| Fei Fei's (Angela Mao) clan is taken out so she poses as a man to trick a team of old masters (one literally looking like a beggar and the other is a drunkard judging by the red nose) to teach her their various forms of kung-fu. A lot of forms and styles, high pitched noises as dialogue, Dean Shek but more importantly Jackie Chan choreographed action later, Dance Of Death sure adheres to genre staples. Mostly in the worst of ways as this on autopilot-filmmaking is not a pretty showcase. Especially not when the included pieces simply doesn't gel but are performed anyway. Director Chen Chi-Hwa (Shaolin Wooden Men) seems to interfere a whole lot by favouring the comedy angle to the kung-fu but evidence of a Jackie in development is apparent too. With Mao clearly not a good fit for being a kickass clown basically, the various battles of slapstick mixed in with the fights are slow, stiff and very unfunny concepts. When you decide to let Dean Shek dominate within all this, employing the Pink Panther-form (cue expected music) and fart-form, shaking your head in disbelief won't make the choreography go faster. As the dual masters count which forms of theirs Angela Mao's character is using (it's their little contest between them), the trajectory of Dance Of Death is heading downwards fast but Jackie features fast, hard hitting, acrobatic and straightfaced choreography by the time we reach the end. Nevermind the actual concept of the dance of death, finally Angela Mao is immersed perfectly in the epic, superbly intricate scraps against Ga Hoi and Sun Jung-Chi. It's reference material material that many should and will favour instead of the feature. |
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