User reviews

It's great to see Liu Chia Liang still making movies. He has real integrity to his kung fu choreography. This film moves at a good pace, has a few great scenes and ends without us feeling cheated. The cast is energetic and It comes off in spirit like one of Liu's lesser Shaw films. Like his lesser Shaw films, the plot is lumpy and the tone veers from goofy comedy to seriousness abruptly. And like many of his lesser films, the legendary Liu Chia Hui shows up in a supporting role. It would be great to have Liu Chia Liang direct Liu Chia Hui in a starring role again.

What is clear is, however Liu makes his films these days, the Shaw style is gone. The camera work is very competent but doesn't compliment the fight scenes. There is an overuse of extreme wide angles. The actors are very well trained but only Liu Chia Liang has the physical snap that you saw nearly everyone have in the heyday of the Shaw studio. The fight scenes rely too much on editing, probably to cover for the fact that the actors don't have the time to train like at the Shaw studios. Too much Hidden Dragon style wire work.

Enough complaints, we don't get enough of this style of kung-fu film anymore. Watch it, have fun.

When I discovered that Liu Chia Liang did again a movie a few years ago, as a big fan of many of his movies, I was glad...

Unfortunately, this is a melting-pot which is on my opinion (even I had pleasure to see it), a rather very weak one.

Even with my greatest respect to LCL, not very excellent, even not very good nor funny !

Basically traditional Kung Fu and/or comedy, I can appreciate...

An LCL did so fantastic ones, that frankly I'm disappointed...

It's not because the weakness of the plot (almost never mind that, it's alike in many KF stories)...

In the beginning, the movie looks like a dark "cowboy KF movie." OK... hum... why not ?

The first fighting scene between LCL and his son Gordon Liu, as usual in LCL movies is... just perfect ! Fast, imaginative, concise, a good short fight sequence. Super, OK.

A little further, with the next scenes, suddenly I wondered if I had not a strange Alice in Wonderland copy ! Did they make a surprising mistake ? Like if they had burned a part of a complete different film together after the first sequence ?!

It looked to me like if I was in a complete other movie... So I checked out, and no, it seems the movie was a whole one... Incredible !!!

To put it down bluntly, it follows with a stupid comedy part... and then some fighting again... Wow ! What incoherent parts put together...

And so it went on... Some parts are good... and some belong to the low silly comedy.

Still with my respect to LCL, I like him a lot, and Gordon Liu too, but unfortunately, this strange mixture is a big mess...

In fact the only goods things in this movie are their faces and the fights.

Fights like LCL used us, very creative, even if he, LCL, for instance, survives to everything, to remain in the story... (that doesn't bother me!)

But the rest in just a bag of no interest...

Mr Yaguy Tajima's comment put perfectly the finger on the holes of that Drunken Monkey 2002. I agree completely with what he wrote, and advise you to read it (dated 29 November 2005).

But, as I said, I had pleasure to see again LCL and Gordon Liu together, but true, for KF buffs only, and even not sure...

If you like the classical type, like me, please search for Return of the Master Killer (LCL 1980, KF comedy type), or one of my obviously preferred Shaolin Master Killer LCL 1978, more deep.

Not knowing these two, if you liked Drunken Monkey 2002, you just will be enchanted of an incomparable higher level... those two, among many others, show what LCL is able to...

I beg you, Mr LCL, please offer us another one, but not a silly one !!!

Well, let's hope...

8 to 9*** for the fights, say 4 or 5*** for the rest ... 6*** all in all... and definitively not more !

Although this gets some heat for being sort of bland at times, it is still great to see Lar Kar Leung show us even as he ages he can still move around like he did 20 years ago.

Although the comedy will sometimes fall flat on its face, the action alone makes the film worth seeing. Wu Jing should be getting more roles after last years Sha Po Lang, and his skills do not disappoint here either. It's great to see Kuan Chun Chi as the villain. I remember him from Eagles Claw (Tai Seng released this and is also a fun kung fu film), and even thirty years later the man is still ripped!

It isn't 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, but Drunken Monkey is an entertaining film, but not up to the standards of Lau Kar's earlier Shaw Bros works.

After looking at the 5.9 average rating for this movie I gave it a try. Good grief! After ten minutes, I told myself I'll give it another ten minutes or so. I couldn't take it after around 25 minutes. Believe me when I say I love movies and I like all sorts. I don't watch TV - I only watch movies on DVD. There have been very few movies that I simply could not justify wasting my time watching the rest of it. As a matter of fact, I couldn't name one now if you asked me. I admit that by not finishing the movie, I don't have much of a leg to stand on. But I wanted to warn those after me to not waste their time. The acting and story is simply horrible. At first I thought it might be a comedy - they were exaggerating the acting on purpose. My conclusion was that they were serious and that was when I took the DVD out.

It is true many movies from Hong Kong are strange if not awkward in the humor department. But holy crap man, this one takes the cake. I have seen hundreds of martial arts movies, and this one is among the worst.

There are many reasons not to watch this. However, because Lau Kar Leung(Legend of Drunken Master),Gordon Liu(Kill Bill 1&2), and Jacky Wu(The Legend of Zu) are in it, some will watch anyway. But understand before watching that the plot was ridiculously stupid at best, and despite the martial arts talent in the movie, the fights aren't anything to brag about.

And for you martial arts enthusiasts out there, who heard this movie is the first movie made by the re-opened old Shaw Bros studio- you're right. And to all those who heard this movie was a throwback to traditional Kung Fu in movies- you will be sorely disappointed; while they do fight in a traditional style they use wires so much, it seemed like it was caught in limbo between a Shaw Bros movie and a Tsui Hark movie.

Damn this was a disappointing movie...........seriously, go rent Legend of Drunken Master instead.

The last traditional kung fu movie i remember is Tai-Chi Boxer from 1996 with Jacky Wu again in that movie. I've been looking forward to seeing more from the bad sighted wushu expert, and here it is a comeback from shaw brothers of all people.

The name was promising for a start drunken monkey. So you immediately think that its gonna be a sort of mix between Lau Kar-Leung's Drunken Master 2 and Mad Monkey Kung fu, although its more the monkey though than the Drunk. Its great to see that Lau can still hold a kung fu fight sequence after around 40 years in the business. Jacky Wu also shows how he has progressed since Tai-Chi Boxer.

The story keeps with the traditional kung fu themes, its great fun to watch and reminds one of what the Hong Kong film industry earned its name from. I really hope Shaw Brothers releases more.

Its the most enjoyable Hong Kong movie i have seen for along time. I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys kung fu movies and martial arts in general. If you don't it may not be your cup of tea but you could give it a chance anyway.

After watching Drunken Monkey the first time, I wasn't all that impressed, and rated the movie a 6.

But in hindsight, I have to say the action was really good, the kung fu was superb, and the story almost epic - not so much in its content, but in the way it was presented. The movie looked really good in a graphic and cinematic sense, and many scenes are quite memorable. While the plot structure and most of the characterization weren't fantastic, the comedy was after all fairly effective most of the time, and the movie also managed to maintain the serious story quite well.

I have now amended my rating of Drunken Monkey from 6 to 7 - if it wasn't for some very silly things (like, why is the "young uncle" suddenly considered head of the family??), it could have gone as high as 8 (edit: which in fact it now has). The production values were consistently great.

Edit (may 10, '05): Having seen the movie again, I am now up to an 8 rating. Man, these guys take kung fu seriously! The silly things no longer strike me as all that sillly, and I'm growing much more fond of the characters. What a crime that the fabulous Jacky Wu has only done three movies. All three are great; the two others (Tai Chi Boxer from '96 and Legend of Zu from '01) have both earned a 9 rating from me.

Chia-Liang Liu is still under appreciated unfortunately. This movie has great action, great humor, great plot and a great cast. What's wrong with this picture then(pun intended)? Many don't appreciate the old style Kung Fu movie meld of comedy and serious action. The most sterling example of this is Chia-Liang Liu's own Mad Monkey Kung Fu a tear jerker with comedy and action that makes it a classic. Here in Drunken Monkey he offers up not a sequel but a movie in the same vein if not as much a tear jerker. The cast including Jacky Wu's acting is good and at no moment in this movie are you left with time to wonder different as it's paced well. I think many have issues with the comedy aspect, maybe if you are not of fan of classic Kung Fu movies I can see. But that means the likes of Fu Sheng, Gordon Liu , Sammo and many others are not for you. As many of their best movies have strong comedic elements and let's face if life was serious all the time everyone would be depressed. Even the sets and backgrounds were excellent and I found it to be a worthy last movie for one of the best Martial Arts directors and action choreographers in the industry. Farewell Chia-Liang Liu you will be missed!

Set in the 1930's, the movie is about the head of a delivery guard service who faces the challenges of survival in more "modern" times in Canton, China. Man Bill (Man Biao?), a master at Monkeyfist kung fu, confronts Man Pao, a relative about his lifestyle and different vision for the company.

A young heir and his great uncle, a family betrayal, a government agent, drugs and foreign influence are all interwoven into the plot filled with old fashioned kung fu action and humor.

I wanted to watch this movie because of the director, Lar Kar Leung a.k.a. Liu Chia Liang, whose film credits include: "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin", Chen Kuan Tai's "Executioners from Shaolin" Jet Li's "Martial Arts of Shaolin" and Jackie Chan's "Legend of the Drunken Master". I enjoyed the movie.

As a big fan of Lau Kar-Leung, Gordon Liu, and Wu Jing I absolutely loved this movie. Wu Jing will be a face to watch out for in future action movies and it's good to see the old timers still going at it.

The story is a standard Kung Fu tale with signature dumb Asian comedy thrown in. In all actuality I could go without the silliness but it doesn't degrade the movie at all. The title may lead some to believe that this film will have many drunken fights in it but this movie focuses more on the monkey style without so much drunkenness thrown in. Drunken Monkey really feels like the old Kung-Fu films of the 70's and 80's and that's a welcome surprise. The last action scene of the movie (that last like 30 minutes) is simply amazing and this movie is worth seeing for it alone, although the movie as a whole is great too.

Overall this is a very enjoyable Kung Fu film with some old and new faces throughout. I'm glad they're still making old-style martial arts films.