Most of the Kung Fu movies that have kids fighting against adults are unbelievably silly. This one is believable. It is still silly, but a lot of fun.
I will not try to figure out who is who from the names in the cast, but the young boy who seems to be the star is phenomenal. He does some gymnastics that are as good as anything you might see in an Olympic tryout. The fight choreography is better than almost any martial arts movie I have seen with the possible exceptions of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. I would guess this kid did the choreography since he is the one who does all the tumbling. I cannot figure his age, but I would guess he is less than 17 and more than 12. He is the bigger of the two boy stars.
The smaller boy also has some fun as he fights against everyone in the movie. The smaller boy has a sister who is the love interest for the son of the bad guy. Yep, it does get confusing.
The baddest bad guy looks something like Lee Van Cleef. He has a cohort who is the local town bully. There are about a dozen bad guys who have the town terrorized. Sort of a Hong Kong High Noon if you will.
I have no idea if this young guy star is a famous circus performer or where he came from, but I hope he still is active in action movies.
This one is well worth watching for any age. Even girls will like the love story, I think. The lead girl has fast hands and hot lips.
The end scene is nice with a reverse zoom from about a mile away after everyone who's supposed to be bad is dead. The good guys and girls mosey off into what looks like Utah or Arizona. It is probably the outskirts of Shanghai. Whatever.
This one is good.
Tom Willett aka Yonhope
