...and as such, it made quite an impression on me at age ten. I haven't seen "Writing Kung Fu" in years--not since it ran on the USA Network's Kung Fu Theater, in fact--but I remember it as a fairly interesting genre picture. John Chang of "Snake in the Monkey's Shadow" stars as a wimpy schoolteacher who has to learn the martial arts to defend his village against a wandering Vietnamese killer, who plays (and fights with) a flute. The villain is portrayed by Yang Sze (Bolo Yeung), the muscular henchman of Mr. Han in "Enter the Dragon", and is notable for being the only Vietnamese heavy--to my knowledge--in a Chinese martial arts film! There's a dash of the obligatory lame slapstick, of course (every kung-fu movie has it), but the tone of "Writing Kung Fu" is pretty grim for the most part. Excellent final fight, too, as I remember. 6 and 1/2 stars.
3 Reviews
One of Bolo's best performances
gorthu26 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This is just an average kung fu movie, except that it is directed by Bolo Yeung and has a dark tone to it. John Chang (the guy who breaks Bruce Lee's back in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) plays a scholar who keeps getting ridiculed by his students because he can't fight. Bolo plays an outlaw who has come to town to secretly rob some people of their treasures. The story in this movie is very bad but luckily the kung fu is good. Bolo has 3 awesome fight scenes. Bolo is already such a unique fighter because of his awesome movements and the way he doesn't look at his opponent when fighting, and in this movie he fights while playing a flute. It is absolutely jaw-dropping. This may be Bolo's single greatest performance, and it is too bad that the movie itself isn't very good.
Bolo dominates, in front of and behind the camera
Leofwine_draca16 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
WRITING KUNG FU is a low rent and obscure kung fu film featuring John Cheung. It follows a late '70s trend to find the most obscure forms of kung fu imaginable; the last one of these I watched featured 'chicken fu' which turns out to be terrible. You can guess the subject of this film from the title, although it's more of a gimmick than a real plot point. John Cheung stars as a mild mannered school teacher who runs afoul of a violent criminal gang and must subsequently learn to fight in order to defend himself and those he loves.
This cheapjack feature is notable for featuring direction from none other than Bolo Yeung, who also appears as the main villain of the piece. Yeung only directed two films in his lengthy career - this and the previous BOLO THE BRUTE - and his direction is acceptable rather than interesting. However, once again he dominates the proceedings in this film, appearing in just three fight scenes but coming across as extremely bad-ass throughout. With long, billowing robes and a fantastic white moustache, Bolo plays his hired killer role with relish and is a delight. He plays a flute and uses it for fighting which is cool too. It says something that you never quite believe that Cheung would really be able to beat him if things came to a fight between the pair.
This cheapjack feature is notable for featuring direction from none other than Bolo Yeung, who also appears as the main villain of the piece. Yeung only directed two films in his lengthy career - this and the previous BOLO THE BRUTE - and his direction is acceptable rather than interesting. However, once again he dominates the proceedings in this film, appearing in just three fight scenes but coming across as extremely bad-ass throughout. With long, billowing robes and a fantastic white moustache, Bolo plays his hired killer role with relish and is a delight. He plays a flute and uses it for fighting which is cool too. It says something that you never quite believe that Cheung would really be able to beat him if things came to a fight between the pair.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
