Bruce Li: The Invincible: Reviews

Reviews:
Bruce Li: The Invincible
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by Firefly/Shock

ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
In the early 1970s, the kung fu craze was led by one man: the legendary Bruce Lee. Suddenly, after completing four films, he passed away. This left a hungry western audience desperate for more martial arts action from Bruce Lee. Of course, this was not possible, but Asian movie moguls desperate to keep the kung fu fever alive, invented Bruce lee look-a-likes and the greatest one of these was Bruce Li.

This feature is one of the many attached to Bruce Li (Ho Chung Tao). Disgraced kung fu student Chang Lee Kung (Michael Chan) is banished to Malaysia in the hope that he may redeem himself. Shu San (Cheung Lik) is sent to check up on what Lee-Kung is doing and the report is bad. After hearing about this master Fok and his main student Yu Fong set out to stop Lee-Kung. Not waiting for support from his elders, Shu San tries to stop the evil Chang, but his kung fu skills are far greater.

Yu Fong and his disguised master start destroying all of what Chang Lee has become. The evil student is not able to beat his former master, so he heads for the hills to be protected by misguided tribesmen and apes that are trained in martial arts. With an army like this, our heroes Chu Feng, Master Fok and Shu San are truly involved in a battle to the death.

by Tai Seng

ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
BRUCE LI (Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story) and Michael Chan (The Invincible Killer) go against one another in this actioner inspired by the kung fu legend. When a mercenary abuses the secret fighting technique of "Wonderful Escapement", it is up to the Dragon to set things right. With terrific fights from such luminaries as Chen Sing ("Death Ring") and Chang Li ("The Victim"), "Bruce Lee The Invincible" is a dream come true for all kung fu lovers!

by HK Film
www.hkfilm.net

Bruce Li plays a student of Shaolin kung fu who goes after a former pupil (Michael Chan) who uses his skills for assassinations. This is pretty standard old school fare made a bit better by some solid fight choreography. There's not really all that much to say; this movie really doesn't offer anything new or unique to the mix. It makes for some decent rainy day viewing, but it's nothing worth rushing out to see.

by John Richards

With such a title I came to watch this film with less than high expectations. As competent as Bruce Li is I've found his performances (I must admit to only having seen a few and most of them were nearly two decades ago) to be marred by over the top Bruce Lee impressions. Although I realise that this was the whole point to Bruce Li's career he had enough ability to make a film on his own terms if only somebody had given him the chance. Although they're not gone completely the 'Bruce-isms' fortunately seem to be toned down in this movie. This film is still terrible however.

The plot is pretty straight forward with Bruce Li accompanying his kung fu teacher on a mission to track down and stop a disgraced renegade former pupil (Chan Wai Man) who has risen to become a bit of a kingpin in the Malaysian martial arts world. In the first five minutes we see Chan Wai Man and Bruce Li battle it out in the films introduction. The fight is actually quite well choreographed and lead me to believe that it might be ok after all. And for the first hour it seemed to be. Maybe the plot was a little dull, the acting wasn't great (the dubbing and the dialogue on the version I was watching was terrible which doesn't help) and the film was obviously made on a shoe string budget. However there were some worthwhile fight sequences especially those featuring Bruce Li, Chan Wai Man and Fong Hak Onn. One fight even featured some nice fan moves; definitely unexpected.

And then it all turned so bad. For reasons I won't go into the final climax sees Bruce Li head into the hills to take on a tribe of woodsmen who use apes to guard their camp. My jaw dropped in disbelief as I watched Bruce Li fight two men in the cheapest gorilla suits you have ever seen. Incidentally the gorillas were also competent kung fu fighters (!??!!!). There are some notable fight scenes that come after this (the obligatory nunchaku fight) but by then I couldn't take it seriously. The image of those monkey suits remained.

I can sort of understand how Bruce Li got talked into doing this kind of movie (his filmography includes such quality productions as 'Bruce Lee against the Supermen') but what were Chan Wai Man and Fong Hak Onn thinking?

by Albert Valentin

Cheung Li Kung, a Shaolin exponent, has become a traitor. After fighting with Yuen Kah and Yuen Fong, he learns he has sinned and decides to start a new life in Malaysia. Siu Sang, Yuen Kah's second student is going to Malaysia to work for his uncle. When Kah hears reports that Li Kung is causing more trouble, he asks Siu Sang to investigate and they turn out to be true. When Li Kung kidnaps Sang's girlfriend, Kah and Fong arrive and they must not only rescue the girl, but also seek revenge on Li Kung.

It's a decent Bruce Li film but is it really a Bruce Li film??? For the umpteenth time, Bruce Li is credited under his real name of Ho Chung Tao. The film has its good stuff, including the fights, staged by Ho Chung Tao and co-star Cheung Nik, who plays the young Siu Sang. Chen Sing, aka The Headcrusher, is once again the hero of the film as he is credited first. The flaws include the simplistic plot and a ridiculous element of kung fu fighting gorillas. But here's someone to look out for: Look for Eric Tsang appearing as a villain in Siu Sang's first fight. It took me more than 3 times to finally catch him. Also playing Yuen Kah in disguise is Mars, the Jackie Chan stunt team member, sporting a moustache. A not too shabby film...worth a look at if you like Ho Chung Tao.

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