Kung Fu Chefs

                                                     
Director: Ken Yip
Year: 2009
Rating: 5.5
Before you complain to the chef of a Chinese restaurant about the food not being cooked correctly, remember that he may also be a kung fu master. Many of them are, at least in the movies.  And movies do imitate life, right? Though I can't cook a lick - delivery services are my Gods - I do enjoy watching cooking movies. Especially Chinese ones like The Chinese Feast, God of Cookery, Shogun and Little Kitchen, Magic Kitchen, Four Chefs and a Feast and of course from Taiwan there is Eat Drink Man Woman; from Singapore Rice Rhapsody and Final Recipe. Great dramas are built around the cooking, often a cooking contest and some action on occasion. This is pretty enjoyable both from a cooking perspective and a kung fu one. Lots of both. Fortunately, I was stuffed on Japanese vegetable curry, so I didn't suffer from hunger pangs while watching. Otherwise, I would have been ordering cabbage soup by the end.



Sammo plays a master chef who is betrayed and sabotaged by one of his underlings while cooking for a banquet. The betrayer does it on behalf of Sammo's nephew and rival played by Fan Siu-wong. The betrayer is played by Sammo's son, Timothy Hung. Sammo is blamed for poisoning the customers and has to go into exile. Though not before he takes on all his chefs with blades and kicks them to the curb.  One day he walks into a restaurant owned by Cherrie Ying and her sister Kago Ai (once a member of the popular J-Pop group Morning Museum). He tastes the tea and declares the water came from the Three Rivers. That impresses them. Then orders cabbage soup. One taste and he asks for the check. Cherrie asks him what is wrong - the cabbage was cut the wrong way. He makes it and everyone basically orgasms. Like me with Indian food if the curry is spicy enough.



She hires him and he brings on a disciple, Vanness Wu, who also has some kung fu moves. As does Kago Ai. The nephew blames Sammo for forcing his father to leave the village years before and is out to ruin him. There is of course the contest to see who is the best Chef in China! Vanness goes against Fan Siu-wong's man played by Lam Tze-chung (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle and often named Fatty in films). Meanwhile Sammo has to take on about fifteen knife-wielding killers.



The choreographer is no slouch - the legendary Yuen Cheung-yan of the Yuen Clan. Sammo is clearly being doubled quite a bit but is also clearly doing much of the fighting. This is fairly low-budget, easy going and mellow - not even sure it was in the theaters - but always a pleasure to spend time with Sammo - and sadly I didn't learn to cook any dishes. Not even Wu-jo's 8 Treasure Duck or Globe fish. Next time I will pay more attention, The film is directed by Ken Yip (Shaolin vs Evil Dead: Ultimate Power).