Du ming zou tian ya

A typical B-movie from Taiwan, but with some fascination: Leung Kar-Yan as the beardy Evil Guy is terrific as his usual, and main star Man Li Pang (also the coreographer) is adequate as the man who can kill anyone in just 60 seconds. Character actor Su Chen Ping (the tibetan Lama in One armed boxer) as Old Lai and vet stuntman-badguy Lung Fei, add pepper to this unpretentious but funny chop-socky. Best moment: the fight between the assassin and his second target who's unaware the former is the killer he's waiting for (the target is played by terrific vet stuntman and coreographer Wang Yung Sheng).

Hardcore fans of old-school kung fu movies will probable enjoy "My Life's on the Line" more than I did. Most of the typical characteristics of this sub-genre are here: exaggerated sound effects, impossible jumps, annoying "comic" characters, and of course as little plot as necessary to move the film from one fight scene to the other. Speaking of the fight scenes, there are plenty of those here but they are just not my type: they seem too rehearsed, too elaborate - they play more like exhibitions of various kung fu techniques. But no matter what everyone's opinion on the rest of the movie is, most people will at least agree that the ending is incredibly disappointing. I don't want to spoil it in this comment, but it will definitely leave you saying "what?" (*1/2)

This is quite an interesting independent kung fu film. For many of us who have watched countless numbers of kung fu movies with the same plot ideas, its nice to watch a film that tries to be a little different and play around with he plot. The idea of a hit man who gets payed for killing off criminals, and making sure he does so in under a minute, is an idea i have not seen before or since in a movie. The action is also quite original and entertaining as well. Wang Li Pang uses lots of different styles but his main styles are kick boxing and some of the more contemporary kung fu techniques. There is also a bit of weaponry towards the end but this is mainly an empty hands kung fu movie. The final battle where Wang Li Pang takes on the evil Leung Kar Yan, is vicious and very well executed.

One of the problems with the movie is that there are many cuts in the plot. As you think you're warming to a scene or a certain character it cuts to the next fight very abruptly. Also there are random scenes where the picture blacks out and then fades back into light again, mostly during a fight. However whether this is due to poor picture quality or simply bad editing.

All in all this a very enjoyable kung fu film. The ending alone is reason enough to watch it.

My Life's On The Line contains a good deal of fairly good fighting, although almost all the fight sequences have been accelerated, so it's harder to see how skilled the actors actually are, which is a shame.

The story does have some strange cuts. Most gratingly, when the main character is fighting some old guy in the middle of the movie, suddenly (without the fight having finished) the scene cuts to a brothel where the main guy is surprised (along with the audience) to find himself in a prostitute's bed. She then begs him to take her away with him, and when he refuses, she takes poison. Next, he befriends the family of the guy he has been sent to kill, ending up causing the death of the young grandson, and, indirectly, the rape and death of the daughter-in-law. This follows the often observed Asian movie tradition of killing off everyone the hero was meant to save, just so he can be angry and anguished enough to take on the bad guy. In this movie, the final fight against Kar Yan Leung is quite good (Kar Yan Leung doing an excellent imitation of Bruce Lee), but it is interrupted by The End before anyone wins or loses. The screen is covered in blood, apparently saying that violence is a vicious circle that never ends. Well. Maybe so, but it's not a very satisfying ending.

Add to this a completely useless and really awful stand-alone comedy sequence some time into the movie (I had to fast forward through most of this; it was that unbearable to watch), and this flick cannot be granted anything higher than a 3 out of 10 rating. And that's generous. Definitely NOT one of the better kung fu movies.

It opens to the usual "who are these two guys and why are they fighting?" plus a pocket watch. It is soon explained that someone was sent to kill the "60 second assassin" but failed. The assassin arrives at the target's place and reads him his list of crimes then kills him in under a minute. Next he goes to visit his brother who disapproves of his career choice.

The movie seems to go totally off course when the fat kid enters the story. Dean Shek salvages a bit of it. The fat kid wants to learn kung fu and this leads to his death and the death of his family. Man Lee- Pang finally learns that his boss, Leung Kar-Yan is a bad guy and has been deceiving him all along. This leads to the final fight.

Yes, the fights were excellent especially the final fight. Yet I felt the rest of the movie came across as filler material. This was mostly due to I found the kid annoying. That's always a risk when using children as actors. Overall I will only rate this as average for the year and genre.