DVD Synopsis: A year after training a young Jackie Chan in the Drunken Fist, Sam Seed returns home to find that his wife has adopted a son (Foggy), Sam dislikes the lad and tortures him mentally and physically. Devastated, the boy runs away and takes a job at an inn where he meets Rubber Legs and his student. He overhears that they are looking for Sam Seed and want to kill him, making Rubber Legs' northern Drunk Mantis Boxing supreme. Foggy returns home to warn Sam Seed, who is then injured by Rubber Legs. Sam sends Foggy to a sickness teacher for herbs to cure him, and the doctor teaches him a dreaded style called Sickness Boxing. Now, armed with this sick form of fighting, Foggy is ready for Drunk Mantis. (94 Mins)

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Views: Originally sold as Drunken Master 2 in many territories, Dance Of The Drunk Mantis should really be the official sequel to the original hit film. I mean, it continues the story of Sam Seed (Simon Yuen) only a year after his adventures with a young Wong Fei Hung (Jackie Chan), was directed once again by Yuen Woo Ping and produced by Ng See Yuen, and although numerous cast members from the first film return, most of them play different roles than they previously did – which was typical of kung-fu movies from this era. But then of course, Jackie brought out his own sequel in 1994 which quite happily continued the story of the young Wong Fei Hung (with Chan having hardly aged a day over the 16 year gap between productions) and thus created a bit of a dilemma as to what really was the follow-up movie. In a sense, both titles could easily run alongside each other in regards to them continuing the stories of their characters – but if you really needed to settle on one, I guess it all depends on who you regard as the titular drunken master. Is it the character of Sam Seed, the old kung-fu master who loves to drink and teaches the art of drunken boxing? Or is it that of Jackie Chan's character of Wong Fei Hung, the troublesome kid who mastered the drunken style in order to beat one of the toughest fighters around (and someone his master, ultimately, could not defeat)? It's quite the predicament I guess, and while Dance Of The Drunk Mantis has more consistency in tone, style, and production design than the more modern Golden Harvest sequel does in comparison to the original, it's more likely that Jackie Chan stands strong as the main connection for most people – thus making his version of Drunken Master 2 the official sequel to today's audience..

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Set 1 year after the events of the original film, Dance Of The Drunk Mantis follows Sam Seed as he makes his way home to his wife. At the same time, Rubber Legs (Hwang Jang Lee) and his assistant are heading to the same town in search of Sam. He wants to challenge him in a fight for superiority using his Northern style of drunken boxing combined with the deadly mantis style kung-fu, against the old master's Southern style. When Sam returns home, he finds that his wife has adopted an adult son, Foggy, who is happy to see his new dad. Hoping to learn kung-fu, Foggy soon finds that his dad is slightly abusive towards him and soon runs away, finding solace with a new master who teaches Foggy the art of the Sick Fist. After a run-in with Rubber Legs leaves Sam injured, Foggy steps into save his dad and helps him escape. From there, Sam agrees to teach him the style of the Drunken Fist, which when combined with the Sick Fist, will help him to beat Rubber Legs' Drunken Mantis in a deadly showdown!

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There's no denying that Dance Of The Drunk Mantis is a highly entertaining and well-made film. And as a Seasonal Production with Ng See Yuen behind it, you would expect nothing else. But it still seems to be missing something that the original Drunken Master had, as well as focusing on the comedy a little more than before. But most noticeably for me, it is the lack of charm of a certain Jackie Chan. It also has a touch of (what I like to call) sequelitis, in that the film-makers have tried too hard to better the first film, which quite often doesn't work in their favour. That said, there's still a lot to love here from the Yuen Clan's intricate choreography to the funny comedy situations, and then there's the incredible Hwang Jang Lee that steals the show for me. I've long been a huge fan of the super-kicker and it was nice to see him having fun with this role, as well as getting to show some amazing kicks and kung-fu. His student is played by the brilliant Corey Yuen Kwai, a man that needs no introduction and another of the Seven Little Fortunes that gained as much of a great start in the industry as his brothers Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung did. Along with co-starring and getting to show some incredible kung-fu – with his opening fight being a highlight on both fighters behalf, and his drunken style against Yuen Shun Yi (Foggy) executed perfectly – Yuen Kwai was a big part of the fight choreography with the Yuen Clan, a relationship that continued over many productions (and had started well before).

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While I always enjoy seeing Yuen Shun Yi on-screen, it's safe to say that he's no Jackie Chan. There's no denying that he's got the comedy-timing and martial moves down to a tee, but there is a natural charm to Jackie that many stars just don't have. Regardless, Shun Yi as Foggy is brilliant and allowed him to show some incredible skills as a leading man. Although he had been in the business for over a decade at this point, most of his roles were as an extra or bit-player in an incredible amount of Shaw Brothers productions, gaining bigger roles from about 1977 onwards with his brothers before Dance Of The Drunk Mantis really gave him leading-man status - leading on to classics such as The Buddhist Fist and Dreadnaught of course. While his on-screen presence would fade around the turn-of-the-century, Yuen Shun Yi would continue his work behind the camera as a martial-arts-director on films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, The Banquet, True Legend, Kung Fu Hustle, and the Ip Man movies. His father however - having starred in over 340 movies during the course of his career - would be forever seen in the eyes of kung-fu fans as the grey haired, scruffy old beggar which was a role that would see him typecast in most of his films for the last few years of his life. That's not to say it was a bad thing, going on to give Simon Yuen (the leader and father of the Yuen Clan), legendary status in the cinematic world and a character that is still copied to this very day. Popular kung-fu star, Yen Shi Kwan, stars as the Sick Fist master and the man who helps teach Yuen Shun Yi the deadly style. Although a great mover and actor in his own right, Yen's moves are elevated to greatness with the Yuen Clan's choreography that gives him some scene-stealing moments. Of course, Yen would go on to star alongside more of Hong Kong cinema's greatest stars including Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Cynthia Khan, and Michelle Yeoh respectively. The wonderful Linda Lin Ying returns after her role in the original Drunken Master, only this time to play Sam Seed's wife and Foggy's mum. Although her time in the film world spans almost 30 years, Linda has only starred in 7 films altogether – yet has impressed with her flexibility and martial arts every time. Her highlight moment here has to be her showdown fight against Corey Yuen Kwai, in a fantastically worked fight that highlights her skills to the max. And although she is doubled a couple of times for the more acrobatic moves, she still proves to carry the majority of the fight and looks great doing so. The ever wonderful Dean Shek returns in his trademark wacky role, this time as Money Bags the bank manager, and the fantastic Chin Yuet Sang gets an extended cameo as a loan shark who think he can harass the subdued Mrs. Seed...

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As mentioned, the choreography for Dance Of The Drunk Mantis is handled by the Yuen Clan. This consisted of director Yuen Woo Ping, star Yuen Shun Yi, brother Brandy Yuen Ja Yeung, and co-stars Corey Yuen Kwai and Chin Yuet Sang, most of who had worked on the original film the year before. Between them, the team take things to the next level with even more intricate moves, speed, and great acrobatics that make every fight of the film exciting to watch. From the opening fight scene with Corey Yuen Kwai to the one-on-one between Sam Seed and Rubber Legs, the team definitely set-out to impress and certainly achieved it. It all leads to an even more impressive final 20 minutes, which sees Foggy reach his peak in training and take on Rubber Legs in the final showdown, is a pretty incredible display of choreography and martial arts from both parties involved. And although many have stated that the doubling of Simon Yuen was distracting to some degree, it's definitely not off-putting by any means. Viewers must remember how old this guy actually was and, in one of his final cinematic roles, still manages to pull-it-off. Producer and writer Ng See Yuen was on a winning streak during this stage of Hong Kong cinema, something that continues to show with Dance Of The Drunk Mantis. While it would have been great to see Jackie Chan return for a sequel this close to the original and at the height of it's popularity, this offering still proves to be highly entertaining and well worth the watch!

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Overall: With a little more comedy than before, Dance Of The Drunk Mantis offers a lot of exciting kung-fu action and should not be missed by fans of old-school movies, Yuen Woo Ping, or it's stars!

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DVD Extras: Audio Commentary by Rick Baker & Toby Russell, Interviews, Rare Footage of Hwang Jang Lee, Drunken Master Deleted Scene, Trailers, Cast & Crew Notes, Restoration Footage