The Legend Of Drunken Master (Drunken Master II, 1994)/Shanghai Noon

Once again Hollywood is trying to make a buck off of Jackie Chan-mania. For the most part, though, that’s not a bad thing. I’m glad that American audiences are finally getting to see some of his Hong Kong movies, but they tend to find the driest, least interesting ones. Mr. Nice Guy? Operation Condor? Well, now they’ve finally decided to bring us one that’s worthy of the Chan legacy. The Legend Of Drunken Master (aka Drunken Master II) is the best Jackie movie I’ve ever seen. It’s his sequel/homage to the film that started it all back in 1979, Drunken Master, a great film on its own. I’ve seen DMII before (and even own a copy of the Chinese release), but seeing it on the big screen was a film geek’s religious experience.

The story follows the typical “new Jackie” plot (it was made in 1994 after he had already set that plot in stone): Jackie wins a couple of fights, something is lost that Jackie has to save, Jackie gets his ass kicked, Jackie learns something new, wins the final fight and saves the day. Nothing new there.

What is new is the level of comedy and action. After the exposition (which takes up about the first half hour) there is pretty much no end to the action.

Brief story outline:

Jackie is Chinese hero Wong Fei-hong. He’s already learned the art of Drunken Boxing, but he has to learn to control it and his drinking. His father (Lung Ti from Better Tomorrow I and II-and he’s about the same age as Jackie) is a stern man who runs a martial arts school that is running into a few hard times. Not so much as to need money (although every action of Jackie’s makes it seem that way), but enough to be in a little bit of trouble. His step mother (Anita Mui from Rumble In The Bronx and The Heroic Trio) is a wise-cracking woman who tries to keep Fei-hong out of trouble, but it’s hard since he seems to be in nothing but trouble.

At some point in the film Jackie has to defend his mother, gets really drunk and fights off three gangsters who think that he has a jade stamp from ancient China. (Getting drunk is a part of Drunken Boxing. It loosens the limbs and lowers the threshold of pain.) His father throws him out of the house and Jackie gets his ass kicked. Now it’s up to him to save his father’s school and return China’s heritage to its museums.

But none of that is really important unless you want a history lesson. What is really important are the fight scenes, and these are amazing! The final scene in the sweatshop is a real stand out, but so is the one in the restaurant with hundreds of guys coming at Fei-hong and his mentor.

The only problem that I see with this film is that Anita Mui’s character gets a little annoying at times. She does some shtick and then runs it into the ground, but she has great timing and she can kick ass right along with Jackie.

So run out right now and make this movie a hit! It deserves it more than any of the movies that have been released over here so far, including the American ones.

Speaking of which, I finally saw Shanghai Noon. And, as I said, Drunken Master II is better than any of the stuff he’s made over here.

This time out Jackie is Chon Wang (and that’s the main joke in the movie), an Imperial Guard who is in Old West America searching for Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu from Alley McBeal). Along for the ride is Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson from Bottle Rocket and Meet The Parents), a totally inept outlaw who thinks he’s God’s gift to guns.

This pretty much follows the same formula as Rush Hour, but without all the laughs and good action. This time out Owen gets all the laughs, but they’re only mild chuckles and few and far between. And most of them are either about his stupidity or Jackie’s nationality. Lots of stereotypes at work here.

Early on Chon hangs out with some Indians and ends up with a wife (played by newcomer Brandon Merrill-yes, that’s a woman and she’s not bad to look at). Her character seems to have been cut out of the version I saw. She shows up when it’s convenient to get the boys out of trouble. (She’s a perfect shot and seems to know everything about fighting.) Where is she when they’re actually moving around? There are many shots of Chon and Roy on their horses, but she is nowhere to be seen. Is she following close behind like a good little Indian girl? (Yet another stereotype) Or is she just staying behind because she may get killed if she stays right with them? Or did the screenwriter and editor just forget about her? That’s more likely.

Jackie gets a couple of good fight scenes (one between him and a couple of Indians is particularly good for this movie), but not enough to sustain 110 minutes.

And what’s with the main bad guy? Roger Yuan has been in some martial arts flicks (mostly American) like Showdown In Little Tokyo, American Streetfighter and Vanishing Son, but does he have any skills? If the only movie you’ve seen with him in it is this one (and it’s the only one I’ve seen), the answer would appear to be no. All he does is put his foot on Jackie’s chest and throw things at him. It always helps if it looks as if Jackie is in some danger when he’s fighting. In this case it looks as if he’s letting the guy kick his butt.

And speaking of that last scene, when Marshall Van Cleef appears (Xander Berkeley from Apollo 13 and Amistad-and, yes that name is a direct reference to legendary Western bad guy Lee Van Cleef-clever, huh?), he turns it into a John Woo movie complete with Mexican standoff (and a joke about it) and church. Leave it to John. He’s the only one who can get away with it. Occasionally Tarantino can.

I will give this movie one thing (besides the chicks): they found a perfect song for a bar brawl (and that scene’s not too bad). As the fight starts, the rockin’ part of ZZTop’s “La Grange” starts up. What a great choice!

If you’ve never seen a Jackie Chan flick this one may not seem that bad, but it’s not a good place to start. Go see Drunken Master instead.