Last Hero in China
Director: Wong Jing
Year: 1993
Rating: 7.0
Yes, this is the film where Jet Li dresses up
as a rooster (or is it a chicken?). I don’t know who felt more embarrassed
- Jet or me. Here Jet Li takes another go at portraying the same character
that he played in the earlier Once Upon a Time in China series – Wong Fei-hung.
This version though is directed by Wong Jing and it becomes evident fairly
quickly that this film is much more Wong Jing than Jet Li. Much of the film
is played for light entertainment and large stretches go by in which Jet
goes on a coffee break and the other characters take over. The action (choreographed
by Yuen Wo-Ping - Wing Chun/Matrix) though not abundant is very imaginative
and fun to watch with a heavy reliance on wires. There a couple terrific
set-pieces though. The comedic bits were not terrible by any means – some
of it was amusing – but not really what I want out of a Jet Li film.
The film begins with Jet Li at the Canton
train station waiting for Auntie Yee to arrive. He receives a note sent
from her explaining that she has had to go elsewhere to report on leaders
of the Boxers (so no Rosamund Kwan for this film), but in fact the three
members of the Boxer Association on the run from the police are at the train
station and take Jet as a hostage. Need I say that this was a poor decision
on their part? In a nice little action scene Jet effortlessly disarms them
while carrying flowers in one hand and a baby in the other. Much of the next
fifty minutes is Wong Jing time with Jet moving his school inadvertently
next to a brothel run by Natalis Chan. One of Natalis’s relatives is Anita
Yuen and in a funny scene she and one of her colleagues try to seduce Jet.
Even a musical number is thrown into the pot - a light I assume ribald version
of the classical "On the General's Orders" which makes its way into most
films about Wong Fei-hung.
Another plot thread begins with the appearance
of Cheung Man and her father. They are looking for her sister who has been
kidnapped. Their investigation has led them to a temple where it turns out
that the monks are in cahoots with the authorities (who are secretly Boxers
as well) to sell many girls into slavery to south Asia. Finally, Jet is
drawn into stopping this conspiracy and while trying to rescue Anita on
a cross has a wonderful kung-fu duel with the great Gordon Liu Chia-hui that
takes place on, over and under a wooden plank bridge at light speed. Later,
Jet Li enters into a Lion Dance festival. I have to admit to having a weakness
for these ornately costumed and beautifully choreographed dances. You can’t
go wrong with them as far as I am concerned and especially with Jet Li doing
the honors. The main bad guy (Alan Chui Chung-san - in total manic crazy
mode with one of the best bad guy laughs in the business) and his crew show
up to do battle with Jet.
Alan comes outfitted as a centipede with
a flame-thrower and Jet is unable to figure out how to beat it and loses
the competition. Later he sees a rooster killing a centipede and regrettably
decides to come back to the competition dressed as a rooster – beak, claws
and all. Actually, the last fight is terrific as Jet goes from kung-fu rooster
to drunken master. Along with the fights, he and Alan trade insults, naming
stances and kicks and punches. It iis a treat. Also in the film are his two
main disciples So and Fu played by Dickie Cheung with the buck teeth and
Leung Kar-yan, Kingdom Yuen who is the mamasan and look for Wong Tin-lam
as one of the government officials who in real life is the father of Wong
Jing.
This is a difficult film to judge. It
certainly has some good action sequences, some decent comedy – but I would
not say it is really a good Jet Li film – if that makes any sense. In many
ways it is more of an ensemble piece with a lot of the actors getting time.
This of course means that Jet gets less time. Take that as you may. But
over all an entertaining film which is what Wong Jing is all about sometimes
to the betterment of mankind, sometimes not! This was the beginning of a
nice collaboration between Jet Li and Wong Jing which included his most commercial
and at times nutty films - Kung Fu Cult Master, The New Legend of Shaolin
and High Risk.
