A sequel only in name to Jimmy Wang Yu's earlier THE Chinese BOXER, this is another crazy classic from my favourite martial arts actor, containing some more magnificent scenes of action and kung fu enough to satisfy even the hardest-to-please fan. Despite lapses in logic, a story that makes no sense and jumps from place to place and a slow first half, the film picks up speed to offer a fantastic finale with some great set-pieces. Overall the quality of the action and excellent cinematography and art design make this one to watch. First up are the hilarious opening titles which show Wang Yu practising by beating the heck out of some straw figures in a gym, by kicking them through windows and the like - great stuff.
From then on you might be forgiven for thinking you're watching a different film. Lots of historical intrigue and political unease between the typically warring Chinese and Japanese nations. The Japanese are the bad guys in this film again, although the story is slightly different to most in the more-recent setting of the late 19th century which means that steam trains and powerful guns are used to give the film an edge. Finally about twenty minutes into the tale Wang Yu arrives, looking different in his black costume and long whip-lash ponytail but still fighting as good as ever and whipping lots of bad guys single-handedly. His first major opponent is this knife-throwing guy who has a hilarious battle in a tavern with him. He escapes by walking up walls and flying around until the enemy runs out of knives and flees.
After this a largish section of the film is taken up with one of those beloved tournament sequences showing different pairs of fighters battling to the death in often bloody and gory battles, with plenty of dribbling blood and broken limbs. Great stuff with some interesting new weapons and excellent fast martial arts mayhem, highlighted by the good cinematography. After more plot exposition and some unsuccessful attempts at characterisation, the long finale shows Wang Yu going up against increasingly stronger opponents with some bizarre and hilarious results.
Fights to watch out for include the spear-dancing fun with the bald guy and an excellent bar-room brawl between Wang Yu and his most beloved opponents, the Thai boxers who have come back from their beating in THE ONE-ARMED BOXER to fight once more. Things take a supernatural turn when the bad guys revive three rotting zombies to do battle with Wang Yu; naturally he's shocked when their newly-broken limbs mend rapidly and bone-crunching blows fail to stop them. His explosive way of dealing with the zombies makes for great entertainment as limbs and internal organs are scattered all over.
Then it's time for the visually outstanding final battle between Wang Yu and a top gun-toting samurai warrior known as the Black Crane. This takes place in a house filled with dummies of Wang Yu so there's lots of tension as Black Crane tries to distinguish the real from the fake. The final show-down is appropriately violent and features a brutal extended beating for the bad guy before he dies, just as I like it. Although there isn't a wealth of action as in MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE to propel this into the realm of absolute classic status, RETURN OF THE Chinese BOXER is still more than worth a watch. The action scenes themselves score the fullest marks possible and it's only the slow-moving moments of plot exposition which drag the score down. Wang Yu fans check it out.
From then on you might be forgiven for thinking you're watching a different film. Lots of historical intrigue and political unease between the typically warring Chinese and Japanese nations. The Japanese are the bad guys in this film again, although the story is slightly different to most in the more-recent setting of the late 19th century which means that steam trains and powerful guns are used to give the film an edge. Finally about twenty minutes into the tale Wang Yu arrives, looking different in his black costume and long whip-lash ponytail but still fighting as good as ever and whipping lots of bad guys single-handedly. His first major opponent is this knife-throwing guy who has a hilarious battle in a tavern with him. He escapes by walking up walls and flying around until the enemy runs out of knives and flees.
After this a largish section of the film is taken up with one of those beloved tournament sequences showing different pairs of fighters battling to the death in often bloody and gory battles, with plenty of dribbling blood and broken limbs. Great stuff with some interesting new weapons and excellent fast martial arts mayhem, highlighted by the good cinematography. After more plot exposition and some unsuccessful attempts at characterisation, the long finale shows Wang Yu going up against increasingly stronger opponents with some bizarre and hilarious results.
Fights to watch out for include the spear-dancing fun with the bald guy and an excellent bar-room brawl between Wang Yu and his most beloved opponents, the Thai boxers who have come back from their beating in THE ONE-ARMED BOXER to fight once more. Things take a supernatural turn when the bad guys revive three rotting zombies to do battle with Wang Yu; naturally he's shocked when their newly-broken limbs mend rapidly and bone-crunching blows fail to stop them. His explosive way of dealing with the zombies makes for great entertainment as limbs and internal organs are scattered all over.
Then it's time for the visually outstanding final battle between Wang Yu and a top gun-toting samurai warrior known as the Black Crane. This takes place in a house filled with dummies of Wang Yu so there's lots of tension as Black Crane tries to distinguish the real from the fake. The final show-down is appropriately violent and features a brutal extended beating for the bad guy before he dies, just as I like it. Although there isn't a wealth of action as in MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE to propel this into the realm of absolute classic status, RETURN OF THE Chinese BOXER is still more than worth a watch. The action scenes themselves score the fullest marks possible and it's only the slow-moving moments of plot exposition which drag the score down. Wang Yu fans check it out.
