The Mysterious Footworks of Kung Fu (1978)
Weird. There's no emphasis on foot-based kung fu until the last twenty minutes.
A bumpkin is noticed by a do-gooder, who is on the lookout for recruits to help in his opium-smashing enterprise. The do-gooder (Charles Heung) is dumb, though, and accidently reveals to the local bad uns that his master is the mysterious masked man behind smashing opium shipments. The bad uns hire a killer (Chan Wei Man) to attack the do-gooder. He then tries to take on Heung and his fat Beggar Su friend. When the killer and the bad uns are dealt with, the brains behind the opium trade (Tommy Lee and some other guy) decide to sort out Heung and Fat Beggar once and for all.
Loads of shapes action. We have snake fist, monkey fist, and crab and shrimp style. Tommy Lee is very good, as usual, and Charles Heung does a top job. The training scenes are very nice, and the action 'steady-away'. Mostly nothing special, but enjoyable. Though the last fight is very nice - loads of inventive moves.
Chan Wei Man is just plain odd. He's clearly an excellent screenfighter, but in this film he's wielding an iron pincer on the end of a chain, and frequenting a whore house on the lookout for ladyboys. The fat Beggar is the comic relief, but the tone of the film doesn't really need it tbh. I really enjoyed the setting and the shapes, and there's enough oddness here to raise it above the standard fayre.
Weird. There's no emphasis on foot-based kung fu until the last twenty minutes.
A bumpkin is noticed by a do-gooder, who is on the lookout for recruits to help in his opium-smashing enterprise. The do-gooder (Charles Heung) is dumb, though, and accidently reveals to the local bad uns that his master is the mysterious masked man behind smashing opium shipments. The bad uns hire a killer (Chan Wei Man) to attack the do-gooder. He then tries to take on Heung and his fat Beggar Su friend. When the killer and the bad uns are dealt with, the brains behind the opium trade (Tommy Lee and some other guy) decide to sort out Heung and Fat Beggar once and for all.
Loads of shapes action. We have snake fist, monkey fist, and crab and shrimp style. Tommy Lee is very good, as usual, and Charles Heung does a top job. The training scenes are very nice, and the action 'steady-away'. Mostly nothing special, but enjoyable. Though the last fight is very nice - loads of inventive moves.
Chan Wei Man is just plain odd. He's clearly an excellent screenfighter, but in this film he's wielding an iron pincer on the end of a chain, and frequenting a whore house on the lookout for ladyboys. The fat Beggar is the comic relief, but the tone of the film doesn't really need it tbh. I really enjoyed the setting and the shapes, and there's enough oddness here to raise it above the standard fayre.
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