Many Hong Kong film fans will groan audibly like
someone stepped on a bunion when they see that Lo Wei is directing a film.
His reputation from his work with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan has stayed with
him all these years like a bad smell. I am just the opposite though. When
I see his name in the director's slot, it pleases me to no end. His films
are usually great fun, full of twists and turns and often female centric
giving them good action roles. I think you could argue that the criticism
that focuses on a few films is way overblown - those films are not that bad
and they made Bruce Lee famous around the world. But ignoring those films,
his work with the Shaw Brothers was always solid and entertaining whether
of the wuxia variety or his spy films. He moved over to Golden Harvest at
their beginning in 1971 and helped get them on the map with a series of fine
films - The Invincible Eight, The Shadow Whip, The Comet Strikes, The Hurricane,
Back Alley Princess and many others. He directed Jackie in seven films -
it may not be the Jackie so many came to love a few years later but Jackie
gets to strut his stuff in these films. None of his films are rightfully
considered classics but they are much more than workmanlike. So, when I saw
that he was directing this film I had hopes. And it more than meets them.
Having no knowledge of this film, I had no idea what it was even about but
it turns out to be another female oriented wuxia film and it is splendid
fun. A good plot, excellent actors and enough old-fashioned sword action
to fill the heart of any action junky.
A disaster has hit a region in China and
money is needed to help the many who have been hurt and made homeless. There
isn't enough aid coming to them so the Black Butterfly decides to take things
into their own hands. BB starts stealing from the rich in a ninja style purple
outfit and mask hiding their identity from the people and from the audience
- though you would have to be in a coma not to guess who it is. The BB jumps
over walls, hides on the ceiling, eludes guards and stealthily gets away
with the valuables. The first victim is the head of Five Devil Rock (Lo Wei)
where BB breaks into his vault and takes an umbrella's worth of gold. This
does not please him and he sends out two of his men (Jade Face - the always
rotten Chen Hung-lieh and his equally rotten friend Smiley Devil - Han Ying-chieh)
to find out who the BB is
The law is after BB as well and Xi Lang
(Yueh Hua) has been ordered to bring the criminal to justice. He suspects
it is Drunken Beggar (Yang Chi-ching) because he bought rice to feed the
poor. Drunken Beggar spends most of his time voraciously drinking in a small
inn run by a martial expert (Tien Feng) who has retired and who has a sweet
daughter Bao Zhu played by Lisa Chiao Chaio. She is everybody's pet, made
fun of for her awkwardness and softness. To no one's surprise, she is of
course Black Butterfly who was trained secretly by another martial artist.
Working for the owner are Little Poue and
Little Tiger played by Fan Mei-shing and Ku Feng. It really is a hell of
a cast. Chiao Chiao was enormously popular back then after One-Armed Swordsman
as Jimmy Wang-yu's love but as far as I know she usually stayed out of the
action. Here she is right in the middle of it. It has a great set-piece to
end with. Every one of these guys including Drunken Beggar who is of course
more than he seems shows up at Five Devil Rock and fight off wave after wave
of bad guys coming at them in various colored outfits and weapons. At times
Bao Zhao - who by now everyone knows is BB - just signals the boys to pull
back and goes in alone and kills everyone. Good stuff. My kind of stuff.
Seen on vcd.
