Man hua wei long

I am an avid cinephile of HK cinema. Since the early 90s, Stephen Chow has become HK's greatest asset, rising above genre limits in his latest mature directorial, writing, and acting efforts. Although I have watched many of his films, I only consciously realized recently how much I enjoy his work. Fist of Fury 1991 Part 2 will always be near the top of my list of favorite Chow films including Gong Fu (2004), Royal Tramp 2 (1992), Royal Tramp (1992), and King of Beggars (1992).

The greatest quality of Chow's early '90s films is raw slapstick comedy; to me Fist of Fury 1991 Part 2 embodies this quality more so than any other film I have seen from Chow. The comedy is almost nonstop, and I was laughing in tears nearly the entire time. Some of my favorite scenes include Kenny Bee trying to impress Josephine Siao with his hunk personality, Chow trying to shoot Yueh Wah with his "gun," Nat Chan mistaking Chow for the girl of his dreams, and Chow displaying his "accumulated skills over the years" to Josephine Siao.

This film doesn't seem to get a lot of attention, but it is one of my favorites from Stephen Chow. Prior knowledge of part 1 will enhance your familiarity with some of the characters.

Stephen Chow returns as Lau Sing, the super arm-powered martial artist. He faces the brother of his nemesis, Cheung Wan To (Wah Yuen), who is out for revenge against Sing. When Ching and his wannabe apprentice Ngou Pi (Pak-cheung Chan) were ambushed by Wan To and his gang in the streets, they are saved by a masked caper. Ching then seeks refuge in Ngou Pi's home and meets his sister, Ngou Chat (Josephine Siao). They are later challenged by Wan To to a boxing match to settle the score and, as a result, forces Ching to learn new fighting skills.

Like the prequel, this film has plenty of thrilling martial acts action and, as usual with Chow, a good dose of comedy and goofiness. His sidekick Smartie (Kenny Bee) went overboard on the goofiness like the last film, but the annoyance was overshadowed by the tastefully done and laugh-out-loud comic relief done by Pak-cheung Chan and Josephine Siao.

The main plot of Lau Sing preparing to do battle with Cheung Wan To is obviously stated but is sometimes buried in the subplots of Yuen Chuen (Sharla Cheung) trying to woo Sing and Ngou Pi wanting Sing to take him on as his apprentice; however, the Siao steals the show with her witty and deadpan humor, slapstick comedy and dramatic performance. Her chemistry between Sing is priceless!

Wah Yuen makes a formidable, yet chauvinistic villain. Coupled with some outrageous action, it's nonstop fun from start to finish.

Grade B+

Stephen Chow beats a guy in a kung fu match. This makes Pak-Cheung Chan want to learn kung fu from him, rather than his aunt, Josephine Siao, who defeats Chow's opponent's brother and his goons in the street; she's wearing black,so he doesn't recognize him. Chow wants to learn kung fu from her, but she claims to not know any. Meanwhile, Chow's girlfriend walks out on him while...

Oh, I'm not sure what is going on. It's a travesty of kung fu movies, including a sequence in which Miss Siao trains Chow by telling him a story about a distant ancestor and electrocuting him repeatedly. I'm sure there are plenty of jokes that aren't translated, but the physical comedy is all there, ending in the inevitable ring match between Chow and the principal villain. There also a very obvious strain of humor mocking the homoerotic tendencies of martial arts films. Even to a foreign devil like me, this is very funny, and makes sense in its own weird way.

Chow is great on the physical comedy, but Miss Siao's behavior is much funnier. She had been acting in films since the age of 5 in 1952. She retired from performing in the late 1990s, partially because of deafness, and partially to tend to her many charitable endeavors.