (2) the translation is good enough that English-speakers will get the jokes.

This is a comic digression from the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. Jet Li again plays Master Wong. He is down on his luck, and so moves to Hong Kong to open a school in a run-down neighborhood. The austere and dignified Master Wong tries to protect his randy students from the corrupting influence of the brothel next-door, while investigating a gang of perverted Shoalin monks who have been abducting young women. In one great fighting scene, Master Wong is so disdainful of a convict with whom he is fighting that he refuses to stand up from his chair to defend himself (instead he conducts the whole fight with his butt in the chair).

A hilarious and fun movie, if about 10% too long.

Man, this has to be up there with Kung Fu Cult Master...

It's Jet Li as Wong Fei Hung with a twist....it's got a lot of laughs. There are a lot of characters in this one and with a guy named "Mr. Pimp", you can't help laughing! The overcrowded training scene in Po Chi Lam is so funny when this poor guy keeps getting accidentally knocked out of the dojo. Wong's students Fu and So (who really earns the name Bucktooth in this one) add levity and do some decent fighting too. The villain is hilarious with that classic evil laugh. Not to be missed, do not forget to see Jet's rooster style. C'mon, you know Jet Li is the man if he can do that scene and still looks hardcore.

Did I forget about the great fight scenes? (thanks to Yuen Woo Ping) See Jet take out a guy while seated in a chair!! Who else can take down three guys at once on only ONE jump?? Definitely watch the battle between Jet and kung fu great Gordon Liu (a passing of the torch). Cheung Man fights as well and is just great to look at.

Director Jing Wong knew what he was doing and this film definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. Add Jet Li, fights done by Yuen Woo Ping, Anita Yuen (whatta babe!), Cheung Man, and a lot of humor and you have one heck of a movie!!