Drunken Master (1978) Dir: Woo-ping Yuen

An early outing for Jackie Chan, here, somewhat ruined by the crushingly awful dubbing on the version I watched.
The plot:
Chan plays Freddie Wong, an obnoxious young prick-end who irritates everyone he meets to the point that they want to fight him.
Restaurant owners, women, crooks.
Everyone.
Tired of the antics of his son, Wong's father sends him to Beggar So, the Drunken Master, to teach him the error of his ways.
Wong is initially reluctant due to the Masters' reputation for working students so hard they wind up crippled, but soon comes around to the Master's teachings as he sees improvement. Finally, after much preparation, Wong is ready to fight off the villains who wish harm to his father and the family business.
It's tough for me to give this a fair review as the dubbing was so tiresome I began to lose interest. All that can be attested is that the fighting was quite excellent, some of the best I've seen in a Jackie Chan movie, with incredibly complex sequences choreographed to perfection, and only very limited use of wire-work.
Plot-wise, it's drivel of course and, as ever, some of the comedy doesn't translate particularly well, seeming remarkably juvenile but, if I were judging this on the fighting alone it would rate highly, but the talentless droogs doing the voice-over work killed this one stone dead here at Smell the Cult HQ.
Fighting: 5 out of 5.
Movie overall: 3 out of 5.

Shame.

House of Flying Daggers (2004) Dir: Yimou Zhang

From the director of Hero, Yimou Zhang, comes a sumptuous romantic martial arts fairytale that is by turns bewitching, violent and laced with romance.
The plot:
Set during the Tang dynasty in China (circa 600 - 900 A.D.), a narcissistic police officer, Jin, is sent to a brothel as part of an investigation into a rebel group, opposed to the government forces known as the House of Flying Daggers. Once there, Jin is enchanted by the beautiful dancing and martial arts prowess of a young blind woman. Captivated, he attempts to ravish her, but is interrupted when the police burst in and arrest both himself and the blind dancer. Imprisoned, Jin manages to free the dancer and they both flee. With the police hot on their heels, much fighting ensues and, just as all seems lost, a swarm of daggers fly through the air, slaying their attackers.
But who threw the daggers?
And precisely whose side is everyone on, anyway?
Beautifully shot, this is evocative, imaginative, artistic film-making of the highest order.
The stunt work is remarkable and, whilst some will quibble at the amount of wire-work used, this simply lends to the air of the fantastical that the director evokes.
Though occasionally getting bogged down in it's own romantic musings, as a love triangle manifests that can only end in bloodshed, still this is engaging, creative and simply gorgeous to look at.
Very good indeed.

4 out of 5

The Warrior's Way (2010) Dir: Sngmoo Lee

You know, I was only thinking 'tuther day, what this world needs is more Ninja Vs. Cowboy movies and, as luck would have it, along came The Warrior's Way to my local World of Cine.
The plot: Dong-gun Jang plays Yang, finest swordsman in a clan of vicious and feared Ninja's known as The Sad Flutes, a moniker earned in tribute to the sound a throat makes after it has been slashed open. Sent on a mission to wipe out once and for all their most deadly enemies, Yang all but succeeds, but cannot bring himself to kill the last of the enemy clan - a tiny, female baby.
Shunned by his own kind for his act of mercy, Yang travels far, finding himself in America, in a small town called Lode, populated almost exclusively by circus folk. With a tyrannical overlord named Ron (Geoffrey Rush) leaving the population in fear, Yang must try to build himself a new life.
But, inevitably, his past will catch up with him, in a final showdown between Ron's own army and The Sad Flutes, the population of Lode very much caught in the crossfire.
And it's a strange affair, all round.
Mixing humour and cartoon violence, this tries to do too much and ultimately fails to be anything of particular substance. It is, however, beautifully shot, both in terms of the choreography of the action sequences, as well as the backdrops and general cinematography.
And it is not without it's charm.
Dong-gun Jang is a likeable enough lead, and Kate Bosworth makes for a decent foil.
The set-pieces are pretty spectacular, though there aren't enough of them, with the action very much in the comic book ilk, more 300 than The Last Samurai.
Sporadically violent, occasionally amusing, intermittently charming, it's clear to see why this is something of a box office flop, but it is also apparent that it will attract a devoted, cult following.
I quite liked it.

3 out of 5

The Myth (2005) Dir: Stanley Tong

Jackie Chan goes all mystical and mythic on our collective arseholes in this engagingly silly fantasy.
The plot: Our man Chan plays renowned archaeologist Jack (yeah, I know, I know. Just roll with it) who seems to be experiencing two lives at once. The first, his normal if pretty exciting life digging up relics and unearthing ancient artifacts, his second, a world of dreams in which he is an ancient Chinese warrior, set around the time the Great Wall of China was first constructed, approximately 200 years BC.
Inevitably, the two worlds collide, and the heroic Jack must do battle against foes both mythic and mortal to uncover the location of an ancient mausoleum that could yet provide the secret of immortality.
Wilfully silly, this is pure flight of fancy stuff, unusual for Chan, but he takes it all in his impressively athletic stride. Jackie's knocking on a bit by now, already into his 50's, but that doesn't stop him leaping around the set like a thing possessed, the trademark fast paced, close contact martial arts on show, along with his uncanny ability to use whatever is in the vicinity. One scene of genuine Jackie Chan gold involves a fight on a conveyor belt that is coated in super strong adhesive, forcing Chan to improvise, removing articles of clothing from both himself and those around him to navigate his way to safety.
Funny and impressive all at the same time.
Whilst not up there with his earlier movies - Project A, Police Story et al - this is nevertheless something of a return to form after the unwatchable diabolicus that was the Rush Hour franchise.

3 out of 5

Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996) Dir: Stanley Tong

Also known as Police Story 4, this sees Chan's Supercop on the trail of a missing nuclear warhead, a trail that sees him globe-trotting quite impressively taking in, amongst other places, Australia and The Ukraine.
Not much else to say about the plot as, clearly, in movies such as this, the plot is ultimately playing a massive second fiddle to the action in much the same way as a Bond movie; the plot is merely a device used as an excuse to stage ludicrously over the top action set pieces. It's interesting to note that, when planning the reboot of the Bond franchise with Casino Royale a couple of years ago, the Bond team consulted extensively with those responsible for choreographing the action and fight sequences in Chan's movies.
Impressive.
Most impressive.
Chan is his usual, high energy bundle of litheness, springing around the set like a simian half his age, making use of everything in his vicinity to fend off the bad guys including, in one dizzying sequence, a full size stepladder.
The Bond homages are plentiful, the snowbound chase on snowcats through an alpine forest being the one that springs immediately to mind, along with the anthemic, chest thumping incidental music that accompanies it which could have been lifted direct from the Roger Moore era.
Only one small gripe here, which is the principle female lead. In most Jackie Chan movies, the women, whilst poorly scripted, are nonetheless kick ass when it comes to the fighting, more than able to hold their own in the kung fu stakes, and even get to take part in some of the more dangerous stunts. Here, the main female, Annie Tsui, played by Annie Wu, is nothing short of an irritant, constantly weeping and screaming and coming across as a bit of a wet fish, which is a shame.
I am a little puzzled, too, as to the version I watched, which seemed to end bizarrely. I have seen this movie before, though many moons ago, and I seem to recall a rather cool denouement involving a hovercraft, though that was completely absent, the movie ending abruptly after roughly one hour fifteen minutes. Now, I did watch this on Channel 5 (UK) and they can hardly be considered a broadcaster of excellence, though even for them, truncating a movie before the final showdown would be a new low. If anyone can shed any light on this, perhaps reassuring me that I am not entirely deluded, I'd appreciate it.
Certainly not Jackie's best movie, but a diverting enough way to spend an afternoon nonetheless.