While the world was transfixed with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and their countless clones, "Jimmy" Wang Yu was creating several minor masterpieces that have been overlooked by many fans, but still remain as an enormous influence upon today's martial arts films. Along with Jimmy's now classic "One Armed Boxer" series is another under-rated Shaw Brothers epic, "The Return of the Chinese Boxer."
Jimmy has a style all his own. He is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a clone of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan (Indeed, he was a star before either of these actors were well-known). Jimmy excelled in playing a kung-fun Everyman of sorts -humble, resourceful, and wearing a bemused smirk that acknowledged the ludicrous situations that he found himself in. He has been described as "the Cary Grant of Kung Fu," and for good reason.
In "Return of the Chinese Boxer," Wang Yu is a one-man wrecking crew who finds himself the only man up to the task of stopping the Japanese invasion of Qing China. His enemies are formidable - batallions of riflemen, ninjas, and other assorted assassins who all want to kill the Chinese Boxer. Jimmy's enemies are hilarious, colorful, and well-armed...a signature of Wang Yu's films. The Chinese Boxer has to deal with a host of exotic weaponry, including a dozen-barrel shotgun! Of course, Jimmy is able to outfight and outwit them all.
The ending scene is similar in nature to Wang Yu's other masterpiece of 1975, "Master of the Flying Guillotine." Like "MFG," Jimmy the Hero uses his wits as well as his fists to overcome his enemies. The last scene is superbly shot and you can sense Jimmy the Director laughing his head off as this scene was shot.
If you're an Old School Fu fan, then "Return of the Chinese Boxer" is a must-see. Enjoy!
