'Two Toothless Tigers' looks immensely more attractive on paper than it appears on screen. Who would imagine that combining the talents of director Ricky 'Mr. Vampire' Lau, Hong Kong legend Sammo Hung, Yuen Clan action and three of the Jade Screen's most feared villains could be so bland? With a sense that this has been made up by Ricky Lau as he went along, 'Two Toothless Tigers' limps along with the conviction of a tiger that has not only been de-fanged, but also been shot by the most powerful tranquiliser dart known to man.

Much of the problem with this awkward feature is its uneasy attempts to capitalise on the kung-fu comedy boom without showing any real originality or initiative. The comedy is too puerile to charm even on a superficial or guilty level; our 'hero' comes across as a grinning simpleton rather than a comic creation who gains our affection. The overall impression is that Ricky Lau has cobbled this together with little care for originality of honest craft. Even when a hirsute Sammo enters the film , he brings with him little in the way of cohesion or even a guarantee of fight action. Only in the closing frames do we finally get the opportunity to see the portly master show his exceptional skills, but to reach that point we have to drag ourselves through an uninspiring 80 minutes of pointless slapstick.

The few moments of fight action that conservatively pepper this production are the only reason that this disappointing feature is elevated to a three star rating. When the Yuen Clan-inspired choreography starts to appear, there is almost enough excitement to make this a partial recommendation. The key word, though, is 'almost' as this is a mostly tiresome example of how a great cast and a capable director do not necessarily create magic on the screen. Sammo completists or very forgiving genre fans may want to exert the effort to find this relatively rare film, but even they will come away disappointed.

When you pop Two Toothless into the VCR, do NOT be fooled by the goofing about in the first 45 minutes of the film. The choreography in it is among Sammo's (aided by Lam Ching Ying, Yuen Biao, and Billy Chan) best ever, and having one of the finest choreography-performance masters, Yuen Shun Yee, alongside him makes it even more exciting. There are four fight scenes that are all incredibly well done, and their participants rarely look as good as they do here. Seeing how this is an obscure film, I found it necessary to give you a good, healthy portion of the action...

The first fight has Shun Yee in the street, and doesn't count for one of the four great action scenes. It's still fun though; the assailants, led by Tai Po, attack using bamboo staffs, choreographed cleverly as expected. Shun Yee does nothing remarkable but is still cool to watch. He's a lesson in complicated prop usage. Tai Po comes across as his typical moron villian who can't get things straight before he runs in for the attack, and uses a box tied around his neck for a weapon. Very strange.

WAY later into the movie, Shun Yee takes the disguise as the rich noble, who looks just like him! (He plays both roles). In a slumber he's attacked by a talented acrobat whom I couldn't place. He flips around all over the place, and Shun Yee does all his form-based movements to do everything, as though he's in an early "drunkard" Yuen Wo Ping film. There's some undercranking for a couple shots, but it doesn't take away from the whole scene. From start to finish the two roll over each other, do fancy blocks for everything, and toss in some attacks I've never seen before. From here the movie starts up like a gasoline fire.

Shun Yee and Chung Fa go to Lee Hoi Sang's and Wang Lung Wei makes his appearance. It starts with Wang brutalizing countless nobodies (Lam Ching Ying can be seen in there with a nice blow to the face). Awesome power. He's doubled for most of his jump kicks, the hair comes over his face, but who cares? The blocking (actor positioning) is great, and Wang comes across as a monster, rightfully so. Most of his attacks are done with the forearm and hammer fist... ugh, the thought of receiving one of those. Lee Hoi Sang fights Shun Yee for control of the invaluable box and stuff gets wild. Grabs are complicated, Shun Yee falls all over the place, and there's a move where Hoi Sang throws him up face first into the air, and flips him onto the ground on his stomach. Finally, Wang fights Lee Hoi Sang and they go nuts on each other. Hoi Sang uses wing chun moves, and Wang does arm and leg combinations. There's a lot of standing off, which is good, and the whole feel of the fight is quite gritty and realistic, not to mention blazing fast. Hoi Sang is totally destroyed and gets maybe 4 hits in the whole time. This fight is probably the best I've ever seen from him.

Chung Fa's bout against Wang Lung Wei deserves credit as having one of the best-choreographed sequences in mankind (mainly in the beginning). Chung Fa has never looked this good, doing acrobatics everywhere, stuff I didn't really think he could do. He does his standard eagle claw, only with the addition of flips used to grab at Wang's legs and arms. Some goofy business goes on in the middle when he begins flipping through the air, with the camera-in-the-sky angles and all. But other than that it's crisp and clean. Plenty of complex handwork for the hand enthusiasts, and enough acrobatic material for those who want bodies moving around everywhere.

The final scene has Sammo and Shun Yee going against Wang in a tea house, one that looks almost the same as the one at the end of Knockabout. Long and drawn out, it has all the elements of a great fight. Long crazy combinations of hand and leg moves, tons of falls, and a fear felt by the two protagonists that is portrayed flawlessly. Wang is a machine and fighting one on one is pointless, as they discover almost too late. Sammo will fight and scurry around doing any attack he knows, only to meet Wang's foot in the face. When he has him pinned down, he'll try to do a backfall onto Wang and completely miss. Shun Yee hops in while Sammo recovers and does whatever he can, but no trick will do it. Any attack they put up Wang counters with a blow or two, tosses them around, and is ready for whatever's next. They finally have him in a two-on-one which doesn't go very well. Both take huge damage but score a hit or two, and by luck they get him onto the ground. Only when they go outside, and receive some devistating kicks (Wang was doubled for these, watch the clip to see one, you'd think it's Cassanova Wong under that wig) does Sammo put his foot into Wang's groin and put an end to everything. More generally, the fight is amazing; all three put on some of their best performances. Power is everywhere, and any undercranking (minimal) isn't all that noticable once you get into the pacing.

Two Toothless Tigers is among the greatest of the Sammo-and-crew-choreographed films. It's also the best overall performance I've ever seen from Yuen Shun Yee. He and Sammo work perfectly together, and their differences make them awesome buddies. I'm even pressed to say they're a better combination than Sammo and Biao in Knockabout. Lee Hoi Sang's never been better either. And Chung Fa's talent shows brilliantly; HE's never been used so well. Though Wang is doubled for a few kicks, he's menacing, and they couldn't have picked a better man for the villian. The four great fight sequences make the movie worth finding, even though it's so rare.