REVIEW:
Lack of any distinguishing features or lead actors hampers this comedic kung fu yarn that features several noteworthy cameos.

Chan Muk Chuen, whose only other notable film is 1977's Iron Monkey plays Ah Tung, a waiter who dreams of learning kung fu. His only chance disappears after being kicked out of a martial arts school where he was only used as a sparring partner. Yet, this experience and a certain natural talent doesn't do unnoticed by the town barber, who happens to be Yu Tu Hai (Sun Jing Chi), a patriot hiding from the king who wants him dead. After Tu Hai fends some thugs off of Ah Tung, the young man doggedly pleads with him to learn kung fu. Having testing Ah Tung's sincerity in a series of comical scenarios, Tu Hai finally decides to teach him. Meanwhile, a powerful fighter named Hai Yun (Chang Yi) waltzes into town and begins challenging all the martial arts schools, forcing them to pay him tribute. He eventually sends his lead crony, played by Eddy Ko to collect money from all of the town's citizens. This leads to a confrontation between Tu Hai and Hai Yun. The villain is actually defeated and sent packing and in a twist on a usual genre staple, the villain is the one who goes off to improve his kung fu as the town breathes a collective sigh of relief over his disappearance. But, he returns to challenge Tu Hai and it takes the combined "monkey style" skills of the old man and his student to match Hai Yun's vicious "snake style."

There really is nothing remarkable about this film. Monkey Fist, Floating Snake incorporates most of the conventions of the era such as comedy and animal styles of martial arts with moderate success. Chan Muk Chuen doesn't even learn the "monkey style" until the film is nearly over and his display of this unique fighting style cannot even come close to matching the fine examples seen in Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979) or Knockabout (1979). It is nice to see the villain running off to train his martial arts, but the fact that he has already been beaten only gives the final bout less impact.

The story is a bore, although an extended cameo by Yueh Hua as a puffed up fighter who loses his nerve at the end of the film is mildly entertaining. Eddy Ko plays a mindless automaton who follows the villain's orders and his character's martial arts stink. Chan Sing (Tiger vs. Dragon) makes a brief and forgetful cameo as one of the school's teachers. Sadly, his one fight appears to have been cut short. Scenes leading right up to the final fight also appear to have been spliced up and the battle just has to take place in another one of those generic valleys for absolutely no reason.

Altogether, Monkey Fist, Floating Snake is a disappointing effort. Monkey kung fu is generally an entertaining and potentially funny style to watch, but this film fails to take full advantage of it. None of the actors, even the veterans give a performance worth watching. Casual viewers should steer clear of this title...