CHOY LEE FUT

Vicol HK Blu-ray Synopsis: Having taken his father Chen Tien-lai's advice, Ying-jie decides to return to China to try a new start, together with his Japanese friend Takeda. When they start practising Choy Lee Fut kung fu from Master Chen Tien-hong, they learn that Tien-lai consented to sell the martial club to Pan-American International Investment Group. Pan-American challenges to a fight which requires the Chens to hand over the martial club if they can't prove their value of being. In the process of pre-battle preparation, Ying-jie's courage and persistence catch the attention of a beautiful appraiser and martial arts consultant of Pan-American, Yu-fai. However, Yu-fai's admirer Zuo Zhang-hong, also a fighter, is upset at this and becomes fiercer in the duel. No one knows the true reason why Mr. Chen intends to sell the club, until the day... (93 Mins)

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Bonzai US DVD Synopsis: Martial art legend Sammo Hung is back playing the master if the Hung Gar style in a new martial arts movie called Choy Li Fut (Southern Chinese form of Kung-fu). Also whenever Sammo Hung is cast in the same movie as either Yuen Wah or Shaw Brothers legend Lau Kar Wing. Main roles will be played by Kane Kosugi (son of the most famous ninja Sho Kosugi) Choy Li Fut school is being challenged by a rival school. Hung and Kosugi enter a martial arts tournament to save the future of the school. (93 Mins)

Views: Where do we start with this 2011 martial arts-drama? A simple tale rival kung-fu schools, family, and brotherhood with a golden cast that really should have been a bigger hit among fans – but where did it all go wrong? Well...

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The film opens in 'London' where we are first introduced to the two main characters of the story. At first, I didn't know where it was having just came back from London two days ago (after attending the premiere of Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Soccer) and nothing here reminded me of it at all. Of course, that would be because these scenes were actually shot at Thames Town in China; a development just outside of Shanghai designed to replicate the British capital, and a place I look forward to visiting when we get to Shanghai in 2027. Confusion aside, this is where we meet the handsome Sammy Hung (son of Sammo) as he does his newspaper round. Stopping at a restaurant for his 'usual', we then meet the equally handsome Kane Kosugi, his best friend. Within seconds, a gang burst into the place as the give chase to a solo victim. Putting their martial arts to the test, the friends unleash a flurry of moves to save the guy – but also destroy the place in the process. It's a fun fight that triggered some memories of Jackie Chan classics from the 80s but, as expected, Kane is fired on the spot! As they leave, with Sammy forgetting his newspaper bicycle, they walk through the streets of London where Kane just happens to mention that he wants to learn (specifically) Choy Lee Fut. Sammy seems surprised since, surprise, that's the kung-fu he has trained in at his family school. Arriving home alone, Sammy later finds his father (Sammo) waiting for him, requesting that he returns to China for a better life. Sammy agrees and soon heads back east, this time, with his bi-lingual best friend in tow. The rest of the story is about the pair learning to be the best in Choy Lee Fut while a mega-conglomerate tries to land the sale of the school, leading to a tournament that will decide who keeps it!

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Honestly, for me, the biggest let down with this movie is the script; written by first-timers Zeng Chun Hui, Ye Feng Jin, and Wan Li who wrote and directed four of his own features back in 2000. Often coming across as ridiculous, immature or just simply nonsensical at some points, Choy Lee Fut might have came across a bit stronger had there been a bit of experience behind among the writers. The next would be the fight action! Here, we have the great Sam Wong listed as the action-director and co-director of the film; a veteran of Hong Kong action cinema and official member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He'll be most noticeable to western fans as the PRC coach who spars with Jackie in Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), and has been choreographing action since the late 1980s. It was nice to see him play a decent role here also as the menacing Qian Xing. He is assisted by Luo Cheng, who appears as one of the Choy Lee Fut team assistants here, and who had starred alongside Wong in Forbidden Kingdom (2008) as part of the same gang. This seems to have been his next and only gig although he did return over a decade later to choreograph the action for The Fallen Bridge (2022). While the fights aren't completely awful – with those that are capable still getting to show their skills and abilities on-screen – the majority of them have been filmed with angles and fast-cut so much, that the edits lose a lot of what the talent as to offer. That, and the mundane music that accompany them. Thankfully, they get better as the show rolls on and we're treated to a pretty decent tournament in the final third of the film...

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Sammy Hung leads the way as the leading man of the piece, Chan Wai Yip. I like Sammy! He's handsome, got a nice screen presence, and some pretty sweet moves – but then again, what would expect from the son of a Hong Kong action legend! While definitely not as active as his brother, Timmy Hung, in the film business, I always enjoy seeing him on screen. From bit-parts in films like The Medallion (2003), New Police Story (2004), Dragon Squad (2005), and A Battle of Wits (2006), to his starring roles in the awesome Wing Chun/Legend of Twins Dragon (2007) television show, The Storm Warriors (2009), and films like The Viral Factor (2012), Firestorm (2013), Dragon Blade (2015), Call of Heroes (2016) and more, he rarely fails to entertain and, like with Choy Lee Fut, works with what he's be given to the best of his ability. As for his father, Sammo Hung, on the other hand, his role here as Sammy's on-screen dad and master is more of a guest appearance than anything to be honest. Thankfully, we do get to see him trade some moves with his old friend (and equal legend of the industry) Yuen Wah; albeit while slapped onto a CGI background and heavily edited! Yuen Wah stars as his brother Chan Tin Cheuk, uncle to Sammy and second master of the kung-fu school. His role is a little bigger than Sammo's and, as always – no matter what the role – Wah seems to be having fun with it. The awesome Kane Kosugi, son of original ninja movie star Sho Kosugi, co-stars with Sammy as his best friend who moves over to China with him in a bid to learn Choy Lee Fut. Having been acting since he was 8 years old, Kane has always proved to be an incredible and underrated martial arts star in his adult roles. Having starred in over 50 episodes of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994) and had a brief cameo as a commando in Jackie Chan's Who Am I? (1998), Kane made a splash with Muscle Heat in 2002, going onto appear in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), War (2006), Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear (2013) and so much more. Here, he gets to show his talents aplenty and steals the show when in action!

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All are joined by the aforementioned Sam Wong, Brit-kicker Ian Powers who would join Sammo again later in Naked Soldier (2012) and join Sammy again in Dragon Blade (2015), Wong Ka Lok, Wang Jiayin who plays Sammy's love interest (which was such a weak side-story), Sammy Lau – son of the incredible Lau Kar Wing who, himself, cameos here and gets to bust some moves at the same time. In fact, it's probably worth noting that, even though he has acted in a handful of films over the years, Sammy Lau is behind the screenplays for Hong Kong classics like The Untold Story (1993), Fearless Match (1994), The King of Robbery (1996), Full Alert (1997), The Suspect (1998) and The Untold Story 3 (1999) among others. And finally, the great Dennis To gets a cameo on a CGI background as the young Choy Lee Fut master in a flashback! All in all, this is a film about pushing the history and art of Choy Lee Fut, but I just wish it had been done a bit better. Beautifully shot in Guangzhou and showcasing some gorgeous sights – many of which we clearly missed on our last visit there – the film was co-directed by the aforementioned Sam Wong Ming Sing and Tommy Law Wai Tak, two film-makers that should have known better with the latter having directed 9 of his own works prior to this, one of which was the fun Osaka Wrestling Restaurant (2004) starring Sammo and Timmy Hung. But he was also the assistant director on films like King of Gambler (1990), The Transmigration Romance (1991), Madam City Hunter (1993), Burning Paradise (1994), Best of the Best (1994), Ghostly Bus (1995), Fulltime Killer (2001), Seven Swords (2005), Fatal Contact (2006), and Bad Blood (2010). So, as I said, they should have delivered a much stronger piece. Regardless, it's not completely unwatchable and does entertain for the most part, but old school fans of Hong Kong cinema (like myself) will definitely have something to say.

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Overall: With the amount of talent involved, Choy Lee Fut should have been a winner. That said, it is worth the watch at least once, especially for the stars involved!

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Vicol Blu-ray Extras: Interviews with Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah, Trailer, Image Gallery

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