Wing Chun

Michelle Yeoh stars as the titular Yim Wing Chun, the spiritual mother of Wing Chun kung fu (the kind they teach in Prodigal Son, amongst others). As you would expect from Yeoh, she is vibrant on screen, kicking a lot of arse and showing us the sensitive side to a martial arts hero.

Wing Chun's village is constantly under threat by bandits led by the…erm… flying simian family (well two brothers, Flying Monkey and Flying Chimp). After she cracks some skulls, while rescuing the widow ‘Charmy', she makes enemies of the local martial artists, who lose face after Wing Chun shows them up, and the bandits, who want her dead and for Flying Monkey to marry Charmy. The scene where Wing Chun shows the local martial arts heros the ‘Art of fighting without fighting' in the soya shop is amazing. Anyway, after castrating flying monkey, flying chimp decides to challenge Wing Chun, for the honour of the bandit clan. With inevitable consequences.

When Wing Chun isn't giving us great fight sequences, it plays it like quite a lot of HK cinema. For laughs. And, like a lot of HK cinema, it can get pretty irritating. A lot of mugging and juvenile humour are the order of the day here. Concentrating on that old Kung Fu film staple, getting laid.

Wing Chun was one of the first great high flying new style kung fu films and stands the test of time, nine years on. I really liked it, and forgiving its faults is easy. Although Donnie Yen was criminally under used, but that's not such a big deal.

Despite that fact that different plot ideas for Kung Fu movie has been fully exploited by now and no new ideas are coming, Wing Chun still stands out in its uniqueness mostly because Michelle Yeoh is its star. If this movie was done by anyone else, it probably would have ended up being a dud, but she brings class to this movie it otherwise would not have had. The movie has very different atmosphere from other Kung Fu movies. While silly things are happening, Michelle Yeoh's action is precise and eye opening. She's the only one playing strait, and it works.

There has been other Kung Fu movies done by female lead, but they are mostly gruesomely violent. While there're lot of action in this movie, none of its action is violent. You won't see any blood, no bones being crushed, and yet it's filled with great action.

Somewhat difficult to find these days, but you owe it to yourself to see this movie at least once.

Wing Chun surprises with its fast pace and excellent physical comedy. Fight scenes are also convincing. The entire setting is not very original, but amusing and that is what really counts. There were ultimately moments when the film feels a bit messy, but in all wire- and stunt-work has been done wonderfully and cleanly.

The characters are all rather likable. The bad guys are rather faceless, but not a big disappointment. The soundtrack has a classic 80s sound to it which makes the movie stand out in a nice campy way.

The film isn't really a drama or action film, but rather a fast-paced slapstick. A fun experience and an admirable Kung Fu flick.

Yong Chun/Whing Chun(1994) contains action scenes which are brilliantly Staged and amazingly depicted. Many of the scenes with Michelle Yeoh are examples of why she is the Queen of Hong Kong action films. She is an action star to which many aspiring action heroines looks up to her. Michelle Yeoh combines earthiness beauty with physical endurance as Yim Wing Chun. I show Wing Chun(1994) at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge and became a big fan of the film and the career of Michelle Yeoh.

Wing Chun is an entertaining combination of slapstick humour and amazing martial arts fights. It's a romantic comedy at heart, one with a feminist bent. The story, while simple, features several memorable characters. There are setpiece battles that move the story along. Most of these feature Michelle Yeoh as the charismatic and beautiful Yim Wing Chun. Yuen Woo-ping's fight choreography is as usual inventive. He included moves that are quick and fresh, many of these aren't featured in other films. Donnie Yen's unusual turn as Leung Pok To, a man who has come to town to wed Yim Wing Chun is also of note. All in all, there's enough character development, humour, fights, and good scenery here to make Wing Chun one of the best martial arts films ever. It's not quite as good as the director's other famous film Iron Monkey (1993), but it's still a delight. Where else can you find actresses this good-looking and fights this exciting? Come to think of it, Peking Opera Blues (1986) probably influenced Yuen Woo-ping's filmmaking. I easily recommend seeing Wing Chun.