Badges of Fury (2013) User Reviews

Wildly uneven Hong Kong comedy

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 20 June 2014]

BADGE OF FURY is one of those films that misleads thanks to false advertising; the DVD cover makes it look like nothing more than a bombastic Jet Li cop actioner, full of explosions and shoot-outs. The reality couldn't be further from the truth: this is instead a wildly uneven, lowbrow and mildly crazy knockabout comedy in the typical Chinese style.

Western audiences are sure to have their patience tested by a narrative that's all over the place, along with CGI-enhanced action sequences which turn fist-fights into comic-book battles, and all manner of over-the-top silliness. This is a film in which the gags fly thick and fast and the characters themselves fly even thicker and faster, being thrown into buildings and through windows at regular intervals. It's corny, stupid and sometimes jaw-droppingly awful.

Despite the anything-goes nature of the script, BADGE OF FURY is mildly amusing, if you're in the right mood for it. Occasionally, watching the male characters lusting over Yan Liu brings to mind the glory days of '80s-era knockabout comedy like MY LUCKY STARS. And Jet Li is always good value for money, even if his role here is limited and there's no real martial arts action to speak of. Unfortunately, we're saddled with the incessantly mugging and intensely irritating Zhang Wen in the lead role, and he's the worst thing about the whole thing.

Elsewhere, look out for a series of cameos from hot Chinese properties: there's Wu Jing in probably the best fight scene, and there's Collin Chou up to his usual bad guy duties. Stephen Fung (HOUSE OF FURY) bags a slightly bigger supporting role but fails to make an impact, but at least there are plenty of film in-jokes for movie fans to enjoy and the occasional sequence in which the jokes work. BADGE OF FURY is a film that it's best to watch fully knowing what you're in for as I can imagine many viewers turning this one off in disgust and in some respects I can't blame them.

Shallow Slapstick Action

[3xHCCH · 4/10 · 5 November 2013]

Having Jet Li headlining the cast will really set high expectations. However, in the first few scenes of this particular film, you will know that you need to tone these expectations down.

There is a series of mysterious murders in the city. The victims were all young men who strangely die with a silly grin on their faces. The policemen who get assigned to this case were unlikely partners, the young bumbling Wang Bu Er (Zhang Wen) and grizzled veteran Huang (Jet Li), under their lady boss Angela (Michelle Chen). Investigation lead them to a young actress Liu Jin Shui (Lui Shishi), who was the girlfriend of all these victims.

Zhang Wen plays the slapstick comic lead in this action/comedy. He is shameless in some really embarrassing scenes and stupid situations. He does have fight and chase scenes, but will usually end up bungling everything. Jet Li plays straight man to Zhang here, but Li of course figures in some exciting though exaggerated martial arts fight scenes. Michelle Chen is quite funny in her cute little way, though she was not entirely believable as a police chief at all.

This film is shallow and light-hearted, not to be taken seriously. There will be scenes that you cannot help but laugh out loud in their craziness. The investigation of the murders has its own nifty twists and turns which can puzzle you. It can be a fun way to spend a lazy hour and a half, if you do not expect too much.

Comedy wrapped in an action shroud...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 17 December 2015]

"Badge of Fury" (aka "Bu er shen tan") has one of the most misleading DVD covers ever. It shows Jet Li looming over central Hong Kong engulfed in flames. First of all, the movie is nowhere near as explosive as the cover makes it out to be. Secondly, Jet Li is not even the main star in the movie.

The movie is a comedy action of sorts, which I didn't know, so I was a bit surprised when finding out. So does the comedy work? Sure, most of the time, but at times it was awfully forced and scripted. But if you do enjoy silly action comedy movies, then you will get some enjoyment out of the movie.

The characters were colorful and the dialogue was oddly quirky enough to match the characters. But the movie was somehow lacking a deeper storyline and meaning, giving the movie a somewhat irrelevant sensation to it.

It should be said that the actors were doing good jobs all round. I just wonder why Jet Li actually agreed to be in this movie, because it is really way off from his normal arena. And this is definitely not what you would expect from a Jet Li movie.

One thing that puzzled me senseless was why the movie was in Mandarin language when it was filmed and set to take place in Hong Kong. It was just so stupid. It should have been Cantonese.

All in all a mediocre movie that was nothing at all what the DVD cover presented it to be.

copy paste directing and fails on every level of film making

[bektaskonca · 1/10 · 28 June 2013]

i have to say i do love Jet Li, i have seen all his movies but it is a wonder why he was in this movie although he was not the main actor it was a very bad production. lets start with the script it was lousy something which was done and killed many times i think this film was the actual burial. effects and cgi was done by backstreet dealer. camera man should have had his medicine before even start to work on the day it was that bad. then there is the director i do not know who it was as my knowledge on directors is limited but i can say to you he would be working in Mcdonalds after this movie, he simply try to copy Stephen Chow in to this production but failed on every level on film making. if you want to see a Asian movie today don't bother with this crap go for movie called DRUG WARS thousand times better than this. NOT recommended by me.

Monumentally bad on all levels.

[zags70445 · 1/10 · 3 October 2013]

As a long time Jet Li fan (regardless of the genre), I always look forward to films in which he appears.

Promoted as an "Action/Adventure" film, 'Badges of Fury' is actually an "Action/Comedy" in the 'Beverly Hills Cop' vein via master filmmaker Stephen Chow... except that the action is totally embarrassing and the film is completely devoid of any comedy (unless you are 2 years old... which is actually an insult to 2-year-olds).

Where to begin with this unmitigated disaster?

Of the lead cast, Jet Li comes off best as the grizzled veteran cop. Regrettably, his comedic skills (and action talents) are sorely under-utilized. Michelle Chen struggles with a role that no one could possibly make believable (even for a supposed OTT comedy). Meanwhile, Zhang Wen mugs to the camera ad nauseum... to the point where you want someone... anyone... to shoot him and put the audience out of their collective misery.

Action maestro Corey Yuen tries what he can with the fight scenes. Wire-fu is intentionally bad. The problem is that it never achieves the "it's so bad that it's good" level. Instead, it settles for just being bad... with even worse CGI work. The only stand-out is a brief sequence where a duel is fought on a round table embedded in a wall. But this is still not reason enough to sit through 94 minutes of agony.

Things are certainly not helped by screenwriter Tan Cheung's lackluster, unfunny script. Logic, subtext and actual comedy are thrown by the wayside for... well, I'm not exactly sure. There are some interesting ideas here. But they remain undeveloped. With the exception of only a few actually laughs, the screenplay derives it's "humour" by aiming for the lowest, juvenile approach imaginable... something I didn't think possible until I saw this travesty.

But ultimate blame lands at the feet of director Tsz Ming Wong. The key to any action flick or comedy film is timing; an artistic sense that Tsz Ming Wong is completely lacking. Scenes are painfully off-key, strained or just plain poor. He commands no sense of storytelling... instead, preferring to jump from one pointless scene to another. Logic is a foreign concept. Things happen because the director (and the script) wants them to happen. This might be fine if it all came together. Instead it just sits there. Unfunny. Bad. And painfully dull.

In other words, avoid this movie at all costs.

Silly, a poor project for Jet Li

[dworldeater · 3/10 · 21 January 2014]

I bought this expecting a badass cop movie starring Jet Li. Instead, Jet Li's role is more like a cameo appearance and the film really is a bad comedy with occasional kung fu fight sequences thrown in. I did enjoy the few fight scenes contained here, but as a whole the film is awful.The story is inept, uninteresting and stupid. The humorous aspects of the film rely on crude jokes, slapstick comedy, over the top, ridiculous moments, as well as references to Jet Li's career (officer Huang Fei Huang). That said it might have been fine, except those responsible forgot to make it funny. This movie makes the most crude, lowbrow work of producer/director Wong Jing look like highly intellectual art. Jet Li has proved with his previous films he is a very capable actor that can carry all sorts of stuff. Even though he only had a cameo appearance, Badges Of Fury is a waste of Jet Li's talents and not a good project. Hopefully, Jet Li will be given more than five minutes screen time in the next Expendables installment, one would hope.

Not funny or slightly interesting! 1/10

[leonblackwood · 1/10 · 3 May 2014]

Review: I really tried hard to keep interested in this film, but my eyes couldn't take the bloody subtitles that were moving way too fast. I ended up just watching the fighting scenes, which were really ridiculous because of the string action. The music is annoying throughout the movie, and the characters look like there making fools of themselves throughout the film. As for plot line, I haven't got a clue what was going on because I only looked at the screen a few times. I got tricked by the poster, because I thought that it was going to be a Jet Li movie with loads of action, but I hardly saw him in the film. I might have enjoyed the movie if I could speak the language, but it just wasn't for me. Disappointing.

Round-Up: Whatever did happen to Jet Li? There was a time when he was popping up in American movies, showing off his fighting skills, but he seems to have gone off the radar. A lot of these fighting star do a tour in Hollywood for a couple of years and then there contract runs out and there not heard of again. The same thing happen to Jackie Chan with his Rush Hour franchise which seemed to dry up after a while. Anyway, I'm not liking this new way of filming Kung fu movies with the characters flying everywhere on strings and doing really unbelievable stunts. I'm a fan of the old school movies like Thundering Mantis and Drunken Master, so this movie just didn't work for me.

I recommend this movie to people who are into there silly Hong Kong movies with some action but a ridiculous storyline. 1/10

the worse movie ever I seen

[kbunderan · 3/10 · 18 August 2013]

I like Jet Lee but in this movie he acted looks like a stupid. The story is not good at all. Most of the actors and actress did not perform properly. It seems low budget movie. It should be not published because can ruin the Jet lee reputation. The director could not do anything as a result, the screenplay were playing not professional. The actors and actress seem really so childish and mostly the actors were less involved in this movie's story. Regarding the ending of the movie, it could be predicted from the beginning of the movie. That's way is not a good movie. Don't think I will recommend this movie. Once again don't watch this movie.

Not that Bad

[bickeler · 7/10 · 8 January 2014]

This movie is not as bad the reviews if taken as a comedy which I am sure is it's intent. I found it be very humorous and amusing and I am not a huge fan of International humor. To me as a Westerner International Humor just doesn't come across however the physical humor in this was very funny and there is nothing wrong with the plot. The script however needed some polish to be sure and that is why I rate it 7 out of 10. I would give it a 9 for the excellent use of CGI in making some very funny fight scenes and some of the verbal jokes and not so physical insinuations are amusing as well. The dialog does get muddled though in the middle of the movie and it probably could have been edited a bit better. In conclusion I would say the comedy and action scenes are worth putting up with what seems an unpolished film.

Badges of silly boredom

[C_Vilches · 2/10 · 21 October 2020]

It looked like a good action flick during first ten minutes run or so... till I realize it was just another crappy Asian comedy.

Why do they have to throw jokes into action??? Tell me why! Awful!

#yuno

Asian Version of Naked Gun

[wandeljw · 8/10 · 16 July 2014]

Badges of Fury has the same style and tone of the Leslie Nielsen Naked Gun series from the early 1990's. Of course, the satirical targets in this movie are to be found in Asian pop culture rather than American pop culture. Once you understand this, Badges of Fury is a very entertaining movie.

Jet Li is surprisingly good at comedy and still has his martial arts skills.

As the younger partner, Zhang Wen is also very good and gets to do most of the funny bits.

Michelle Chen is especially good in her relationship with Zhang Wen's character.

Ada Liu and Cecilia Liu are two of China's most beautiful actresses and are great to watch.

Badge of Fury

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 4 January 2015]

When a series of strange deaths occur the Hong Kong police suspect murder. Taken individually each looks like a tragic accident but each man died with a fixed smile on his face and each of their funerals was attended by the same woman. The case is taken by a trio of detectives; impulsive Wang Bu Er; older Huang Fei Hong, who is a master of kung-fu and Angela, their sergeant. Their first suspect is the woman at the funerals; actress Liu Jin Shui. She had dated each of the dead men and they had each left her. Her sister, Dai Yiyi, is suspected too; each of the men had moved on to her… indeed her feminine charms are noticed by just about every man who sets eyes on her. As the case progresses more suspects arise and there will be quite a few fights before the case is solved.

Anybody watching this expecting lots of top quality martial arts action or realism is likely to be disappointed… especially as that is what the DVD cover promises… it may say 'Genre: action/martial arts' on the box but this is a comedy plain and simple. What martial arts we see is 'enhanced' with unbelievable CGI… we certainly don't get the stunning choreography of a Jackie Chan movie or the wire-work of wuxia films. Once one has got over that it is possible to enjoy this film as a slap stick comedy. Another surprise is that Jet Li isn't the lead actor; that is Wen Zhang. The cast do a decent enough job; although it is sometimes hard to tell overacting from part of the deliberate comedy. The case isn't the most gripping; it really just serves to link the series of comedy moments. These vary from laugh-out-loud funny to cringe inducing. As stated before the action features a fair amount of CGI and this is the films biggest let down; it doesn't look real enough… the opening which should grab the viewer's attention merely made me wonder why I was watching! Overall if you want a silly action comedy it is fun enough and it is probably suitable for anybody old enough to read the subtitles… although some viewers might find the camera's fascination with Dai Yiyi's impressive cleavage a bit too much!

These comments are based on watching in Mandarin with English subtitles.

Funny? Maybe... Jet Li? Come on... seriously?

[minunimion · 4/10 · 14 March 2020]

If you like Jet Li as a serious martial artist playing roles as a cop, hero, special forces agent and so on, you'll be disappointed then... here he is a cop, but... if you like something quite funny and you accept every silly gags, then this movie is OK. Forget Jet Li in Fearless, Expendables and all the other action movies... here, he doesn't work like that. I didn't like this movie, but acting is OK and the director is OK. I didn't like the main actor (he's not Jet Li) and the fact that it could be a good thriller movie (we have a serial killer), but they wanted to mix a thriller with a funny movie, but IMHO, it didn't work. Anyway I always say... watch the movie and then decide yourself... this is the right thing to do.

Much better options for whatever your mood.

[doctorsmoothlove · 3/10 · 9 November 2020]

Badges of Fury lures you in at the dollar store with its proclamation that Jet Li stars in what appears to be an urban action film. The actual movie is really a comedy and he isn't even the main star. The comedy here is parodic and may go further for those with more knowledge of Hong Kong cinema than I have. From other reviews it appears that many cameos in the movie are well known actors. This was lost on me.

The main story involves the police force investigating a series of murders in which young men have been found smiling before death. Each of them has dated an actress and her older sister just before dying. The older sister asks them to take out insurance naming her as beneficiary. The older sister is played by Yan Liu who constantly wears a revealing top. The movie and its characters ogle her repeatedly. I suppose this is supposed to be funny. Just look at her IMDb page for the bikini pic that must have been used to market the movie.

Much of the comedy is like that. The comedy aims for a young demographic. I couldn't tell which demographic. It is all over the place as if the director thought of something new for each sequence. The movie has many cartoony sound effects to accompany its wire kung fu fight scenes and intentionally bad CGI. A child might enjoy it the sound effects but the film's violence is too much for younger viewers. The jokes about marriage and dating would exceed them too. Characters float in and out of the narrative with subplots that go nowhere. I kept wishing for one of the threads to get more development so I would have something to pass the time.

The fight scenes are intentionally exaggerated with kicks and body slams coming from miles away. Jet has a few close up fights that give you the illusion that you're watching a Corey Yuen (yes, he was involved in this movie) action scene. However, the camera doesn't stay on the action long enough before a cutaway happens. That or someone is thrown into an object slowing down the whole scene.

Nothing about Badges of Fury worked for me. The entire film felt like a misguided student project where the director tried whatever he felt like doing. If you want a pure action movie it fails and there are far funnier martial arts comedies.

Not very good. Some half-decent fighting, but that's pretty much it.

[Finfrosk86 · 4/10 · 22 September 2015]

To sum up this movie in one word: Silly.

I watched it because it stars Jet Li, and because Corey Yuen is the action director. I knew of the super low score, but I thought, since Corey Yuen is involved, it at least has to have some decent fighting..? And it does. Sort of. Corey Yuen has worked with Jet Li and Jason Statham several times, (directed the first Transporter-movie) he is excellent, so I wanted to check this out.

Anyhow. The movie is a comedy, think Kung Fu Hustle, only not funny. Basically it's like a cartoon. With cartoony sound effects, very weird "physics", and so on. It's just silly, like one time: someone is punched way up in the clouds by a tiny woman, and everybody laughs. Weird.

The best thing about the movie though, is still the fights. Doesn't have that much fighting, but the fights are entertaining. Full of silliness, but still fun to watch. A little heavy on stupid looking wire-work, though.

Also there's a lot of good, fake-looking mostly, but good use of CGI. Windows breaking, dents in cars, cracks and bullet-holes in walls, that sort of thing, and it actually really adds to the action. Destruction is always good in action-movies.

But, even with some decent fighting, and big use of CGI, it is still not very good. The story is, well, I didn't really catch the story, as I watched minutes at a time, because let me tell ya, when it's no action going on, it's pretty boring. And it's stupid.

I don't really see Hong Kong movies for

[ritera1 · 5/10 · 12 November 2021]

...nuainced character development and compelling plots.

I watch them because they do action scenes like no other.

But this thing was nonsense flooded with action sequences with everyone on wires walking on shoulders. Stupid and a waste of Jet Li. Actors mugging badly for laughs and failing at every turn.

Worse HK movie I've ever seen.

Rabbits don't come easy

[kluseba · 6/10 · 14 December 2014]

"Badges of Fury" is a short and fast paced action comedy movie which is certainly entertaining but overall disappointingly superficial.

The movie has a clever marketing strategy and includes many cameos by famous Chinese stars which include not only actors but also sportsmen for example. The longest cameo includes Jet Li who appears from time to time in this movie but doesn't really play an important role as the trailers might suggest. Even when he's there, his acting is wooden and lifeless and this could be considered his worst movie ever and I'm saying this as a big fan who has watched almost all of his movies.

The film is also a parody of several Hongkong blockbusters from the last thirty years. Some of the insinuations are funny, for example when the main characters coincidentally capture a fashion icon who is behind online piracy acts. Most jokes are though either silly in a very childish way when we get to hear weird cartoon noises during some action scenes and overacted reactions by some of the characters. These ridiculous noises that seem to be taken off some old Looney Tunes episodes are overused in the first half of the movie and get completely dropped in the second part. Other jokes are simply sexual innuendos as we get to see many close-ups of Liu Yan's big breasts which get a lot of attention from female and male characters throughout the entire film. In general, men are mostly portrayed as dumb and superficial machos while women are mostly portrayed as silly sexual objects. I'm someone who likes to laugh a lot and this includes dirty and slapstick humour but this kind of silly rehashed comedy is nothing but embarrassing.

The action scenes are quite a mixed bag. Most of them are voluntarily exaggerated and feature massive CGI effects that kill any kind of charm that the parodied Hongkong classics have. Still, a few fighting scenes are well executed and filmed. They are filled with adrenaline and grace and use several interesting items as weapons. Even in his weakest movie, an elderly Jet Li can still show off his incredible talent and his acolyte Zhang Wen does a quite convincing job if one ignores the distracting slapstick moments during his fighting scenes. On the other side, the final fighting scene involving Jet Li is overlong and unspectacular.

The plot of this movie is extremely odd. The film starts with three random slapstick murders where the victims all die with a strange smile on their faces. The main suspect of the movie is a shy actress with good manners in her late twenties who hasn't got her breakthrough yet and who was engaged to each victim over the past years. Her sister soon becomes another important suspect as the superficial beauty with bad manners stole each of her sister's fiancés and sold insurances to them that made her a wealthy woman when they died. The unpredictable final twist of the movie where a rabbit gets pulled out of a hat is though so absurd that it even feels misplaced in a slapstick comedy flick. In between the morbidly amusing opening and the forced twist followed by a stereotypical happy ending, a few more plot lines are introduced only to justify many pointless cameo appearances. None of the few potentially promising ideas such as the relationship between the two investigating officers or the meeting of the criminal gang at the beginning of the movie are pushed further. Any kind of character development is completely absent in this hollow movie.

In the end, this movie is bearable because of a few gripping action scenes, a couple of acceptable jokes, a high number of cameos by famous actors and allusions to classics any Hongkong cinephile should know and the fact that one is impatiently waiting for the outcome of the story as the tension slightly increases even if the twist ends up being a huge letdown. Despite its obvious flaws, I was overall very well entertained by this dynamical movie for the reasons mentioned above. I would surely watch it again in a couple of years. Those who are mainly planning to watch this movie because they are expecting an explosive martial arts blockbuster with Jet Li should be careful though and rather rent the film for a reasonable price instead of buying it or going to the movies.

great fun

[tamarbunny · 8/10 · 8 May 2014]

when i saw Jet Li and Corey Yuen together I couldn't wait to see this and i wasn't disappointed, one of my favourite films of all time if Fong Sai Yuk known for it's over the top wire work, quirky humor and a fun ride. This has it all. it felt like a nice call back to early 90's Hong Kong cinema. Looking at the reviews it looks like people were expecting the usual poor quality US films Jet Li has diluted his career with, this film is not that (one persons complaint was the subtitles were too fast... which says it all about that person)even looking at the trailer you can get a good feel for the tone of this film so at least watch that first. Although it doesn't surpass the likes of Fong Sai Yuk, once upon a time in China or Dr Wai it's still a fun hour and a half with some great wire- fu

Funny but ending wasn't so good

[lilo_lilee_yang · 7/10 · 12 May 2014]

Found the movie on Netflix and was excited to watch it, after all, I was a big fan of Jet Li. Before watching it, the synopsis seemed to indicate that he was a main character in the movie, he was even on the cover of it and well.. unfortunately I do have to admit that he wasn't a really big character in here, it seems that even Michelle may have had more scenes.. it's very likely that the production wanted more viewers and so they reiterated that Jet was in the movie and kind of exaggerated his role. *sigh*

The movie wad funnier than I had expected to be though and there were a few times that I was laughing out loud. However some scenes were cut really abruptly & I felt like they really really focused on the fighting scenes a lot, way too much and too long to the point where im shouting in my head "hurry up & get thid over with!" And I rarely ever do that for fight scenes. The end ended (lol) quite too abruptly and was too choppy as well.

Overall some parts were hilarious with funny jokes & I enjoyed seeing Jet as a comical role. I think the biggest issue was editing/being too choppy though.

Funny or not

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 January 2015]

You'll either like the take of the movie or you won't. It tries (and I think succeeds) in being as funny as it can. Of course this is not the best movie ever or anything close to a Jet Li fan favorite, but it's still more than decent. The jokes are OK (if a bit "easy" to put it mildly), the same can be said about the action choreography, which is also very nice.

You will be able to tell, if you like the movie early on. Can you laugh about what's happening on screen? Do you think it's funny? Then go for it and watch it through, but if you don't like it, don't bother watching it (maybe watch the trailer, good indicator too). Humor is in the eye of the beholder ... which is true once again in this case

Fun Movie with insane large famous Asian/Chinese superstar cast

[hengqingzhu · 8/10 · 8 April 2018]

Badges of Fury is a fun movie, even it mark as "action" and has the name of "detective" in it. This should be seen as a purely comedy film, with over the top tone and style of old 80/90's comedy films. If you didn't like those films, you won't like this one!

One of the major selling point of this Movie other then it's old comedy style, is the fact this movie have a huge cast of famous (mostly)chinese stars! Most just on screen as cameo. And there is quite few funny easter eggs and references to other movies. But as with it's star cast, most of these target are Asian pop culture. If you don't follow Asian pop culture, you woun't get most of the jokes and sarcastic lines/remarks.

The main cast is very good. The lady's are main source of real acting in this movie, two main male lead is more and less just there to have fun and making jokes(some land and quite few missed).

Plot is actually good for this type of movie. Well, it was better then I hoped. Just remember don't take this movie too seriously, you will enjoy it just fine.

WANG IS NOT A STUPID NAME

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 18 June 2018]

It appears China has entered the comedy spoof genre with two cops named Wang and Huang, whose English meaning they appear to be aware. The cops are after the smiley face murderer. Huang (Jet Li) is the seasoned policeman while Wang (Zhang Wen) is the rookie. The comedy was all over the place. Some of the comedy was slapstick; sometimes cartoon noises; sometime it was "Airplane" style humor: sometime it was movie spoof. They are capable at laughing at themselves by creating overt anti-gravity fighting. In one scene they come to congratulate the officers for arresting someone who pirated a movie, a serious crime in China, he said with a wink and then flashes an MIB style camera.

Too much of the film is silliness that didn't translate well into western humor. I thought it was a good effort on the part of Chinese film makers and a step in the right direction.

Entertaining, Though at the Risk of Sacrificing Realism for Laughs

[totalovrdose · 7/10 · 5 January 2016]

Despite the cover of Badges of Fury depicting a massive explosion in the background of the two protagonists, never do fireballs grace the screen of this action-comedy. Moreover, despite taking up dominant space on the cover, Jet Li is not the main character in this film. Though there are a couple of scenes where he produces the kind of entertaining martial arts moves he is most notable for, there are other occasions when he is entirely absent from the story altogether, appearing in cameo roles to support the progression of the plot.

Wang Bu'er (Zhang Wen) is a young detective, and despite been partnered up with the grizzled Huang Feihong (Li), he learns nothing from his renowned partner. Though occasionally receiving advice from Feihong, Bu'er is largely arrogant, believing himself to be superior, and blaming the constant failures he is responsible for on other members of the squad, especially the fairer sex. Angela (Michelle Chen) is the detective in charge, though is continuously under Bu'er's scrutiny, and despite his attitude, can't shake the feelings she has for him. Chen is perhaps one of the funniest members of the cast, and takes to the humorous lines well, though at the same time, sacrificing professionalism for immaturity.

At the film's beginning, an undercover operation goes hopelessly wrong when Bu'er jeopardizes everything upon setting his sights upon Chen Hu (Colin Chou), an antagonist from his past, who manages to slip through his fingers. Though viewers may suspect this particular plot would continue throughout, it is immediately abandoned in exchange for a case concerning the inexplicable deaths of several men. The introduction of this case is quite humorous, with each of the victims dying with a smile on their faces. It is later revealed each victim had one person in common - their former girlfriend, Liu Jin Shui (Liu Shishi), an up and coming actress looking for her big break, who at the same time is crushed beneath the despair of losing every man she loves, while being equally hurt by her older sister, Dai Yiyi (Yan Liu).

Liu (the actress, not the character) portrays an unconventional femme fatale, her role, alongside the twists the story takes, making it surprisingly difficult for the audience to comprehend who the antagonist responsible for the many deaths is. As Bu'er struggles with the feelings he has for Shui (safe to say a love triangle begins to form), he begins to suspect that perhaps the only way to catch the culprit, is to put himself in harm's way, by going undercover as her new paramour.

Although Shui is a convincingly sympathetic character, and despite the film attempting an emotional connection with the audience, lack of character development prohibits this. Though the film deserves kudos for its ability to maintain the mysteriousness of the lead antagonist until the end of the feature, Badges of Fury works best as a comedy, however, the slapstick nature of many of the laughs does take away from any seriousness the film attempts to make. Furthermore, some of the laughs generated during character interactions may go over the heads of some western audiences, who are unfamiliar with Chinese culture, one such example being, how an unmarried woman, 28 years or older, is considered peculiar.

Although the fight scenes are enjoyable to watch, it is Wen who steals the show, these moments, alongside the scenes when he is deducing evidence, making him a reliable protagonist, which is quite the contradiction, as he spends half the film being very unreliable. The behavior by those portraying the police seems to be unrealistic in contrast with professional stereotypes, and can therefore make following the film a little difficult. Though one cannot deny the fun audiences will potentially receive from viewing the film (not to mention the number of times jaws will drop at the sight of all the beautiful women), Badges of Fury lacks a certain authenticity for it to be taken seriously, or, at least, appreciated for its story-line.

Madness, Flawed, Fun, Action Packed!!

[Movie-Misfit · 7/10 · 23 May 2020]

With a spate of murders happening across the city, cops Zhang and Li set out to find who is behind them. Their only link is that all the victims were dating the same unfortunate girl. This gives Zhang the idea (and chance) to date her in a bid to lure out the killer...

Badges Of Fury sounds a lot more serious than it really is. The opening five minutes of the flick lets you know exactly what kind of film you are in for. From ridiculous deaths to its nutty opening credits and dodgy CGI, the film yanks at its audience's legs, as if Wong Jing had directed Naked Gun. From the cute and hilarious Wen Zhang dressed in a kilt for a stake-out, to the wonderful Jet Li poking fun at himself and his movies - with his character here named Huang Fei Hong; any fans and critics who have crushed this movie because of its misleading artwork, need to go back and have another go!

The 10 minute mark gives us our first bout of action, with the kilted Zhang taking on the awesome Collin Chou in some Crouching Tiger styled fighting at a roof-top party. The fight soon moves into a stairwell where Jet Li takes over, leaping from floor to floor with some great moves and stunts keeping things exciting. Minutes later, as Li flies towards Chou, leg extended for a finishing move only to be stopped by Zhang, who bursts through the door offering a cheeky (but welcoming) up-skirt shot as he whips out his gun. Of course, his entry leaves poor Jet hanging in the door frame, and lets Chou escape...

While I can certainly see the flaws of director Wong Tsz Ming's first feature, its certainly not as bad as most people are making out. I've seen worse from seasoned directors, and while it may seem insanely stupid, messy and over-the-top at times, no-one would have made the same remarks had this been a product of Hong Kong cinema's golden era. It would have been just another crazy Hong Kong movie. The film is packed with so much outrageous and overly ambitious comic situations, scenes and camera angles, it can only be best described as a live-action cartoon. And at the same time, maybe that's its problem?!?

Written by Charcoal Cheung Tan (honestly), the same man who penned classics such as Once Upon A Time In China 2 & 3, Iron Monkey, The Assassin, and Wonder Seven also wrote The Sorcerer And The White Snake which starred Jet Li and Wen Zhang, in 2011. You would think with movies like this behind him, Badges Of Fury may have been something a little bit better, but at the same time, Charcoal has clearly written this script in a relaxed state and something he didn't really have to take too seriously, often taking inspiration from his past ideas regarding this films action scenes.

The legendary Corey Yuen Kwai handles the fight direction, and while its all practically wire-based with some hand-to-hand among the insane moves, it definitely works and offers a lot of fun. There's a great fight between Jet Li and Wu Jing in an apartment, with Zhang trying to help, only to get hit at every move; the aforementioned stairwell fight; a great battle between Zhang and the wonderful Leung Kar Yan and his friends in what is one of the highlights for me (Leung Kar Yan should definitely be doing more like this); to the epic end fight between Jet Li and awesome Bruce Liang who returns to form harking back to his character in the epic Kung Fu Hustle, and more!

I say kudos to the director for a pretty entertaining film. While not perfect, nor is it anything like the artwork and promo materials may be selling, Badges Of Fury is a murder mystery all wrapped up in some plain-crazy-fun, with a host of great fight action and a fantastic cast list (most of which are cameos). I'll not give away the ending, but I do recommend a watch for anyone who is a fan of Chow Sing Chi or Wong Jing comedies, or simply just to see some great modern day wire-fu action...

The post-credit bloopers let you see just how much the cast and team seemed to be having making it.

Overall: Not to be taken seriously by any means, Badges Of Fury does have its flaws, but proves to be entertaining at the same time!