| Legendary Weapons of China |
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| Culture | |
| Tuesday, 15 May 2007 | |
 Legendary Weapons of China tells the story of a veteran martial arts master named Lui Gung (Lau Kar-Leung), who disputes a technique that purports to make fighters invulnerable to bullets. Because Lui Gung’s stance is undermining a number of martial arts groups, three fighters from various organisations are assigned to find Lui Gung and kill him. These assassins include the young and impetuous Tien Hao (Hsiao Ho), the fierce and committed Ti Tan (Gordon Liu Chia-Hui), and Fang Shau-Ching (Kara Hui Ying-Hung), a woman disguised as a man. But while the three assassins are all highly skilled fighters, they quickly discover that finding Lui Gung is not as easy as it seems. Not only has the veteran martial arts master gone into hiding, but there are other adversaries that the three fighters will have to face.A dizzying mix of intense kung-fu, madcap comedy and death-defying magic, Legendary Weapons of China is, without a doubt, a one-of-a-kind martial arts film. The standout set pieces include an early fight between Tien Hao and Fang Shau-Ching, who are hiding in a cramped attic, an outrageously extended mock fight staged by Mo (Alexander Fu Sheng), who pretends to be Lui Gung in order to impress the local people and make money, and a fight between Tien Hao and Mo, the latter indulging in slapstick kung fu because he is being manipulated via a voodoo-like doll. For many, the tightly edited and expertly choreographed final fight will be the standout sequence in the film, as the combatants utilise every weapon available to gain the upper hand. The opening credit sequence is also terrific, an abstract series of fights that show Hsiao Ho and Kara Hui Ying-Hung defeating numerous adversaries. Every performer gets a chance to display their skills here, both as fighters and actors. As Tien Hao, Hsiao Ho is like a silent comedian, with his deadpan reaction to events around him. He has both a naivety about the world and an eagerness to fight, which gets him into trouble on a few occasions. Fang Shau-Ching is the opposite of this, being far wiser and less impulsive than Tien Hao, observing and assessing events before leaping into action. In his aforementioned mock fight, and in his later confrontation in a row of toilet cubicles (with literal toilet humour), Alexander Fu Sheng as the comical Mo comes close to stealing the film. Of course, many people will see Lau Kar-Leung as the real star of the show here, as he both acts in the film and directs it, juggling drama, comedy and action with the skill of a master who both knows and enjoys his craft. Martyn Bamber |
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