Billy Chung and Wong Jing have a few goals and attempts in mind for My School Mate, The Barbarian. Clearly aiming for a younger viewing audience, this will allow some basic script beats and general silliness to have a "valid" place in their frame. Get your good looking, trim youngsters in front of the camera to duke it out under old master Ching Siu-Tung's fight choreography and obviously this is material bound to be green lit instantly. Across the board there's barely a fit or smooth connection between these contrasting elements though and I'm pretty sure it's not due to me being an older target audience. There is a notion out there having to with creating an entertaining film also.

With a very hyper sense containing flashy camera moves and wooshy noises for the kidz, we get an early sense what the action crowd is going to get. Unfortunately this early in the film, with no martial artists present, Ching Siu-Tung seems to (or was forced to) make matters quick-cut, shaky and blurry. Something that doesn't translate into excitement. Going a little Class of 1999 on us with the rampant breakdown in the school system, there's no argument put forth that we have a grave or fun satire from Wong and Chung either. It's environments established as a backdrop for tales of friendship, romance and a stay in school message for the kidz.

Hard to complain about that filmmaking but that's on paper-notions. On-screen, anyone should demand more than what we get in My School Mate, The Barbarian. Suggesting an almost 60s style school romance via the soundtrack and the beats that follow being quite basic, it's Stephen Fung and Joey Yung at center of all this and while it may suffice for a younger crowd, how is one to accept filmmakers just doing? Doing without any sincerity, fun or feeling and I swear Hong Kong ones think that IS enough sometimes. Certainly Wong Jing does and he mixes in cartoonish wackiness to be placed in Joey Yung's character... just to inject another contrasting mood. But the break up of that mood leading into a more dangerous plot (cue Billy Chung presumably) doesn't exactly spell flow. Have to say this though, the moods are in reality not as gravely contrasted against each other as other movies. Why it all doesn't work just has to do with lack of ignition and spark in the overall package.

Even the martial arts genre staples with a master/student relationship and the character of Mantis being a classical inclusion, in regards to that Samuel Pang role we at least get one scene where Ching Siu-Tung can strut his stuff a little. The inevitable fight between Pang and Nicholas Tse goes some amusingly wild places, especially when they bring in a ceiling fan into the mix but derailing the wildness with even more wildness ultimately gets Ching Siu-Tung an F- on the project.

Possibly steered by Wong Jing still infatuated with the Street Fighter games (also see City Hunter), the ending fight is ludicrous beyond belief but probably wouldn't have been so if we had approved of basic narrative tactics that were put forth prior. If you're at the point where you have not, this big balls attention grabber of an end fight just signals doom. No amount of flash or the sweaty hair of Nicholas Tse's moving in slow motion could've or should've saved all of the above.

After being framed for sexual harassment by his ex-girlfriend, prodigious student Edward (Fung) is forced to finish his final few months of education away for the elite. Following a case of crossed wires, Edward finds himself exiled to one of Hong Kong's low level schools which, although frowning upon triad involvement, turns a blind eye to the traditional fisticuffs. He is immediately greeted by one of the local bullies and is soundly beaten in the ensuing duel. Edward is thankfully befriended by attractive student Pheonix, who nurses a secret crush on him, and Stone, a quiet classmate who has a formidable reputation as a fighter. Although having vowed never to fight again, Stone (Tse) is persuaded to train the newcomer in exchange for help with his studies. However, current school fighting champion Mantis wants to challenge Stone's legendary reputation and uses his trainee as a way of getting what he wants. Then there's also the matter of a gang of triads who are keen to exploit the students at the school and agree to avenge the slimey bully who is eventually defeated by Edward in a fight.

Those in search of art rarely gravitate towards a Wong Jing film and 'My School Mate, the Barbarian' does not change this matter. Thankfully though, this is a pleasantly daft film that achieves its objective to entertain. Key to the enjoyment of the production is the now well-developed chemistry between Stephen Fung and Nicholas Tse; after sharing screen time in a number of features, the pair are a natural combination that distracts the viewer from the faults of the film. There are the usual Wong Jing-isms i.e. a screeching female lead, surreal humour that fails to deliver and over-the-top directorial touches, but here there is enough reasons to keep watching. Ching Siu-Tung's action choreography is well-performed by a cast who are mostly not martial artists though the aforementioned stylistic touches by Wong Jing do sometimes detract from the action. 'My School Mate, the Barbarian' is an unusual film that centres on a world of youths (played by actors four or five years older than their characters) that rarely touches that of the adult realm. If the viewer can get used to this, they should enjoy the rest of the duration.

PICTURE: A good solid print that makes up for some of Deltamac's earlier releases. The picture is fairly soft and this is notable in daytime scenes, but most of the colours are quite sharp and have a pleasant amount of detail.