The Monkey King 2 (2016)

Introduction:

After watching The Monkey King I was very curious to see how the sequel played out. While I did enjoy the first film overall, it had a few detriments that kept me from getting completely pulled in. But this film actually picks up what I think is the most interesting part of the story, the actual Journey to the West. This stage of the journey gives Sun Wukong new allies and enemies to encounter. He progresses away from selfish actions and toward something more enlightened. At least that is the theory, let’s see if the sequel gets it right.

Summary:

When we last left Sun Wukong (Aaron Kwok) Buddha had trapped him inside a mountain. Five hundred years have passed and a young monk Tang Sanzang (Feng Shaofeng) releases Wukong in a bid to get away from a massive hungry tiger. Wukong bursts free and helps Sanzang with his tiger problem and even with a little dragon problem. Before Wukong can go his merry way, a golden circlet wraps around his head, and Sanzang has the power to make it tighten. Wukong is deeply offended by this, but it turns out that the Goddess of Mercy (Kelly Chen) feels that Wukong must help Sanzang reach his final goal – to journey to the Thunder Monastery in the far west and obtain holy scriptures. If Wukong can keep Sanzang alive and help him reach the goal he will have atoned for his rampage in the previous film.

Wukong accepts his fate, and it’s a good thing too. Soon the pair run into a bizarre pig man named Bajie (Xiaoshenyang) and his simple minded but strong companion Sha (Him Law) who has the ability to turn into sand. At first these two are a nuisance, but they turn into trusty companions (except when Bajie lets his lust or his belly get the better of him). As the heroes travel they find themselves in a land gripped by a demonic menace. Lady White Bone (Gong Li) has been abducting children and using their essence to keep herself young and full of magic power. If she gets her claws on Sanzang she will be able to achieve immortality. Soon she weaves a dangerous set of traps for the companions. It climaxes in a battle of good against evil, selflessness against selfishness and Wukong flying around the screen and kicking all kinds of undead butt.

Good Points:

• Kwok and Li are excellent in the roles
• Christopher Young’s score is top notch
• Location and sets are impressive

Bad Points:

• The fast pace compromises character development
• When the movie goes full CG spectacle it isn’t as engaging
• Those not familiar with the story may be confused by certain motivations

Overall:

In a lot of ways The Monkey King 2 improves on many of issues I had in the first film. The acting is more uniform all the way around. The sets, location shooting and costumes are all impressive. Gong Li makes for an alluring and diabolical antagonist. The quick pace keeps everything moving. But it also ends up sacrificing character development and some of the key moments have less weight and power because of it. Well worth checking out if you enjoyed the first film and are looking for a big budget spectacle.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 5

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total: 4

In Depth Review

Oh it is ON!

I was first introduced to Journey to the West by a children’s picture book way back in 1989. My sister picked it up because she loves animals, and the picture of a monkey wielding a staff against a monster on the cover caught her attention. The book was actually part of a series that covered the entire saga of Sun Wukong. This book just explored Wukong’s encounter with the Yellow Robe Monster. We were fascinated by the monkey, his companions and the adventures they had while facing the demon. I don’t remember if it was the book or some other reason, but we called him The Golden Monkey.

We encountered Wukong a few years later at my grandmother’s house. She had a local station that showed Chinese programming. One day while we were flipping channels there was The Golden Monkey, his pig buddy and the monk – full live action and getting into all kinds of adventures. My grandmother was probably concerned that her grandkids were watching this bizarre looking and unsubtitled series (they must have had a marathon on, because we watched it for a few hours). My grandmother would ask me about it years later if we remembered that monkey man show in Chinese.

I’m not sure why these memories came back to me nearly a decade later, but they did. Now I had the internet at my disposal, so I was able to look up The Golden Monkey, find out he was in an ancient Chinese saga called Journey to the West and found out how influential the whole thing was. The series my sister and I caught was actually made in 1986 and is considered a classic of Chinese television.

"If you just shaved once in a while you'd look a
little less intimidating."

All this to say that The Monkey King 2 gets to the part of the story I find most interesting. It is the many trials of a heroic band as they cross the land to an objective. In this case, you could compare the saga of Journey to the West with Lord of the Rings. But the story of Sun Wukong and the monk Sanzang is rooted in Buddhist philosophy and teachings. It has much more in common with myth cycles and fables. Characters like Bajie the pig man are around to show how lust and gluttony are fast tracks to trouble. But Wukong and Sanzang themselves are characters that make mistakes and we learn that listening and tolerance are just as important as heroics and bravery.

Wukong is less overt in his exuberance in The Monkey King 2. Part of it comes down to Aaron Kwok’s performance. Donnie Yen played Wukong almost like a hyper and spoiled child, which fit that stage of the character. Kwok plays Wukong as more of a surly teenager. He wants his freedom but he’s tied to his “father” until the completion of the journey. So Wukong can be crabby, sulky and snarky. But he is still the fearless and strong warrior. He has the ability to see through most demon disguises and this does come in handy. Wukong’s knowledge and skill turn him into a kind of big brother figure to the two other protectors: Bajie and Sha. Kwok does a good job working all these elements into his performance, while including monkey like movements and facial expressions. It is a less overt performance, and the makeup has been changed so he looks much less creepy than the previous film. Kwok does a great job and it really helps the film.

She just loves essence of holy monk.

Opposing him is one of the most talented Chinese actresses, Gong Li. She steps into the role of one of the most memorable antagonists in Journey to the West: The White Bone Demon. She is at both seductive and disturbing. Li plays up the cool arrogance and the fierce desire of the character. But there is also a tragic element to White Bone Demon’s story that Li gets to explore too. There are some really great scenes between Li and Shaofeng when demon and monk discuss compassion. It makes for a different type of villain in the film compared to the ambitious demon Kwok played in the earlier film. While Li isn’t the only antagonist in The Monkey King 2 she is certainly the most memorable.

To be honest the whole cast really does a fine job. Xiaoshenyang and Law provide some genuine chuckles as the supporting heroes. Bajie is quite a character, vain of his pig looks, not particularly brave, and a bit greedy. Xiaoshenyang gives us all this personality in the first few minutes of meeting him and manages to make the Pig Man likable even if he is kind of creepy looking. Law plays the simple-minded sand-demon-monk well. He often takes instructions literally, and seems at a loss when Wukong isn’t around. But he’s loyal and brave to a fault, and you like the big lug even if he looks lost without a map for most of the film.

The lone monk? Not for long.

Shaofeng is very good in the role of Tang Sanzang the noble monk on the quest for the Holy Scriptures. In some ways it is a one-note character, all nobility and naiveté. But Shaofeng imbues the character with real feeling and compassion. This is key in his interactions with Wukong and White Bone Demon. As the film’s conflicts merge together it is that compassion that causes problems for the heroes. Shaofeng sells it and makes his actions at the end of the film resonate.

Visually the film is a big improvement over the previous one. The Monkey King 2 goes for more location and set based shooting. There are some big green screen moments, particularly the epic battle between Wukong and White Bone Demon. But in many cases the computer visuals are used to fill in around and behind the sets to give everything a larger scope. This film takes place on earth, so we get more location shooting as well, and this goes a long way to adding a bit of realism to the fantastic events playing out. You know right from the start when the giant white tiger attacks Sanzang, that the CG has improved a great deal. The tiger doesn’t look completely real, but it looks much better than some of the scenes in The Monkey King.

Maybe if you don't look at them, they go away.

Costumes and make-up are excellent as well. As I mentioned earlier, Sun Wukong looks a bit less uncanny in this film. Kwok’s more human performance helps, but he looks less simian in this film and less distracting. The makeup for Bajie is a bit too realistic looking at times, but it kind of fits that character. He keeps going on about how handsome he is, but that piggy face doesn’t convince. Then there are White Bone Demon’s three minions. Each is a female form fused with an animal: bat, snake and boar. The results are a fusion of creepy and sexy – just like their mistress.

Sound work is solid as well. The film has less huge epic moments of grandeur for sure. But instead we get more immersive sound effects as the heroes travel and encounter different climates, land and people. You feel the chill from that cold mountain wind at the end of the film for sure. The big battle scenes have plenty of power and punch as martial arts are deployed and magic is thrown about.

When it comes to the music the production team turned to Christopher Young to follow up on his wonderful score to The Monkey King 2. Much like the films, the score is a bit different from the previous one. There is a bit less bombast and more color in the score. There are new themes for nearly all the new characters, and they fit them very well. White Bone Demon has a creepy seductive theme. The two new monk companions have a light hearted but action oriented theme. Sanzang has a contemplative theme that edges into heartfelt to mirror his compassion. Even the white dragon horse has a bold theme of heroism. Not much of the old music is carried over in this new score. Sun Wukong’s theme gets modified a bit but has the same essential sound. It’s less brash this time, but still ready for action. One of my favorite tracks is the bat demon battle. Young uses echoing electric guitars in the track to mimic the echolocation as well as just make the music bad ass. As you can see Young really put thought into the score and its motifs and as a stand along listening experience the score is just as good as the first.

The White Bone Demon conducts Chris Young's score.

However it is used in the film kind of strangely. I doubt anyone not really familiar with the score outside of the film would even notice (so like 1% of the world’s sane population) but the score seems to be edited in wherever the editors felt it would work best. So you have some moments of the White Dragon Horse music when he isn’t even in the story yet. Or you have music from the Heaven against Hell battle from The Monkey King blasting during the final battle between Wukong and The White Bone Demon. You could explain that away as a mirror to the good vs evil battle in the first film, but Young wrote some really great action music for The Monkey King 2 that didn’t get used. What you hear in the film works fine, but I do wonder how much better it might have been if the score had been used as intended.

"I'm telling you get a cool hat. Chicks dig cool hats."

My biggest issues with the film center around the pacing and the fact that a much longer work is forced into a two-hour time frame. The pacing is brisk and that keeps everything engaging for sure. But at the same time some of the impacts between the characters would have great power on the viewer if we spent more time with them. One of the central conflicts of The Monkey King 2 is that people don’t listen to each other and always assume they know better than others. For this conflict to really work, we need to ensure the relationships are built up. So when characters feel betrayed by the other, we empathize. But things move so quickly we never see that camaraderie build up. One minute Sun Wukong and his two monk companions don’t trust each other. The next Bajie and Sha are talking about how much they look up to Wukong and how they are helpless without him. Wukong and Sanzang don’t start off on the right foot. The film spends a little more time building their relationship, but it isn’t quite enough to convince when they “betray” each other.

The film does assume you know the story well enough that you can fill in the blanks. While it isn’t as choppy as The Monkey King the film still jumps from event to event with very little down time. You feel like this was a longer story condensed down, and it makes you wonder what a careful and full telling of the story would be like.

Ready to smite more evil!

This isn’t enough to really hurt the enjoyment of the film. As a whole the script to The Monkey King 2 is much more fluid and links together better than the previous version. The use of multiple antagonists as well as the betrayal moment gives the characters plenty to deal with. The adventures and perils they face are varied and fun. The ending goes for huge scope, but handles it a bit better than the clunky battle in the previous film. I’m still not a fan of watching CG characters fighting other CG characters for minutes on end, but that is hardly a problem that only impacts these movies. I also like how the film goes for its visual style of big and bold and keeps to it. It feels like a mythical magical land but there is a bit more dirt and blood in this film, grounding it a bit more compared the colorful exuberance of the previous film.

The Monkey King 2 is well worth watching, especially if you enjoyed the previous film. But if you were like me, and found the first film lacking, I think you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. The saga will conclude in The Monkey King 3, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the films conclude this particular Journey to the West.

"Who has a piggy snout, two thumbs and loves to dance?
This guy!"

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The Monkey King (2014)

Introduction:

When I wrote my review of Jack Frost for this blog I came to the realization that movies about folklore and myth don’t always translate well to other countries. In the case of Jack Frost much of that film feels goofy, chaotic and over the top. So when I heard the reception of North American film fans to the movie based off the Chinese legend called Journey to the West, I figured it was the same deal. But then I saw some screen captures of Donnie Yen in his makeup and I was disturbed but intrigued. I had to find out if The Monkey King was as scary looking as those pics hinted.

Summary:

Ok folks, strap in, because a lot of stuff happens in this movie and it is hard to condense down. The movie kicks off with a battle between the forces of heaven and hell! The Jade Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) leads the heavenly host against the Bull Demon King (Aaron Kwok). Much of heaven is bashed up and destroyed in the process, but the Jade Emperor is able to overcome the forces of darkness and he banishes them to a fiery hell mountain. The Goddess Nuwa (Zhang Zilin) transforms her body into crystals that magically restore heaven, but she ceases to exist.

One of the magical crystals crashes into Mount Huaguo. From the crystal emerges a monkey imbued with all the power of an immortal. He is trained in martial arts and magic and soon declares himself The Monkey King. But Sun Wukong is a monkey with a lot of attitude and soon he begins messing up earth and heaven in his efforts to make himself more powerful. Wukong does all these things to help his fellow monkeys and the pretty silver fox, Ruxue (Xia Zitong). But the Bull Demon King figures out that he can use Wukong’s power to breach the gates of heaven and take another stab at destroying the Jade Emperor. So he uses flattery and deceit to corrupt Wukong. This leads to another epic battle between heaven and hell. But does the Jade Emperor have any hope against the power of The Monkey King?

Good Points:

• Donnie Yen captures the mercurial character of Sun Wukong
• Aaron Kwok gives the Bull Demon King a bit of gravitas
• Christopher Young’s score is one of his best

Bad Points:

• The visuals do not mesh and are very distracting
• So much going on in this story that the characters suffer
• Missing some transitions so those not familiar with the story may find it confusing

Overall:

When you have source material this colorful and exciting it can be hard to know where and how to approach it. This movie doesn’t pull it off very well. Visually it clashes with itself and you end up focusing on the oddness of the whole thing and ignoring the story and characters. Sadly the characters are thin archetypes and not given too much time to be fleshed out. Some solid performances and a wonderful fantasy score by Christopher Young help carry the movie along. In the end it overstays its welcome, but remains entertaining – if the makeup for Sun Wukong doesn’t give you nightmares.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 2

Sound: 3

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 5

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

In Depth Review

Surprised and delighted by his antics?

This movie is not the train wreck I expecting. But it isn’t all that great either. If you approach it with the right expectations you will probably have a good time with it. While watching The Monkey King I wondered why the hell this wasn’t turned into an animated series with a big budget. All the issues I have with the film could be solved with dropping the live action and giving the characters more room to breathe. Journey to the West is a wonderful mythical story and you can do so much with it. I know a lot of time and money was spent on this movie, I can see why people were expecting more.

The thing is Journey to the West has been adapted many, many times over the years. There have been direct adaptations for television, animation and video games. Some are from China, but I’ve seen just as many from Japan. Heck one of the most popular anime series of the 1990s, Dragonball Z takes inspiration from Journey to the West. Sun Wukong is a character that resonates through much of Asian culture in one form or the other.

This is why I think that all hype I saw comparing The Monkey King to Lord of the Rings actually did more harm than good. The Lord of the Rings films grounded themselves in a reality. They had dirt and grime in them. They felt tied to our reality in a way that The Monkey King is not interested in tackling. If you go in expecting to see something like Lord of the Rings or god forbid Game of Thrones you are going to be deeply disappointed in The Monkey King.

I hope this goes better than it did with The Bride.

Actually this film reminds me of the Star Wars prequels. I know, I know, that doesn’t inspire much confidence either. But both stories had huge scope to them, and required massive amounts of green screen and CG effects to bring the tales to life. Both films focused on a main character who isn’t terribly likable, but rises and falls as the story progresses. We see this character being twisted by his enemies using his love against him. In the end, both tales hint at redemption and hope in some way. So really The Monkey King is the prequel to the true tale of Journey to the West where Sun Wukong travels on a journey of enlightenment.

I don't care who you are, I'm not listening to anyone
wearing that hat.

But to be enlightened, you have to start off as an unenlightened jerk, and so we have the main story told in this film. Looking at it that way, you understand why Donnie Yen plays Wukong the way he does. You have to have a way for the character to progress and since this is a planned trilogy of films, it makes sense that we see Wukong at his most childish and self-centered in The Monkey King. Yen gives an animated performance, mixing in monkey-like gestures, movement and expressions with a childlike exuberance. I can see how some folks are going to find his performance to be too over the top, but I think it actually fit this character. Wukong is governed by his emotions, and to have them so bombastic allows us to see how powerful they really are. It is because he loves so deeply that he turns so harshly against the Jade Emperor. Yes, the makeup does come across as creepy at times especially combined with the enthusiastic performance, and it is something that ends up distracting the viewer.

Putting the KONG back in Sun Wukong

But if we only had the performance to worry about than I wouldn’t have scored this all that low. Unfortunately we also have to deal with the scenes involving 90% green screen work. The story about wars in heaven is going to demand a massive amount of visual effects. Sadly the sheer volume of effects required obviously impacted the final look. Much of what you end up seeing lacks detail. Accurate shadows and light are missing, and it gives everything a very video gamey look. But I’m not talking about modern video games. There are scenes that look like cutscenes from Playstation 2 era of graphics. If the whole film had this visual look, it might have been acceptable.

Unfortunately there are some really solid sets used in the film, like Mount Huaguo. You also have the detailed costumes that nearly every character is wearing. Suddenly these purely CG backgrounds and effects look even more dated and less convincing. There are also plenty of scenes where characters are performing impossible feats, and everything on the screen is animated. Once again you feel like you are playing a video game of The Monkey King and not watching a film featuring some of China’s finest actors.

Yes, I am very fabulous.

That is another gripe I see leveled at the film, and it is a legitimate one. You have some cast members, including Donnie Yen, who are excellent martial artists. And you pack the movie full of impossible over the top combat moments. This means you end up with battles of CG versions of Donnie Yen and Chow Yun Fat, when you know these guys could actually be doing real full-blown action scenes. It is really disappointing. Yen does get a couple of scenes to show his skills, but there is still plenty of CG involved and it really reduces the impact.

Is she about to run into the Big Bad Bull?

But let’s be honest here, the goal of The Monkey King isn’t martial arts action. It is to tell a fun adventure story pulled from a familiar mythic text. Here too the film doesn’t really succeed. The most developed character is Sun Wukong, which makes sense. But even he feels a bit flat. The movie spends a lot of time on his antics and silliness, but doesn’t really flesh him out too much. We get a sense that he wants to care for his monkey people, but the movie doesn’t take enough time to sell it. We end up getting a flashback to a silly scene that is heartwarming, but feels slapped in there. A little better is his relationship to Silver Fox. The cute scene they share watching the sunrise is nice, and we feel bad that she is basically duped by the Bull Demon King. She is more sympathetic than Wukong ever is.

At home with the Bull Demon family.

The movie also moves at breakneck speed, attempting to cram in all these moments and plot points. As a result there are some missing transitions. Suddenly characters are in different places, or a character appears and we weren’t even sure where they came from. I’m familiar with the story already, so I didn’t get too confused. But it did feel choppy and just unpolished in places. The movie is long, and you feel it because of all the plot crammed in there. That is the main reason I think The Monkey King should have gone with animated television series with big name Chinese voice actors instead. This movie could have easily been a single season.

I did like a few things about the film. Visually it is bright colorful and unashamed of just going for full-blown spectacle time and again. I admire that (even if it never really pulls it off). It is nice to see a fantasy film delving into a full fantasy look and eschewing the gritty dirty look that Lord of the Rings initiated and has plagued fantasy films, games and television series in Hollywood ever since. This movie looks like it could be a visual adaptation of an anime at times. It isn’t as effective as Speed Racer, but it gets points for committing to the look.

Looming alarmingly.

I also thought that Aaron Kwok did a really good job with the antagonist. Instead of making him a simple mustache twirling over the top villain he keeps the Bull Demon King cool. Seriously, this guy is calm, methodical and burning with hatred for the Jade Emperor, but it simmers down deep in the eyes. It is a nice contrast to Yen’s energy, and when the Bull turns into the calm advisor for Wukong Kwok’s performance makes it all work. The movie also gives him a little bit more to care about, in the form of his lover Princess Iron Fan (Joe Chen). In the end I was actually cheering for the Bull Demon King to kick some ass by the end, and that is mostly based on Kwok’s charisma in the role.

Just as entertaining is the score by Christopher Young. Young is best known for his wonderful work in horror film scoring. But let me tell you, this man is versatile and can compose powerful music for dramas, jazzy snazzy music for spy parodies, and hard hitting action music. For years I’d hoped that Young would get the chance to score an epic fantasy or science fiction adventure. Finally he gets the chance with The Monkey King. Not only was this a full-blown fantasy film, but the creators wanted the music to be big and powerful. With Hollywood trending for lower key and moody music of late, Young jumped at the opportunity to craft his own multi-thematic fantasy adventure score.

Don't tell them that foxes and monkeys can't fly.

If there is any element you could compare to Lord of the Rings it would be Young’s score to The Monkey King. It has all the emotion and power and thrills you want. Young not only takes the fantasy playbook from Hollywood, but he combines it with Chinese instrumentation and style. The result is an amazing hybrid score that is clearly from Christopher Young, but also doesn’t sound like anything else he’s ever attempted. In the film, Young’s music ends up carrying some of the power, because the visuals end up falling so flat. Most of the time it is perfect combination, and you can tell Young had a blast with this score. A few times Yen’s enthusiastic performance combines with the big music and makes it a little bit too much. But I can forgive this a little bit since the music is so good. In the end Christopher Young ended up composing one of his best scores for The Monkey King, and that is saying something, because I have yet to come across a Young score I don’t like.

The Monkey King’s production didn’t go smoothly, and there were some casting changes and other issues along the way. I get the feeling that this impacted the final product (just like it did in Rogue One). The film is plot heavy and rushes along so fast that you never connect with the characters. I’m sure someone familiar with the story can fill in the blanks, but for viewers new to the saga it can feel disjointed and messy.

I'm in charge dammit. Look at this hat!

It does remind me quite a bit of Sadko (also known as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad in the west), where the attempt to bring a well known mythic tale from one culture to the next turns it into a kaleidoscope of bizarre imagery, random story elements and overall bafflement from the audience. But really only from an audience that wasn’t the target of the original. Sadko may feel like jaw dropping insanity in its heavily edited and poorly dubbed form, but it was an award winning film in Europe and Russia. The Monkey King didn’t suffer the indignity of a chopped up and dubbed North American release, so that is a good thing. And to be honest while the film a mega-hit in China, there was still disappointment about the final result.

I enjoyed watching The Monkey King. Yeah it has some bizarre and sometimes disturbing visuals because of the makeup and enthusiasm of Donnie Yen’s acting. Yeah some of the large scale moments clash with their CG and live action elements, and create some unintentionally funny visuals. But I like the tale being told. I liked the character of Sun Wukong and his journey is one worth watching. I loved the enthusiasm of the whole endeavor. The move is going for big flashy fun, and it succeeds quite often. I’m glad I watched it and got to experience Christopher Young’s score in context (because being a film score nerd, that was the main reason I had this in my Netflix cue).

That said, The Monkey King is only the set up for the true Journey to the West. In 2016 that journey started with The Monkey King 2 and word is that film makes some needed improvements that give it quite a boost. I’m looking forward to watching that one next.

Peering into the future of The Monkey King 2?

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Nostalgia Nugget: First Rumble with the Supercop!

A violent argument erupted
over who was tough and who
was deadly.

In the 1990s we had plenty of over the top action movies. The 1980s had really cemented the genre of mainstream action spectaculars with crazy plots, sinister villains and a hero willing to do anything to save the day. Rambo: First Blood Part 2, and Commando gave birth to stuff like Speed and Die Hard 2: Die Harder. But there was also a bit of martial arts boom, with Steven Segal unleashing hell in Above the Law or Jean Claude Van-Damme in Bloodsport. I was working in the video store during this era and let me tell you, people loved their action movies. Hollywood or direct to video antics like Tough and Deadly it didn’t’ really matter. If it had exploding cars and people hitting each other it was all good.

In all honesty there were some really good action flicks from that era. We hadn’t really hit the time of computer generated stunt work yet, so we were seeing all kinds of real folks doing real crazy stuff. Then we started to hear about the Hong Kong action films, with John Woo leading the way. Movies like The Killer and Hard Boiled introduced the concept of bullet ballet. Right around that time, we heard about Jackie Chan.

The surprisingly rare DVD from
Criterion Collection.

I’ve mentioned this before but I was never as into action films as I was into genre movies. Sure I enjoyed action movies, but I didn’t seek them out unless someone recommended a good one to me. Well one of my coworkers was the guy who knew his action movies. He loved all the old 70s Kung-fu classics and knew quite a bit about Hong Kong action flicks. He was the one that pointed me to The Killer and Hard Boiled. One day he comes in and is all excited because Jackie Chan is going to make a Hollywood action movie. Well the rest of us had no idea who Jackie Chan was, but we just smiled and nodded and started singing along to The Lion King again, because I think that played on the TV at the video store for about 11 years straight in the mid-90s.

Anyway, Rumble in the Bronx comes out and we all end up watching it in the space of about a week. Well my action loving friend was actually disappointed. His expectations were really pumped for this one. But the rest of us got a huge kick out of the movie. We were quoting the outrageous dialog for years afterward (I'm serious here). I can’t tell you how many times one of us goofed up at something and the other would turn and say in his best Little Danny voice, “Hooray! You’re number one!”

At least he's snuggly, right?

There was this strange trilogy of Jackie Chan movies that I vividly remember watching from that time. Rumble in the Bronx was the first one I saw and was my favorite one. The combo of ridiculous fantasy New York mixed with insane stunts and lots of hand to hand fighting made it the best mix. And did I mention it was super quotable? I did? That’s because I’m Number ONE! Then Supercop arrived. My action loving coworker thought this one was the best. As much as I liked Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan in one awesome movie, I have to say that it felt less colorful and crazy than Rumble. The final Tong/Chan film was First Strike, which turned out to be Police Story 4 in China. So yeah a sequel to Supercop, kinda sorta. Anyway, this one was even more like a James Bond movie but with more silliness and locations in Australia. I mostly remember the goofy bear hat, insanity involving a snowboard and helicopter, and the scene where Chan uses a ladder to beat the tar out of a bunch of guys. Certainly the least of the three movies, but still fun.

Oh it is on, like Donkey Kong!

Eventually this action craze died down, especially once CG really came into its own in the late 90s. Big time stunts were on the decline and even Jackie Chan was focusing more on comedy than crazy life endangering stunts (can’t say I blame him). But because of Supercop we got Michelle Yeoh in a James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, and then we saw her real acting chops in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (where she also showed off her sword swinging skills).

Don't try this at home.

So when Rumble in the Bronx shows up in my Netflix cue and I immediately flash back to the 90s and the video store and that huge Tough and Deadly poster that was behind the counter. I wanted to watch the movie again and catch a bit of that fun. And for the most part these movies hold up as solid entertainment. But I’m also willing to admit that they are probably not quite as good as they were the first time we watched in awe at this crazy new (for us) actor Jackie Chan.

Because in the Bronx fast is the only way to live.

"Bad touch! Bad Touch!"

Ladies and gentleman you will never look at a ladder
the same way again.

Rumble in the Bronx ends with a freeze frame.
A FREEZE FRAME! I can't say how much
joy that gives me.

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Supercop (1992)

Introduction:

In 1995 Rumble in the Bronx unleashed Jackie Chan on an ignorant North American audience. And those of us that liked it wanted more. So Miramax was quick to respond by grabbing another Jackie Chan film directed by Stanley Tong. But it was an older movie, part of a series called Police Story. In fact this was the third installment. But hell, that didn’t matter. Just rename it, get Devo to sing the end title song and rename his character Kevin the Supercop and you’ve got movie gold! Right? Tell me I’m right.

Summary:

Drugs are flooding into Hong Kong and “what we need is a Supercop and we need one now!” So Kevin (Jackie Chan) is dispatched to discover and stop the source of the drugs. This takes him to China where he is teamed with Inspector Yang (Michelle Yeoh) a no-nonsense officer whose skill are a perfect match for Kevin’s. They come up with a mission that puts Kevin undercover and working with a man called Panther (Wah Yuen). Panther’s drug connections lead them to Malaysia.

It’s there where things get tricky because Panther is only the second in command. The ruthless Chaibat (Kenneth Tsang) has started a war with other organized crime groups in Southeast Asia and things get out of hand very quickly. Kevin and Yang will find themselves escaping a coalmine, fighting angry police officers, dodging bullets and missiles, and even attempting to land a motorcycle on a moving train (yeah Michelle Yeoh is just as crazy as Jackie Chan). But will all these heroics (by not one Supercop, but two) be enough to stop Chaibat?

Good Points:

• Some amazing stunt work by Chan, Yeoh and the stunt crew
• Hilariously bad dubbing and dub script
• Michelle Yeoh pretty much steals the movie from everyone

Bad Points:

• The plot seems like a less coherent James Bond clone
• Lots and lots of gunfire and explosions, less physical action
• Some of the intentional humor doesn’t quite work

Overall:

While the plot is over convoluted and less jokey Supercop (also known as Police Story 3) still delivers the entertainment. Plenty of impressive and well filmed stunts and action scenes will keep you engaged. But the extended battle in the jungle goes gun crazy and loses some steam. Luckily, the lovely Maggie Cheung shows up for some silly screwball comedy as Kevin’s girlfriend who is clueless about his mission. The finale involving a helicopter, a moving train and a motorcycle is some of the most impressive stunt work I’ve ever seen. Michelle Yeoh makes for a great partner with Chan and while the movie is less fun then Rumble in the Bronx it is well worth checking out.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 2

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Next time Michelle wants to bum a ride, make sure
she actually gets into the car.

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Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

Introduction:

So back in the days of the video store I actually was helping a customer with finding the latest Charlie Chan movie. This was in the mid 90s, pre-internet era (a dim memory for some, I know). We had to rely on these big thick Video Movie Guides. So I look up the actor who played Charlie Chan and I find Werner Oland. I know we have a few Charlie Chan movies, but these all were made in the 1930s, I started to wonder if this young man was a film student or if something else was going on. Yeah, turns out he was looking for Jackie Chan movies because his friends told him about them. Ah, those pre-internet days…

Summary:

Keung (Jackie Chan) leaves Hong Kong and arrives in good old New York, New York for his uncle’s wedding. While he is in town he meets all kinds of interesting folks. There is Elaine (Anita Mui) the woman who is buying the market from Keung’s uncle. She is serious about getting her start in the big city. Then there is little Danny (Morgan Lam), who may be confined to a wheelchair, but has plenty of moxie. Then there are the 1980s style gang members lead by the nasty Tony (Marc Akerstream) who want to do nothing more than cause trouble.

One day Keung pisses them off while trying to protect his uncle’s car from vandalism. Now the gang targets Keung and all of his new friends, harassing him, ambushing him and generally behaving like jerks. Keung does his best to face them down, and keep his friends out of trouble, but things escalate. And when a crime boss, lost diamonds and an undercover police operation get thrown into the mix you know that you are in for a real Rumble in the Bronx.

Good Points:

• Amazing stunt work by Jackie Chan and his crew
• The finale involving the hovercraft smashing up a neighborhood is impressive
• Manages to be goofy fun that never takes itself too seriously

Bad Points:

• The story is pretty ridiculous and predictable
• Really painfully bad dubbing
• Looking for gritty action in the slums of New York… yeah look elsewhere

Overall:

It all depends on what you want from this movie. Are you looking for a goofy good time with some amazing stunt work and hilarious dubbing? Then step right up. You looking for gritty realism and some kind of social commentary (that makes sense), then you are looking at the wrong movie. Rumble in the Bronx is silly, often going right for the funny bone with a goofy premise and ridiculous characters. But the lighthearted feel works for it, because the movie breezes along. Add to it the amazing stunt work by Jackie Chan and his stunt crew and you’ll be wondering just how crazy he really is (and the outtakes show… he’s damn crazy). A fun weekend movie for sure.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 2

Music: 3

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

In Depth Review

Fists of Fury - 90s style!

One of the things I appreciate about Jackie Chan is his ability to play the ordinary guy. As silly as Rumble in the Bronx becomes (and yes it gets really silly) it remains grounded because Jackie Chan makes Keung a likable good guy. He’s in town to help his elderly uncle transfer the market to the new owner and celebrate his uncle’s wedding. He’s friendly with everyone, good-natured and humble about his martial arts training. Early on we see Keung run through a practice routine on a training dummy and you get a sense of Chan’s real skill. But one thing a lot of people overlook when watching a Jackie Chan film of this era (or earlier) is how Chan has a real knack for comic timing.

The action is so intense you'll need a helmet.

So you can sit down and watch Rumble in the Bronx and enjoy the amazing stunt work. Chan leaps off of buildings, gets chased through a parking structure in and around cars, attacked by flying glass bottles that shatter all around him, fights the gang in their own lair full of junk and gets dragged behind a hovercraft in the finale. The whole time you can tell it really is Chan doing the stunts, jumping off the buildings, getting hit in the crotch and somehow leaping over a pinball machine and turning it into a weapon.

As awesome as Chan is, you also realize something else. For all these stunts to work his fellow stuntmen have to be on top of things too. So when the martial arts action gets crazy fast, you can see these guys (and a few gals) are actually performing the stunts with split second accuracy and control. The outtakes at the end of the film show you what happens when mistakes are made and they look painful.

No waterskis? No problem! Ok, maybe a little problem.

Director Stanley Tong films the action perfectly. Rumble in the Bronx is so memorable because all the action scenes are clearly filmed and never cut away to cheat. He moves the camera during the scenes keeping things kinetic, but he avoids shaky cam or seizure cam. Instead you get to see all the hits, near misses and hurtling bodies. It makes you realize how far action movies have fallen when you something as well filmed as this. And keep in mind most Hong Kong action fans will tell you that Rumble in the Bronx is a good movie, but there are much better Jackie Chan films to watch that do an even better job.

The other thing you’ll appreciate is that there is no CG in the film. So all the vehicular mayhem that happens in the movie is done for real right in front of you. I’m not talking anything crazy Road Warrior style. But the hovercraft chase in the finale is impressive for its sheer audacity and craziness. Downtown Vancouver will never be the same.

And yeah that brings me to the first issue some people may have with this movie. Aside from a couple of establishing shots of the Big Apple, this movie is filmed entirely in Vancouver. And to be honest they don’t even really try to hide it well (if at all). To me it becomes part of the surreal fun of this movie. Rumble in the Bronx is more of a fantasy action film than a straight up action film. No seriously. Stick with me on this one.

According to Rumble in the Bronx, these are New York
gangsters circa 1995.

The setting of Rumble in the Bronx is an outsider’s version of America. Take what they’ve seen in Hollywood movies, maybe on the news, and distill it through a filter of the late 1980s and you get this strange world of the movie. In this world gang members wear bright florescent colors, ride around in dune buggies with blinking lights all over them, and have a lair full of pinball machines, shopping carts and refrigerators. The gang is also surprisingly multicultural and seems to shy away from using guns. They like to use baseball bats to hit empty bottles at people. They also don’t participate in any real crimes. They mostly just cause mischief, vandalize stuff and generally act like a bunch of junior high school kids hopped up on pixie sticks.

Like all Hollywood cops, New York’s finest are pretty much fat, lazy and confused in this movie. They don’t’ do much of anything, and when they do show up they only make things worse by accusing the innocent working class people that are being harassed by gangs and members of organized crime. By the end of the film it is Keung, the visitor to our country, that saves the day, stops the bad guys and even manages to get the gang to see the error of their ways.

Oh that is where the waterskis ended up.

In one of my favorite scenes of complete fantasy, Keung addresses the gang members like he is talking to naughty children. Of course he just spent the last ten minutes rampaging through their lair and managing to beat up most of them in various creative ways, so I guess they are willing to listen to him. Basically he tells them all to grow up and get a life. He ends by saying, “I hope next time we meet, we will drink tea together.” To which the leader of the gang says, “Did he really mean that?” And no he’s not saying that incredulously, he actually sounds moved.

Now keep in mind he may sound that way because he’s dubbed. Everyone in Rumble in the Bronx dubbed, even obvious North American actors. The result is this odd disconnect giving the film an even more fantastical and surreal quality. Some of the dub lines are so silly and delivered over the top or in a confused way that you can’t help but chuckle. One of the most bizarre elements is the dubbing for any black characters. It is such a ridiculous sounding caricature you wonder if it was done on purpose or was just the way the Hong Kong crew thought black Americans in the inner city talk – like hip hop characters from a music video from1991.

Danny may not have a video game in that Sega Game
Gear, but it still makes dubbed sounds!

One of my favorite dub characters in the movie is little Danny. He gets so many horrible lines and delivers them with such enthusiasm you can’t help but laugh. When he first meets Keung he yells, “Hooray! You’re number one!” This line became an instant quotable around the video store I worked at. But I also love the moment when he starts talking about how his sister (played by a fetching Francoise Yip) neglects him. It is so sappy and silly and hilarious. But then you get the moment when he starts yelling “My cushion! He stole my cushion!” This is hilarious both in and out of context.

Then there are the villains. That’s right, the gang isn’t the real force of evil in this movie. Instead (true to the 1980s action movie roots) you have a group of evil white guys in suits toting around machine guns and driving in big black cars. The leader is the rich and powerful bearded guy (dubbed with a hilarious deep voice). They are after diamonds after a deal goes wrong, and the diamonds get stuffed in Danny’s cushion (see the exclamation above). They spend the second half of the movie killing and rampaging. All these guys are hulking and talk in deep voices and tend to rely on guns rather then fists. So you wonder just how Keung is gong to deal with them.  And then leads to the hovercraft chase.

"You work with Chris Tucker or we cut you man!"

So Rumble in the Bronx is about as realistic as West Side Story in its depiction of New York gangs and crime. And for some that may be a deal breaker. But I find the whole package to be very entertaining. Is this how the Hong Kong crew thought America was? Or is this a reflection of the image 1990s American media was putting out there? Either way it makes for an entertaining setting. It is interesting how the evil businessman is greedy and destructive making him the real threat. Even the gang turns into anti-heroes by the end. But the everyman and his pals are get to stick it to the man with a hovercraft. And what isn’t enjoyable about that?

Jackie Chan went on to do Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon. Those were fun and all, but I will always hold a space in my heart for these mid-90s films directed by Stanley Tong including Supercop and First Strike. Rumble in the Bronx may be my favorite because of it’s ridiculous setting and amazing action scenes. Seriously if you see no other part of this movie see if you can find the battle in the gang’s lair. Your jaw will drop at the stunt work on display. Really impressive stuff.

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