Half A Loaf Of Kung Fu: Viewer Comments

This is one of those films that people tend to adore or detest. It seems to be about 50 - 50. After Jackie started to gain fame Lo Wei grudgingly allowed him to have most of the control of the movie. I refer to it as "Half A Load Of Kung Fu". Jackie had grown weary of shooting essentially the same movie over and over while Hong Kong desperately searched for a "replacement of" Bruce Lee. Problem was Jackie didn't want to be Lee and he was tired of the Lo Wei type of movies. From the very beginning of the movie you know this is not your standard Kung Fu flick. In the "old days" the opening of films showed off the lead actor's abilities. Jackie used that time to mock virtually everything standard at the time. He even pretends to be a Shaolin (Abbot?) pretending to haul water and chop wood. I did have a couple of good laughs but most of the movie featured such tasteless fare I had to restrain myself from using the "FF" button. Proof that people in the US and Asia have a lot more in common than one might think both seem to have a population that feels passing gas and urination are hysterically amusing. That population does not include me. The funny moments involved using a book to learn Kung Fu - as he was fighting! There is a plot of sorts including mistaken identity, escorting a group that has magic beans...oh wait wrong story, they have magic pills that will cure any illness, Dean Shek who I believe was required by law to be an inept fool in every movie ever made about Kung Fu was of course there and passing the gas. (Think he really made any money out of his *career*?) There was something I can not explain that seems like bitterness with Jackie. It is nothing he says or does and I have talked with others who felt the same. Perhaps for Jackie it was a major catharsis. I had difficulty with the star rating. Reluctantly I chose 2.