in the wake of the smashing success of " rumble in the bronx , " it 's looking more and more likely that more jackie chan films will see american release .
rumor has it that one of these films will be drunken master ii .
the version i have is a copy from the laserdisc ; it 's widescreen and bilingually - subtitled , as are most hong kong films these days .
availability over here in the united states is very limited ; these films must either be purchased via pirates or sought out from asian distributors such as tai seng .
the subtitling on the copy i have is slightly hard to read ; the letters are white and a bit small .
although the american release will almost certainly be dubbed , this review is of the subtitled version , so please keep that in mind if you 're reading this review to help you decide whether to go out and see it .
to be fair , i must admit that i 've never been very fond of " period - piece " martial arts movies -- the ones set in some nebulous china of the distant or not so distant past .
perhaps it 's because most of those i 've seen were filmed on inferior stock , with either butchered dubbing or all - but - illegible subtitling , or perhaps it 's because their plots all tend to be very similar to each other and , in many cases , all but nonexistant .
in fact , many of them get so wrapped up in their subplots that they seem to forget their main plot entirely until only a few minutes before the end .
or , for that matter , it might be because the jackie chan films with more modern settings ( armour of god , rumble in the bronx , etc . ) tend to have more spectacular stunts , often involving large motor vehicles and large explosions , whereas period pieces simply have the martial arts .
having said that , i must now turn right around and say that drunken master ii is a remarkable exception to all or most of the above , is one of the better martial arts films i 've seen , and i quite enjoyed it .
surprised ?
well , so was i .
drunken master
ii is about a young man named wong fei - hong ( played by jackie chan ) who is a master of the drunken boxing style of kung fu .
where he learned this style is uncertain , as his father , wong kei - ying ( ti lung ) is steadfast in his opposition to fei - hong 's practicing it rather than some more normal style of kung fu .
apparently , fei - hong is some sort of figure from chinese folklore , rather like paul bunyan is for americans , but i 've heard very little about this , and could quite well be wrong , so i 'll leave analysis of that to the people who know it better .
one of my friends points out that the character of wong fei - hong is also featured in the " once upon a time in china " movies , but i have not yet seen those .
the plot of drunken master ii is somewhat hazy , as are the plots to many such films , but if you 're watching a jackie chan film , odds are you are n't expecting something on the order of " war and peace " .
the story seems to revolve around those evil foreigners who are spiriting away ancient chinese relics ( and hence , china 's cultural heritage ) while overworking , underpaying , and beating up chinese workers in a nearby steel mill .
however , this plot merely serves as a framework for the other main story of the film -- fei - hong 's perpetual struggle to win his girlfriend , supplicate his father , keep his ( pregnant ) mother ( played by anita mui ) from fighting , and keep from getting beaten up by evil foreigner thugs .
the macguffin that drives the plot ( s ) is a precious antique jade imperial seal which is being taken away by the evil foreigners .
in the beginning , fei - hong accidentally steals it while trying to recover an identically - wrapped box containing the medicinal ginseng his father was bringing back for a customer .
in the process , he clashes with another thief , who is himself trying for the seal but ends up instead with the ginseng .
after fei - hong narrowly avoids getting caught with the seal by the evil foreigners ' lackies , thanks to some timely intervention by a general 's son ( a cameo appearance by andy lau , who would later take on the starring role in drunken master iii ! ) , comedic chaos ensues back at the wong household when fei - hong and his mother attempt to come up with a replacement for the missing ginseng .
and so it goes .
and the plot thickens later on , such as when fei - hong 's girlfriend maneuvers him into a kung fu match with a rival , or when fei - hong and the thief , now revealed to be a loyalist manchu officer trying to recover the seal and stop the evil foreigners , are attacked en masse ( another grand kung - fu movie tradition ) , but i think i 've already spent more time on the plot than it really deserves .
let 's move on to the real draw of jackie chan movies . . .
the action .
there 's plenty of martial arts action to be found in this movie .
.
.
of course , in a kung fu film , that 's to be expected .
however , this is n't just another kung fu movie ; this one has jackie chan doing the fight and stunt choreography , and
jackie chan is a genius .
the primary martial arts " style " featured in the film is drunken boxing , a form of kung fu which attempts to draw the adversary off his guard by making it seem like the fellow using it is drunk .
further , for the purposes of this film at least , drunken boxers fight better when they actually _ are _ intoxicated . . .
but there 's a fine line between just drunk enough and drunk into a stupor .
under normal circumstances , the idea of someone staggering around looking sloshed but managing to fight effectively and even incredibly might seem rather stupid , but jackie pulls it off with flair .
the kung fu sequences are so intricate in their staging and execution that it is pointless to try to describe it on paper , so i 'll just say that the fights -- especially the big climactic fight at the end -- in themselves make the movie worth watching .
another thing drunken master ii has going for it is the stunt work .
even without motor vehicles ( well , not counting a train ) , there are some remarkable stunts in this film .
among other things , jackie dives off a balcony into a table and crawls across hot coals ( not once , but at _ least _ twice , if you count the outtake shown during the credits ) .
( quicktime movies of these stunts can be found through the www movie database . )
unlike in american films , these stunts are _ not _ faked .
drunken master
ii stars several veteran actors of the hong kong movie scene , including jackie , ti lung ( " a better tomorrow " 1 & 2 ) , and anita mui ( the " heroic trio " series , " rumble in the bronx " ) .
the performances are first - rate , especially when it comes to the comedy parts of the film .
the scene where fei - hong and his mother conspire literally behind fei - hong 's father 's back to cover up for the missing ginseng root is hilarious , as is the scene where fei - hong 's mother , having just revealed that she is pregnant , is threatening to hurt herself ( in order to draw her husband 's anger away from fei - hong ) .
jackie has developed his knack for physical comedy into a sort of mastery over the years , and he 's in fine form all through drunken master ii . as far as cinematography is concerned , it certainly works for this film .
it 's nothing spectacular , but is at least a dozen times better than
all those old kung fu movies of the 70s .
the picture is crisp and clear .
one thing i find particularly worthy of mention is that , at least in the copy i have , the screen was wider than any film i 've ever seen on videotape before -- almost a whole 1/3 of the screen was blocked out above and below .
( watch this on a bigscreen tv or movie theater if you can . )
it will be an utter shame if this film is eventually pan - and - scanned for american video release .
drunken master
ii shows the full potential of " period piece " kung fu movies , and it 's good enough to overcome even my usual distaste for such movies .
the plot does meander a bit , but that 's to be expected in this type of film .
if you like this kind of movie , you 'll love this movie , and if not , well , give it a chance anyway .
if nothing else , the martial arts and stunt sequences are by themselves worth the price of admission or rental .
Output: P