Chin Lee (Ku Feng) is heir to the mantle of leadership from the ailing old Master of the Hung Clan. He was selected by the clan elders not because of blood relations, but because Chin Lee is a wise and righteous man. When the ill Hung Clan leader finally perishes, another corrupt Hung Clan member, Chen Wei, takes advantage of the situation to blame Chin Lee for their Master’s death. It turns out that Chen Wei has convinced Chin Lee’s power-hungry wife to turn against her husband. And even though she is carrying his child, she sides with Chen Wei because only he is sly enough to set himself up as leader of the clan. As his wife’s true colors become apparent, both she (a martial arts instructor) and Chen Wei surprise her husband and attack him. Chen Wei is also a master of the unbeatable Devil’s Palm technique, and he uses his vaunted skills to deliver a powerful blow to Chin Lee’s knee, crippling the once-favored heir of the Hung Clan. Chin Lee promises to get his revenge, but knowing he is no match for Chen Wei’s Devil’s Palm technique, he goes into hiding and learns to get accustomed to his new status as a cripple.

16 years later, Chen Wei and his wife (who was once Chin Lee’s spouse) have become the powerful leaders of the Hung Clan and money, power, and respect are theirs. Chen Wei has adopted Wei Fen (Cecilia Wong), the daughter of Chin Lee, who is now 16 years old and learning Kung Fu from her mother. Chen Wei does not love his adopted daughter though, as she is the blood of his enemy. The cripple Chin Lee has become a wanderer who hides his pride and problems with alcohol. One day, Chin Lee stumbles across another three handicapped men: A deaf mute (Han Kuo Sai), a blind man (To Siu Ming), and a one-armed fighter (Dai Sai Aan). These three men share a common hatred of Chen Wei, because he has turned the entire Hung Clan into a cruel gang who revel in crippling and maiming others. It doesn’t take much for Chin Lee to convince these three men to learn Kung Fu to help them attain their goal of revenge against the people responsible for their conditions. All three men go through grueling training at the hands of Chin Lee, who obtains a special form of Kung Fu for cripples that can counter the Devil’s Palm technique. A year of training commences and the group, now dubbed the Four INVINCIBLES have become unbeatable masters due to this new handicap style. Chin Lee returns with his group to the Hung Clan palace intent on defeating Chen Wei, thereby reestablishing himself as the new clan leader. However, Chin Lee does not account for the presence of his daughter who does not know that he is her true father. She is headstrong like him and challenges her father to a martial arts duel during the raid. Chin Lee must find a way to defuse the situation if he is to succeed in his mission...

THE FOUR INVINCIBLES is a schizophrenic movie made even more confusing thanks to the weak direction of Hwa Yan. The movie goes back and forth between outright THREE STOOGES-style comedic antics and moody melodrama. The problem is the humor ruins the seriousness and oppressive atmosphere that the director attempts to create. If you view this picture strictly as a martial arts comedy, the violence and grim moments impact the levity. The filmmakers achieved no middle ground. It took three men to choreograph THE FOUR INVINCIBLES and even though the action is not over-choreographed, the fights lack excitement and intensity. The pacing is awkward and the plot progression fails to generate any tension. When the final fight scene in a Kung Fu movie lacks conviction and suspense, you know something is seriously wrong. It doesn’t help that the villains just suck. The rule of thumb for a low budget martial arts movie is that the ending should be exciting enough to justify sitting through it (hundreds of bad movies out there redeem themselves by having totally kick-ass fight scenes).

With all that’s wrong with THE FOUR INVINCIBLES, we should mention the good stuff. Though the plotting, direction, and fighting are lame, the movie crams in every outrageous scenario and clichés that it can. For instance, bathroom humor plays a key part in THE FOUR INVINCIBLES. The movie is outrageous, yes. But is it good—no. The best thing going for this flick is the performance of Ku Feng (no surprises there). Even dubbed with a bad voice, Feng is the only one who plays it straight while everyone else goofs around. His serious performance becomes surreal at times because the drama that he delivers clashes with the foolishness around him. Imagine if Orson Welles ever appeared in a THREE STOOGES short and you’ll catch my drift. Ku Feng proved he can do comedy (check him out in the hilarious CRACK SHADOW BOXER), yet he is the only member of the cast to exhibit depth. The supporting actors succeed in their roles, but their performances are more akin to comedy than anything else. Cecilia Wong brightens things up a bit with her beauty, charisma, and martial arts skill, though her screen time is too limited to save the film...