drunken master II is without a single doubt, the finest jackie chan film you will ever see. made in 1994, jackie is starting to look a little older than in some of his earlier movies, but from the action in this film you'd never know it. amazing choreography, right from the start, and fights all the way through to the end, ending in one simply breathtaking 20 minute fight. those who know me know i don't enthuse. so this must be good!
jackie chan plays chinese legend wong fei hung, although he is not taking the actual story from legend. jackie is on a trip with his father to get some ginseng, as his father owns a the local chinese medicine store. on the trip back, his ginseng gets mixed up with a chinese national treasure, and from there, the fun and games start. i won't bore you with the plot, as it's generally just what ties the fights together, but having said that, it's actually pretty good. and i don't mean compared to something like first strike - that has confused me five times now.
the first fight is between jackie and the guy who mixes up his national treasure with jackies ginseng. this is a good opener to the film, with broadswords and spears under a train, and then in the old guys house.
the second fight is between jackie and his friend over which of their styles is better. jackie mustn't use drunken boxing as his father forbids it, but it's a pretty good fight. it ends in a draw, but jackie gets his minced fish maw for free! yeee!
the third fight is i think where one of jackie chans mums (anita mui, who in real life is younger than jackie) friends gets her purse stolen, and jackie chases them and gets it back. however, he bumps into a mean person who starts to fight jackie, with three other baddies. this time, his mum, trying to drum up a little interest in the medicine shop tells jackie to use drunken boxing, and then gets him loads of wine and brandy. jackie gets tipsy and thrashes his opponents, but then mistakenly strikes his father who happened to walk by. a very good and energetic fight sequence.
the fourth fight, the old guy comes back to get his treasure, and jackies mum fights him, then jackie fights him, then jackies dad fights him (after jackie fakes injury to make his dad fight) and then they are friends when jackies dad asks him who he is.
the fifth fight is between jackie and the old guy on one side, and about 50 axe yielding maniacs on the other, in a tea house. wicked fight scenes, plenty of action and extras getting hurt as they fly onto tables and big wooden rafters, and jackie gets busy with a bamboo cane, and when the end splits open, it becomes an even more effective weapon. this fight needs to be seen.
the final fight is a multi layer affair, first with jackie and friends against some mean guards, then jackie against a big american with a chain, then against three more fighters, then against the mean person in fight three, and lastly against kicking ken lo. this guy deserves a chapter all to himself, but i cannot find much information about him. |
