REVIEW:
In the stylistic and comedic vein of Flying Dagger (1993) and Butterfly Sword (1993) comes Handsome Siblings, a visual feast of color and movement with a strange mix of low brow humor and romantic drama.

In this daunting period fantasy, Andy Lau plays Fishy, the son of a powerful martial artist who is rendered a vegetable after defending his friends from Eva, a wicked woman warrior. Those friends who have been wrongly branded as villains raise Fishy and train him in all the martial arts skills they possess over the next 18 years. Meanwhile, Eva has chosen a female pupil to train who is named More (Brigitte Lin). Now a young man, Fishy and two of his guardians go out into the world to enter a martial arts competition which will determine who rules the martial arts world. Along the way, he saves a young man named Yin (Miu Kiu Wai) from the grasp of a seductress (Josephine Koo) and meets More for the first time. All three end up as contestants in the competition, but Fishy and More fall in love which leads Eva to poison her pupil in order to get her to fight. Yin ends up winning the competition by default after conspiring to have his father killed who was also a contestant and tricks two powerful twins into giving him their potent Iced Fire Palm technique. In order to get their revenge and escape a trap set by Yin, the pair cure More of her poison and train her and Fishy in the Couple's Sword stance which is the only technique able to defeat Yin.

With a plethora of humorous gags, kinetic action, and bold imagery, Handsome Siblings is certainly engaging. Andy Lau, who has proved himself time and again as a competent star, pours on the charm with a constant barrage of fast-talking wit and site gags. Although this film's central event is about a martial arts competition, martial arts in the film is manifested as all wirework and special effects with a twist. Our hero is basically a mischievous clown who initially hopes to get his hands on Brigitte Lin (literally). He carries around a fake arm that gets ample use (I'll leave the rest to your imagination). Lau's guardians are played by Ng Man Tat and Deannie Yip who also display lots of buffoonery. Like most of her roles, Lin plays it pretty straight, but she's as commanding a presence as ever.

The visual effects and stunts are nothing short of spectacular. Although numerous films in the early '90's shared many of the visual traits with this film, this is still a stand out effort. The color schemes and lighting are rich and inviting. The wirework and choreography that includes direction from former Shaw Brothers alumni, Phillip Kwok takes this type of action about as far as it can conceivably go and the extreme nature of it compliments the wacky humor well. Easily my favorite visual is when Brigitte deflects an oncoming flying handle with a single drop of water which proceeds to knock Josephine Koo back. Words cannot do it justice.

Not everything is hunky-dory with this film. The dialogue veers dangerously towards the kind of Cantonese comedies that generally leave most foreign viewers scratching their heads while trying to keep up. Some of the humor is doubtless lost in the translation. Some of the humor that isn't may be down right offensive to some viewers, especially the bit about Ng Man Tat shagging a horse while under the influence of an aphrodisiac. Also, the almost non-stop wirework and fantasy effects may frustrate fans of more classic martial arts action. Lastly, the romantic relationship between Lau and Lin becomes a bit corny towards the end. Considering how little the film takes itself seriously early on, its hard to swallow that Lau would bother to marry a dying Lin, or that Lin could actually die at all.

Fantasy and Brigitte Lin fans will definitely enjoy this film. Don't expect any actual martial arts or depth, but Handsome Siblings is still an essentially fun trip.