This movie is not, as the title suggests, a dire rip-off of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It is, in fact, a martial arts film about ruthless gangsters who are attempting to sell China's national treasures to rich collectors overseas. But it is still dire!
I bought this one on the strength of the fact that it stars Anthony Wong (incorrectly credited as Anthony Wang on the cover), who has impressed me in the past with his versatility as an actor. Here, however, he is totally wasted playing an Indiana Jones style antiques collector who teams up with an undercover cop to catch the dastardly criminals.
What sounds like an exciting story is in reality as dull as ditch-water with long periods of talking and not enough action. Matters are enlivened sporadically by some high-kicking action, but my region 2 DVD was panned and scanned which made the fight scenes hard to follow. It was also badly dubbed.
Towards the end there is some ridiculous use of wire-fu that seems totally out-of-place and the whole thing wraps up with an unexpectedly tragic ending.
Any enjoyment I derived from the film came from the many unintentionally funny moments: a bad guy slides on his back along a dusty road for what seems like an eternity whilst avoiding a hail of bullets and still managing to pick off those shooting at him; a good guy manages to chew through the rope he is hanging from; Anthony Wong avoids fatally shooting his friend by aiming for the spot where he knows his pal keeps his pocket watch; Wong uses his bull-whip to snag the bumper of a car and is pulled along by the vehicle (the action is speeded up in a very comical manner).
Not quite bad enough to be really entertaining, Roaring Dragon, Bluffing Tiger is instantly forgettable stuff.
