Enter the Fat Dragon

I saw this film as part of a Hong Kong double bill at a local arthouse cinema and surprisingly it went down pretty well. It has an endearing quality that shines through the confusing, `make it up as we go along plot', bizarrely staged action sequences and unintentionally surreal comedy. In Kung Fu comedy star Sammo Hung's second directorial effort we see him go through a series of barely connected adventures as a fat Bruce Lee fanatic working at his uncle's Hong Kong restaurant. Seemingly meant to be some kind of parody / homage to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, it bares little or no relation to the aforementioned film, with the exception of a fight scene involving a western boxer, a black guy and er .. some other guy. Rather than using a black actor, the film makers decided to black up a Chinese actor for the part. It's hilarious to watch the actor approximating how he thinks a black man might act, as he minces around in some kind of attempted jive swagger! Sammo does quite a good job of imitating Bruce Lee's mannerisms and although this is primarily a comedy, some of the fight sequences are great. It is easy to forget that Sammo is quite an accomplished martial artist when he spends most of his screen time as a big fat bumbling idiot!

Overall, there's a great sense of fun running through the film that makes it difficult to dislike, even though it's terrible. If you enjoyed this, check out Sammo Hung in The magnificent Butcher or My Lucky Stars, which are just as ridiculous ridiculous but with more fighting!

Phew, that starts with some nasty animal cruelty. Let's archive this under Time Context. In times when animals are still 'used', only packaged in a way that is less disturbing to the eyes, such filmic relics shouldn't matter anyway. Anything else is hypocrisy. Better the bizarre blackfacing in the last third, that doesn't hurt anyone. There was just no, I would now like to quote verbatim, [...] on the spot.

'Enter The Fat Dragon', a humorous Bruce Lee homage instead of Bruceploitation, which is slowly going out of fashion. However, 'The Way Of The Dragon' is more of a role model than the humorous borrowing of the name. Humour here primarily means slapstick, which is further enhanced by the German dubbing, the best in the world. Following the example of Italian action-comedy films, Peking Opera buddies Sammo Hung and Jackie Genre in particular founded their own enormously successful Eastern sub-genre. 'Drunken Master' and "Snake In The Eagle's Shadows" were classics in the same year. Hung's fighting skills are remarkable, particularly his kicking technique, especially considering his stature. Nevertheless, it has to be said that, compared to Chan, he develops less of his own style and tends to focus more on the entertaining predicate 'I'm fat and I can still do anything'. In this film, he mainly uses Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do technique in line with the premise. Always with a wink, of course. Sounds like I would be thoroughly impressed. Unfortunately, not really. 30% eye-glazing, 30% idle time, 40% sometimes unbearable bollocks.

"Enter the Fat Dragon" is one of the funniest martial art movies I had the opportunity to see. Sammo Hung portrays a Chinese farm boy that comes to visit a city friend. Just like Tang Lung of "Way of the Dragon." Wherever Sammo goes, trouble starts, therefore he has to rely on his martial art skills to solve the differences. Luckily, Sammo's character learns martial arts by imitating and mimicking his idol, Bruce Lee. He even strokes his nose with his thumb exactly the way Bruce Lee does and also releases his screeching yell. He also uses nunchucks in a scene. It was like watching a fat Bruce Lee. There's a great showdown near the end of the movie which consists of foreign fighters. Sammo has to encounter each opponent one by one. Sort of like "The Game of Death", where each fighter possesses a different martial art discipline from one another.

This is one of the films I really enjoyed watching and also the very first Sammo Hung movies I've seen. Excellent fight scenes and a lot of laughs. A rare classic Sammo Hung film I highly recommend for all you martial art fans out there. 8.5/10!

This is of of Sammo's great early comedy films. This isn't a parody of enter the dragon, the main character (Sammo) is obsessed with Bruce Lee and emulates him freakishly well for a man of his size. Nominal story about how his fighting keeps causing his loved ones trouble - then fighting. Oh, the fighting. Good, fast-paced scenes with high impact (the white guy who plays a boxer looks like he really gets hurt by one of Sammo's kicks).

The funniest bit of this movie was purely unintentional. There is a Jim Kelly looking guy (one of three experts hired to take out Sammo), but he was a Chinese guy in blackface with an afro-wig. Come on, didn't they have any real black people in Hong Kong in 1978? Well, I guess I've seen enough white fake-as-hell "Chinese people" in old American movies too.

This is one is for any Sammo or Bruce Lee fan.

Sammo Hung directed and stars in this parody of Enter the Dragon. Parody might be a bit strong, it's somewhere between a parody and a tribute to the late great Bruce Lee. You can't take this movie too seriously, but if you go in with the right mindset it's fairly entertaining. There is a lot of comedy thrown in with a few really good kung fu scenes. No surprise that Sammo is good with the jokes, but he definitely has some kung fu skills! He has an uncredited role in the original Enter the Dragon where he fights Bruce Lee.

**1/2 (Out of 4)