The Stone Age Warriors

This is a really entertaining, exciting action adventure from Stanley Tong, director of "Supercop." I believe this was his first movie, and his considerable talent shines through as two women (Nina Li Chi and Elaine Lui) head into the jungle to seek out Lui's father. They get caught up in a tribal war, meet up with the guy who played Rikki in "Story of Rikki," and brave the jungle's considerable dangers before confronting a vicious gang of drug dealers. Lots of action, blood, kung-fu, gunfights....Fast paced and funny it delivers.

I have to admit...I watched this movie mostly because it stars Siu-Wong Fan of "Story Of Ricky" fame. I've seen a few of his movies over the years, probably searching for another "Ricky". Well...I'll save you the suspense and just say that sadly there just aren't any other movies that live up to that (at least not that I've found). Then again, for those of you who've seen it, how could they?

Stone Age Warriors is a valiant attempt at a new spin on the kung fu adventure movie, but kind of falls flat. It wasn't particularly good, it wasn't particularly bad. It just sort of was. I watched it on the advice of a friend who told me it had comedy, blood, and lots of action. It's got all 3, but not enough of any of them.

Essentially the story starts with a group of men in the jungles of New Guinea who get ambushed and (mostly) killed by a native tribe. So then it's up to one man's daughter who refuses to believe he's dead, along with some chick who sold him insurance (hey...I didn't say it made sense), to track him down. Along the poorly-edited way they meet a Chinese man who has been raised by local tribes yet somehow has a pretty decent ability to perform kung fu. Go figure. If you can wrap your mind around all that, Stone Age Warriors might just be right up your alley. It was just a bit too much for me.

Stone Age Warriors is a diverting jungle film from Hong Kong with a couple of pretty actresses, an action packed climax, and real Komodo dragons.

The plot has two women traveling from Hong Kong to an Eastern jungle in search of a missing man. One woman (Elaine Liu) is the man's daughter and the other (Nina Li Chi) is an insurance representative who is pretending to be pregnant with the missing man's child. They are helped by a missionary with expert martial arts skills (he is played by Siu-Wong Fan from The Story of Ricky). The group has to face a tribal war over a pig, drug dealers, deadly natives, and komodo dragons. These komodo dragons were a highlight. In typical Hong Kong fashion, real reptiles were used near uncomfortable looking actors (viewers should watch the outtakes over the end credits).

The first half of Stone Age Warriors feels slow. It also features a fair amount of unsubtle Hong Kong humor (like a native having to wear a large pink hat over his privates). The film comes alive in the second half when the girls encounter the drug dealers led by a viscous fighting female. The action is strong in this second half, making up for the slow beginning.

Stone Age Warriors is not a great film. In fact, it is just slight entertainment, but it does, at least in the second half, entertain. One could do worse on a lazy afternoon.