OF COOKS AND KUNG FU is an obvious rip-off of the Jackie Chan movies SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW and DRUNKEN MASTER, concerning as it does a young goofy student who learns an unusual kung fu style at the hands of his wise old mentor and subsequently uses it to tackle a trained assassin who just so happens to be one of the most feared men in the country. OF COOKS AND KUNG FU stars favoured Chan imitator Jackie Chen, who goes to prove just how important a single letter can be.
As it stands, this film isn't too shabby and there were many worse kung fu films put out over the years. However, it's not particularly good either; watchable for a fan, but off-putting for everyone else. The first half of the story is quite slow and predictable, with laboured and mannered fighting forms, but things pick up in the second half when the stakes are raised. There's a lot of waffle to get through until the decent extended fight climax. The training sequences are as fun as ever and Chen certainly supplies a lot of energy to the production, even if he pales in comparison to Chan himself. For once I enjoyed the dubbed English dialogue, full of insults and laughable threats.
