Ah Lung (Sammo Hung) is a country bumpkin and pig farmer who idolizes the late Bruce Lee. His father sends him to Hong Kong to work at his uncle's restaurant so he can make something of himself. However, Lung's eagerness to fight at any opportunity (which fortunately he can back up with his impressive skills) gets him in one mess after another - and on the bad side of a gang of local thugs. This leads to him having to look for all sorts of odd jobs to get by and pay for the damage he causes, including an all-too-brief gig as a stuntman for a Bruceploitation film. However, things take a creepy turn when the eccentric Proessor Pai (Peter Yang) encounters Hsiao-wei at a party, and she reminds him of a girl who dumped him in his younger days. The professor conspires with Chiu (Roy Chiao), the boss of the thugs, to kidnap her so he can take his symbolic "revenge." Lung must use his fighting skills to save the day and be a real-life hero, especially when he goes up against a trio of professional fighters (Lee Hoi-san in blackface - more on that in a bit - David Nick, and Leung Kar-yan) in a brutal gauntlet.
Sammo Hung takes on the Bruceploitation genre in Enter the Fat Dragon, a martial arts comedy with spectacular action sequences...and little else to offer. These days, Hung Kam-bo, more commonly known as Sammo Hung is revered among fans for his prowess as an actor, director, and fight choreographer, as well as for pushing the traditional storytelling boundaries of Hong Kong action cinema itself. (And rightfully so.) Born in Hong Kong in 1952, his family had been involved in the Chinese film industry - his parents worked as wardrobe artists, and his grandmother, Chin Tsi-ang, was not only the first female Chinese martial arts star, but one of the first martial arts movie stars period. Her husband, Hung Chung-ho, was a director, and the two of them founded the Sanxing Film Company. Naturally, Hung wanted to follow in the family's footsteps, and his grandparents enrolled him in the famed (and infamous) China Drama Academy under sifu Yu Jim-yuen. Yu was skeptical of Hung, who was on the large side, but Hung managed to impress him with his remarkable agility. As Hung (who took the name Yuen Lung while a student as a sign of respect to his sifu) got older, he was reportedly a bully to the younger students - including Jackie Chan, Corey Yuen, and Yuen Biao - using his size and stern demeanor to keep them in line. He became one of the China Drama Academy's top players as a member of the Seven Little Fortunes opera troupe, who were also hired out to movie studios such as Shaw Bros. to bring in extra money for the school. His first on-screen appearance was in Education of Love (1961), and he got his first gig as an assistant action choreographer for the wuxia classic Come Drink With Me (1966), directed by King Hu - when Hung was only fourteen years old. Education of Love (1961) After an ankle injury left him bedridden for a while, Hung eventually left the school to become a professional stuntman and actor, originally for Shaw Bros. before joining Golden Harvest in 1970. A formidable and graceful martial artist, Hung shot up the ranks from stuntman to stunt coordinator, and he used his rank to get stuntwork jobs for his former opera classmates. (He acquired the nickname "Sammo" during this time due to his resemblance to a popular cartoon character.) His size and fighting prowess got him numerous acting gigs as a villain in films such as A Touch of Zen (1971), The Man From Hong Kong (1975) - the first film to be co-produced by Hong Kong and Australian studios - and John Woo's directorial debut The Hand of Death (1976). He was Bruce Lee's opponent in the opening scene of Enter the Dragon (1973) - the last fight scene Lee ever filmed - and even fought former James Bond star George Lazenby in Stoner (1974). One of his early prominent lead roles was Hapkido (1972), opposite Angela Mao and Carter Wong (a damn good kung fu movie that I'll be getting to eventually), and Shaolin Plot (1977) had him as the main villain. His first true starring role was The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977), which also marked his directorial debut. After this, he was approached by the H.K. Fong Ming Motion Picture Studio to make a Bruce Lee parody, Enter the Fat Dragon. Hung eagerly took on the project, both to pay homage to Lee and take a swipe at the numerous Bruceploitation films and stars that cropped up since Lee's death. (I briefly went into the Bruceploitation genre in my Game of Death review, so for pacing purposes, I won't do so here.) WARNING: Here be spoilers! Read further at your own risk! Ah Lung (Sammo Hung) is a country bumpkin and pig farmer who idolizes the late Bruce Lee. His father sends him to Hong Kong to work at his uncle's restaurant so he can make something of himself. However, Lung's eagerness to fight at any opportunity (which fortunately he can back up with his impressive skills) gets him in one mess after another - and on the bad side of a gang of local thugs. This leads to him having to look for all sorts of odd jobs to get by and pay for the damage he causes, including an all-too-brief gig as a stuntman for a Bruceploitation film. However, things take a creepy turn when the eccentric Proessor Pai (Peter Yang) encounters Hsiao-wei at a party, and she reminds him of a girl who dumped him in his younger days. The professor conspires with Chiu (Roy Chiao), the boss of the thugs, to kidnap her so he can take his symbolic "revenge." Lung must use his fighting skills to save the day and be a real-life hero, especially when he goes up against a trio of professional fighters (Lee Hoi-san in blackface - more on that in a bit - David Nick, and Leung Kar-yan) in a brutal gauntlet. Enter the Fat Dragon is a mostly generic action comedy. The characters aren't all that interesting or memorable (except for Peter Yang as the creepy Professor Pai), and the jokes are all rather predictable. Honestly, most of the non-action parts of the film are just filler in between the action scenes. If you're a veteran of Hong Kong cinema, you can entertain yourself by playing spot the familiar face, of which there are a ton - Fung Hak-on as a gangster, Feng Fang as Ah Lung's uncle, and so on. Yuen Biao makes a cameo here and there, and we even have Roy Chiao of Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom fame as a crime boss. I would have liked to have seen more of his character (especially because there's no closure as far as said character is concerned). Unfortunately, there's also some of the low-brow humor that's so common in Hong Kong action comedies, the worst attempt at this being the aforementioned Lee Hoi-san in blackface. I originally had more to say about that, trying to figure out why Hung included this, but I didn't see the point. At the end of the day, nothing changes the fact that Enter the Fat Dragon has a Chinese actor in blackface. Do with that information what you will, and if that means passing on this movie, I wouldn't blame you. (I almost didn't review this movie because of it.) What truly makes this movie watching, though, is the action. The fight scenes are plentiful, spread out evenly throughout the film (not always the case in a Sammo Hung film), and just so friggin' awesome to watch. In addition to Hung's skills as a martial artist, his fight choreography is superb, and it perfectly balances several key elements - being entertaining to watch while looking like enough of a fight to be exciting and establish a sense of stakes, all without getting too violent and brutal to the point that it's not fun. Whether it's martial arts movies, swashbucklers, or superhero films, it's not the brutality of a beatdown or how much punishment someone takes that I want from my fight scenes, but the skill of the actors/stuntmen and the craft of the fight choreography. It helps that Hung is working with talented, veteran stuntmen, some of whom are familiar faces if you've seen enough old-school martial arts films. The most famous fight sequence from this film is Ah Lung's takedown of a Bruceploitation star (Tony Leung Siu-hung) and his entire stunt team, which ends with Lung telling the guy that he won't tolerate desecrating Bruce Lee's memory. Enter the Fat Dragon also works as an effective Bruce Lee parody, and it's not just because of Hung's near-perfect impression of Lee's mannerisms or facial expressions. For almost the whole movie, Hung's costume resembles Lee's from The Way of the Dragon, and his boat trip to mainland Hong Kong mirror's Lee's from Enter the Dragon. If I had to guess, the final battle in the warehouse is a take-off on the gauntlet Lee has to run at the end of Game of Death. Hung even uses Lee's famed nunchaku as well as twin escrima sticks during some of the fights. Heck, even the plot of a country bumpkin becoming a local hero is somewhat reminiscent of The Big Boss and The Way of the Dragon. Enter the Fat Dragon pulled in slightly more money than The Iron-Fisted Monk, and it's highly regarded by martial arts movie fans, especially contrasted with actual Bruceploitation movies. Although starring in numerous movies throughout his career, he was more frequently cast in second-billed supporting characters or villains. He's arguably achieved greater fame as a director and fight choreographer than an actor, although his acting talents are nothing to sneeze at either. Hung pioneered the martial arts horror film starting with Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), and made several attempts to blend drama and action in films such as The Prodigal Son (1981), Heart of Dragon (1985), and Pedicab Driver (1989). He hasn't shown any signs of slowing down in recent years, continuing his work in the Hong Kong film industry to this day as an actor, director, and fight choreographer, including the first two Ip Man films starring Donnie Yen. (He also had a sizable supporting role in the second installment in the series.) He earned himself a Western following with the TV series Martial Law (1998 - 2000), starring opposite Arsenio Hall. There's a lot more I could say about Hung's career, but I'll be saving those for future reviews. (Fun fact: Hung was almost brought on board the Star Wars prequel trilogy to serve as fight choreographer.) As for Enter the Fat Dragon's legacy, if you want to give it a watch, the Crash Cinema DVD is worth getting, and can probably be gotten pretty cheap. The picture quality isn't great, but it's got a Chinese language track with English subtitles. A longa-awaited remake (in name only) is actually coming out on January 23 in Hong Kong, with Donnie Yen (in a fat suit) in the lead, directed by Wong Jing. I'm not at all a Wong Jing fan, but I am a hardcore fan of Donnie Yen, and the trailer promises a lot of action. So I'm cautiously optimistic, especially since Wong's only co-directing. Problematic and crude as it may be, Enter the Fat Dragon is a strong showcase of Sammo Hung's talents in the action department. If you can get past the blackface - and I understand if you can't - the phenomenal fight scenes alone make this worth a watch.
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