Within the opening few minutes of Battle Wizard, you are sure to guess just what kind of movie you're in for! As an angry husband bursts into the room, cursing his cheating wife, her lover leaps through a window then proceeds to shoot lasers from his fingers, eventually cutting the lower legs of the husband...
Stereotyped and honorary Hong Kong cop Danny Lee, had starred in a number of Shaw Brothers hits before fans got used to seeing him play a member of the police force in any number of Hong Kong films. A few of those Shaw's hits were pretty odd offerings, although still highly entertaining, and Battle Wizard is one such movie!
Director Pao Hsueh Li brings Louis Cha's novel 'The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' to life with outrageous action scenes, crazy characters and monsters. From the girl who charms snakes into peoples bodies with a wiggle of her nose, to the hard-skulled, razor-teethed, bad guy with a retractable lobster claw on a chain (who runs at incredible speed), and the masked beauty who fires darts from her large bone-shaped weapon; Battle Wizard opens with 30 minutes of insanity that will either have you laughing-out-loud and falling for its bizarre charm, or reaching for the control to switch it off.
Danny Lee is hilarious as the young scholar who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, constantly getting slapped about by the girls, getting into trouble with the bad guys, and eventually becoming a kung-fu master. He gains such powers by wrestling in a river with a giant red python, before biting its neck and sucking its blood. Because of that, we get the line made famous by Keanu in The Matrix, as Danny Lee comments, 'I know kung-fu..!' Mind you, that's if you are watching the classic English dub, something I must recommend to add to the fun and excitement of watching Battle Wizard.
While the main cast makes a change from most Chang Cheh or Lau Kar Leung hits, they still impress and we get to see some bit-parts by legends such as Yuen Cheung Yan, Corey Yuen Kwai, Yuen Wah, Yuen Shun Yee, and even the Bastard Swordsman himself, Tsui Siu Keung shows up for some action. While the fights aren't as intricate as something choreographed by Lau Kar Leung or the Yuen Clan, they still provide a lot of entertainment and great moves.
Shaw Brothers veterans, Tong Gaai and Wong Pau Gei handle the fight choreography providing endless amounts of fantastical kung-fu, using weapons and finger lasers as fighters face off against each other. Around the hour mark we get a fantastic battle as the bad guys attack and an imprisoned Lee takes on a gorilla. As the gorilla proves to be a worthy opponent, Danny resorts to eating a magic toad that makes him invincible to the point where he puts the hairy beast to the ground with one zap of a laser, then proceeds to rip its arm off!
The abused lover from the beginning, who was made a cripple by having his knees zapped by such a finger laser, now returns for revenge, complete with extendable, metal chicken legs - I kid you not - who can also breathe fire and palm-blast fireballs!
With many great sets and detailed costumes, as with most Shaw's productions, you certainly can't deny the effort put in to the production. Offering many wild special effects much like Bastard Swordsman, Holy Flame Of The Martial World and Demon Of The Lute which are all worth the watch...
Director Pao, who worked alongside Chang Cheh on many classics also directed many great films such as The Boxer From Shantung, Delightful Forest and The Kung Fu Emperor with Ti Lung which I really enjoy. Battle Wizard surprises with its very short running time, and will hardly go down as one of the finest Shaw's productions, but it still proves to be highly entertaining - if not for the added bonus of some unintentional laughs.
Overall: Worth a watch and great fun, Battle Wizard is one crazy film!
