Kap ba ba dik sung

I was entertained when I saw this Jet Li film in a second hand theater. The story is a little melodramatic but the fight scenes are outstanding. Gei Ba Ba De Xin/My Father is a Hero(1995) was the first Jet Li movie that I ever saw. One of his last films from Hong Kong before heading for Hollywood. My Father is a Hero(1995) is an unusual Jet Li picture because it mixes gunplay with plenty of martial arts.

My favorite scene is the shootout at the restaurant. I hate the version released here as The Enforcer because of the English dubbing. The action scenes are aggressively directed by Corey Yuen(director of the visually splendid Saviour of the Soul{1992}). Jet Li shows that he's the closet there is to a successor to Bruce Lee. Anita Mui kicks butt as Inspector Fong Yat Wah.

Jet Li is as usual good in action scenes but the surprising package is the boy who played his son. He is looking very good in action scenes. Overall a good movie if you like action with less story.

I won't get into details and will just say that it's a worthwhile martial arts film; plenty of strong fighting that only people in truly top fitness, plus skill training, should ever consider being involved in or with. And, there's the warm family touch.

Johnny is quite a young lad in this film, his fighting and courage choreography being I guess top-notch. I don't know filmmaking from experience, so based on this, I think this youth is amazing. At one point, he's attacked by bully kids at his school and he pins the main bully to a wall, with his leg nicely lifted up so that his foot is pressing against the bottom of the chin of the main bully. I don't have such flexibility. If I tried anything of the like, then I'd surely be leaning the back backwards a lot more than Johnny did, for he was almost perfectly upright, except for the leg used to pin the main bully against the wall. I don't have that kind of flexibility and imagine that this Johnny lad does; choreographed, or not.

With that said, I think that anyone who likes martial arts films that have good morals against criminal ones, plus a touch of love, well, it's a worthwhile film.

It's interesting, is thriller for sure, well choreographed, and action, plus the touch of love.

Why this film has only 6.6/10 for average IMDb user rating is a little "beyond me". I'll give it 8/10 and am not sure that it shouldn't be more but 8/10 seems at least reasonable for a start, given that I'm not a film expert. One thing for sure is that I'd recommend this film to anyone I know to like martial arts with moral values and "a touch of love" or, if you prefer, romance.

As I said at the start, I won't get into details, meaning technical kind. This review is just a general kind or a "rough" overview, say. Were any mistakes made in any parts of the film? I don't know and also don't care about it, for this is just entertainment, or as is said in French, "divertissement".

Review: I quite enjoyed this movie. I really liked the little boy, who played Jet Li's son and there chemistry and fighting skills was a joy to watch. The storyline was well put together and Jet Li proved that he can act as well as kick butt. Basically, Jet Li plays an undercover cop, trying to take down a crime boss but while he's on the job his wife dies and his son goes to live with a cop whose trying to work out Jet Li's true identity. The fighting scenes were quite good, especially when his son is using his martial arts skills to help take down the baddies and the showdown at the end was worth waiting for. In all, it's an entertaining film with enough material to keep you interested throughout. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: This film also has intense drama and you feel for Jet Li who can't reveal his undercover status to his family. After earning the trust from the baddies, he's unable to go back home because it might break his cover so his only communication with his loved ones is through a pager and phone calls to his son. I was really impressed with his sons acting skills and he really did show true emotion for such a young boy. The director didn't go overboard with the string action so the fight scenes looked realistic and well choreographed. Anyway, if your into your martial arts movies, this is definitely worth a watch.

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: HK$15.5million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their Jet Li movies about a undercover cop fighting against a crime boss, with the help of his young son. 6/10

Maybe Jet's most successful break from traditional hero to modern day action man, this isn't a classic in any means but does deliver a contemporary Li performance in keeping with his growing US following. The story doesn't take us anywhere new - Jet is an undercover cop set to bring down top criminal Yu Rong Guang and things get messy when the family becomes involved. Thankfully the moderate screen action demands top-drawer performances from its stars and delivers - of course wushu wonderkid Tze Mui, playing our hero's young son, is notably the best thing. Of the action, a nifty three-on-one near the end may require the odd rewind.