Enter the Fat Dragon

I enjoyed this movie mostly because of the comical and charismatic acting of the supporting cast. Almost all of them really put effort into their roles, and also looked like they were genuinely enjoying themselves. The movie has a very positive feeling mostly because of the various supporting characters, in my humble opinion.

Donnie Yen is kind of boring. He is wearing a fat suit in most of the movie, and he does not do a good job of pulling that off. He is a guy in a fat suit, not really a fat guy who knows martial arts. I recall Sammo Hung was genuinely a fat guy that knew martial arts, and he pulled this role off very well in the 1978 original version of this movie.

I enjoyed the movie, but it was the supporting cast that made it entertaining.

Well... basically 0 fat shaming. Donnie gaining weight gives nothing to the plot. Comedy movie that makes 0 jokes about him being fat. Not once he got tired because of the extra weight or jokes about him getting stuck or fighting with food. The fighting was pretty good. Without that it's a 3/10 movie. The only time anyone called him fat he took it like a champ and he was like: Im fat?!?! you are a toothpick! And the skinny guy almost died in shame...

Donnie Yen fan favourite, is the only reason to watch this. First 30-40 minutes are a good mix of action and comedy. Then the plot gets a bit out of focus and several things do not make much sense. Fat Donnie is too good in action scenes and too young in make up, but still enjoyable. Other than that, the movie lacks in character and you will only remember the good fights.

Granted, this 2020 version of "Enter the Fat Dragon" (aka "Fei lung gwoh gong") from director Kenji Tanigaki wasn't as original as the 1978 movie starring Sammo Hung, it was still an entertaining enough movie for what it turned out to be.

If you haven't seen the 1978 original movie, then I am sure that you might enjoy this 2020 re-make or homage - whatever it is supposed to be - more than you will in comparison if you have seen the original.

Personally, I found it a nice that Donnie Yen would actually star in a movie such as this. While he does carry himself nicely and the prosthetics are good at making him obese, he is no Sammo Hung, and it wouldn't be much of a contest to put the two next to one another.

For an action comedy then "Enter the Fat Dragon" proved to be entertaining and enjoyable. And it definitely is worth a watch, although the storyline tends to be a bit dragged out at certain points through the movie. And the final showdown scene was just unnecessarily cluttered by putting the helicopter aspect into the equation - it simply made the movie dumber than it had to be.

Now, the movie doesn't really boast a lot of overly famous performers, but worry not. Because the cast actually performed quite well with their given roles and characters.

My rating of this 2020 movie is a six out of ten stars.

Enter the Fat Dragon is a martial arts comedy directed by Kenji Tanigaki & Aman Chang. The film follows Fallon Zhu (portrayed by Donnie Yen), a demoted Hong Kong cop sent to the records department after stopping a bank robbery that causes significant citywide destruction. The demoting, and breakup with his fiance Chloe (portrayed by Niki Chow) causes Fallon significant weight gain. However, Fallon is later tasked with transferring a criminal suspect to Japan. Yet, when the suspect dies, and Fallon believes foul play is involved with Yokuza boss Shimakura (portrayed by Joey Tee), Fallon fights for justice - and to win back Chloe.

I really enjoyed this film despite some shortcomings. The action scenes are a little over the top but they usually always are in these martial arts comedies. I really liked Fallon's character along with Thor (portrayed by Wong Jing), who is a former inspector in the Hong Kong Police Department that helps Fallon in Japan. I also liked Shimakura as he wasn't the super weak villian but offered a good fighting scene himself.

The issue with the film is the plot was a bit weak. I think the ties between the Yakuza and Japanese police could've been better developed. Also, the Chloe/Fallon love story made almost a separate film that I feel like could've been left out (although I understand its relevance for the end of the film).

Overall, this is an enjoyable martial arts comedy that isn't going to win any awards but is worth the watch - 6/10.