Incredible Kung Fu Mission 师兄师弟齐出马

A martial arts expert (John Liu) is hired by a rebel leader (Tsui Chung-Sing) to break one of his fellow insurgents out of prison. This is, of course, no easy task, since the man is being held captive by a powerful governor's deputy (Wong Wing-Sun), backed by a whole army of trained killers. John Liu, however, is no slouch himself, so after whipping five misfits into shape (among them men like Chin Lung, Ting Wa-Chung and Alexander Lo), he heads straight into the thick of it.

Impressions: This was one film I had zero expectations for. A few good actors in the lead roles, but complete obscurity in wider circles, plus a director unknown (to me) — that was all the picture had going for it on paper before I finally saw it. All the more surprising and delightful, then, that Incredible Kung Fu Mission turned out to be a small local masterpiece fully capable of holding its own against far better-known and more heavily hyped examples of the genre.

First off, the film is very pleasingly made. A memorable score, colorful characters (and yes, all five of these blockheads are quite a handful), perfectly acceptable comedic scenes — the movie never once provokes the irritation that, let's admit it, the "old school" kung fu film genre is quite capable of causing at times. Here, though, it's all peace and bliss. For the first half hour the heroes stubbornly train (engaging and amusing), squabbling with each other and picking fights in the neighboring town, and then comes an hour of practically nonstop carnage as the six of them struggle through the orderly ranks of the enemy toward their cherished goal.

And I must say, they fight their way through in spectacular fashion! Chin Lung, unfortunately, has too few opportunities here to display his magnificent acrobatics, but Ting Wa-Chung, Robert Tai and Wong Wing-Sun, for instance — not to mention John Liu — show everything they're capable of. It's practically impossible to tear your eyes from the screen — the fights are virtuosically staged and no less virtuosically performed! High speed, tricky acrobatics, hordes of enemies and nonstop drive just pour off the television screen. And it doesn't matter that the script is pure plagiarism of the American The Dirty Dozen, and never mind that John Liu can't act! This is an action film, ideal to the extent that pure brawling without a shadow of thought can entertain. One of the best entertainment films of the "old school" that I've had occasion to see — genuinely well-crafted, light, and utterly incredible when it comes to the fights.