Face au Tigre, l'évadé de Hong Kong

It starts with some dangerous characters walking down the street movie style. That is when they crowd the whole street by walking shoulder to shoulder. In the next scene it is totally clear that no thought whatsoever was given to the story. Dragon Lee is handed a list. It is one of those list of names that never should have been made and will cause only problems but that's the story and all the audience will get in this movie. No sooner does Dragon Lee put the list in his pocket when Bolo and his Japanese crew arrive for a fight. It was a good fight until Bolo pulled out his gun and shot Dragon. That should have been the end of the story but Bolo was a poor shot and seemed to only have one bullet so Dragon easily escapes in a smelly cart.

I always start my reviews with a brief description of the opening scenes. Many of these movies have multiple and/or similar titles and I want to make sure we are talking about the same movie. Ten minutes in, this movie has all the warning signs of a total stinker as described in the opening scene. Nevertheless I kept watching. You don't have to.

This movie stinks in every way possible. I highly recommend all known copies be destroyed. I am deleting my copy now.

Standard plot with plenty of familiar elements. Dragon is sent on a mission to contact the forces resisting the brutal Japanese occupiers and their quisling enablers. Continuity wasn't even a consideration, apparently, as characters come and go, and plot threads dangle from the sleeves. So why bother?

Dragon is a reliable hero when the exposition stops and the fighting begins. And Bolo is in the house! As usual, he plays the toughest of the bad guys who must be faced in the climactic showdown. Bolo's signature style of facing 90 degrees away from his opponent makes me think what a great NFL quarterback he could have been. Besides being hard to sack, he'd be the master of no-look passes, frustrating the heck out of defensive backs.

Pardon the digression. The lame story allowed my mind to wander, and I watched this on a fall afternoon. Fast-forward through the dull stuff and enjoy two artists doing what they did so well.