Les Griffes d'acier

This film produced by mythic Golden Harvest is based on a legendary Chinese character : Wong Fei-hung, basic figure in the Chinese folklore. He was a famous practicing of ¨Hung gar Kung Fu¨and ¨Tai Chi¨ and his character served as starring in various film from art martial history. Here is well played by Jet Li, Wong has changed his art- martial school in Canton but results he has just moved near a brothel. Wong is worried and a prostitutes attempt to lure him. Soon he's fighting exaggerated nasties, corrupts authorities, judge and a monks from a weird temple dedicated to slave-trading where are kidnapped beautiful girls for human traffic. Meanwhile, Wong is poisoned and turned deaf but is healed by acupuncture by a traveling artists. Ultimately, there take place the parade the lion against centipede dance-fight with a spectacular and breathtaking struggle with hyperbolic Kung Fu, plenty of kicks, bounds and leaps.

The Wong character, both a doctor and professor of martial art, served as starring in various movies from arts-martial cinema history. Wong figure reflects the Chinese cultural identity facing foreigner invasion that submitted China, especially during XIX century (Boxers war, Opium war). Wong was played by Jet Li in six occasions, and appears in the Jackie Chan's ¨Drunken master¨films, besides appears as secondary character in the new version of ¨Iron Monkey¨ also titled ¨Wong Fei Hung¨ with Donnie Yen. Here, Jet Li reprise splendidly his role who became him as a real star in Asian markets . Li is the biggest Asian movie star after Jackie Chan, he won Chinese national championship in the acrobatic martial art, Wushu. Jet Li, lights in his fighting , using Kung Fu special slicks : drunken boxing, tiger or crane technical though many confronting are filmed with goofy humor and silly comedy. The fights are choreographed by means of cables by Woo- Yuen Ping, author of choreography of hits as Fearless, Kunfu hustle, Danny the dog, Kill Bill and Matrix, among others.

Refreshing Chinese style humour, new to me, worth dozens of predictable Hollywood "blockbusters", because this is something we don' see everyday. I'm ignorant about kung-fu movies, but happy to see something new. I read a review that criticised the ending. That is very strange because at the end the good fighting scenes and the refreshing absurdities are married.

Compared with recent Jackie Chan movies, the makers of this movie seem to have some pride. The choreography is artistic and both the added music and the music that comes with the plot work well. I don't think the producers said "Let's make another Jet Li movie."

There are two reasons to see this movie: (1) the fighting is quite good, and (2) the translation is good enough that English-speakers will get the jokes.

This is a comic digression from the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. Jet Li again plays Master Wong. He is down on his luck, and so moves to Hong Kong to open a school in a run-down neighborhood. The austere and dignified Master Wong tries to protect his randy students from the corrupting influence of the brothel next-door, while investigating a gang of perverted Shoalin monks who have been abducting young women. In one great fighting scene, Master Wong is so disdainful of a convict with whom he is fighting that he refuses to stand up from his chair to defend himself (instead he conducts the whole fight with his butt in the chair).

A hilarious and fun movie, if about 10% too long.

I was surprised at this movie. It seemed so unlike all the other Wong Fei Hong movies starring Jet Li. There were several hilarious gags in the movie, really funny stuff, but I also had a real problem with the casting for the role of Fu. Why they chose somebody who isn't a young rascal like the character has typically been, instead going for someone who looks much older than Jet Li, is beyond me.

The kung fu in this movie is pretty good, but the movie itself is overly comic. It's good, but not what I was prepared for in a Wong Fei Hong movie.

This film is amazing. The choreography work by Yuen Woo Ping is simply breath taking. Gnong Kau Chai as Legate Officer Lui in my view steals the film as possibly the best bad guy ever. His maniacal laughter and dialogue is but one of many good things in this film, another of which is Jet Li's gracious and best performance as Wong Fei Hung. Tak-Hing Kwan who for so many films had played the same character could feel as if he has successfully passed on his mantle to Li. The comic aspects of the film elevate this from Li's other films as Wong Fei Hung. The use of Wong's theme song ("Under the General's Orders") is my favourite thing about the film, especially when used by the hookers whose brothel is nest to Po Chee Lam (Wong Fei Hung's martial arts school). In a year in which Li made Fong Sai Yuk 1 and 2, Tai Chi Master. If Jet Li was a fine wine people would say 1993 was en excellent year.