Once Upon A Time In China 5: Reviews

Hong Kong Master filmmaker Tsui Hark continues the 'Once Upon a Time in China' saga with the 5th part. Although far from being a successful film, it is still worth a place if you own the rest of the series and are eager to see this one. This time again, we have Chiu playing the part of the legendary Wong Fei Hung.

All 6 films in the series are set in the late 19th century and usually imply politically themed storylines involving the country militia's defense against any foreign invasion or gangsters based in China. Whilst sometimes biased, the action-adventure plot will lead viewers away from this to a fairly enjoyable film - just don't expect maximum results however!

As more corruption occurs from foreign powers or country bandits, we now see Wong Fei Hung and some of his heroic students/relatives face the bloody war against pirates in the South China Sea. Due to lack of justice in the country, many government officials and the Empress Dowager abandon their positions and become traitors in society.

Wong and his courageous but sometimes hapless outfits attempt to uphold justice by joining forces with a court magistrate and his group of henchmen as they struggle to survive in a deteriorating court hall and suffer in poverty but still remain loyal and trustworthy at the same time. Aunt May (Jean Wang) and Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) also feature showing their love interests for Wong throughout...

Due to a fallout between former Wong Fei Hung actor Jet Li and director Tsui Hark, the younger talented performer Chiu Man Cheuk was given the lead role as legendary Wong Fei Hung in the 4th and 5th parts. Both are Wu Shu practitioners and it wouldn't be right (nor fair) to put the two in comparison as they both have different values in acting/performing in film. With Jet slightly more experienced and his international status secured, Chiu today still remains underrated sadly and only makes very occasional appearances in movies and like many others, focuses on TV and simultaneously drifts away from the industry.

Also reunited to the film is Hung Yan Yan who plays the Northern style practitioner of kicking; 'Clubfoot'. As ever Kent Cheng also returns as the legendary Lam Sai Wing for the last time. Sadly the original 'Leung Foon' and 'Buck Tooth So' actors (Yuen Biao and Jacky Cheung) only feature in the first film and have since then been replaced by Max Mok Siu Chung and Roger Kwok.

Personally, the film could do without the sloppy acting. Of all the parts in the series, this will likely be worst part I'm afraid. Other fans may disagree but I did hold my feelings before my first viewing in result of frequent negative feedback from dissatisfied fans/critics. Slightly disjointed production makes this film a failure. Even it's following sequel 'Once Upon a Time in China and America' did well and remained a faithful production (likely due to the inclusion of top action choreographer Sammo Hung and the return of original actor Jet Li)!

Most or all cast members rely on wires a lot; Chiu in particular. For those that hate the frequent use of wire-fu (like me), you better look elsewhere as action choreography will be nothing new. This unexpectedly is joined together with the common use of firepower battles and somewhat intolerable violence compared to the rest of the series. The fact that Chiu sustained a serious injury during production may explain why wire-fu was frequently used for his character (this maybe questionable if he was injured after the making of 'Once Upon a Time in China 4' - a lot of wire-fu featured in that part of the series).

Other things that compliment the movie quite badly is the sometimes teeth grinding comedy and weak screenplay involving Wong's students. They can become of major irritance and be quite distracting to the film's realistic value.

It's a disappointing movie... but it's actually not bad. I wouldn't recommend this to a casual viewer however. To me, it was a guilty pleasure.

Lao Wen Zhiou returns as Wong Fei Hung with a much improved and more convincing performance. A softer Rosamund Kwan returns to the series as Aunt Yee and Jean Wang shows up as her sister, Aunt May (she confusingly played Aunt Yee in part 4). Kent Cheng also returns as Porky Lam from part 1. This time Wong Fei Hung and his troupe have to liberate a village that has been subverted by nasty pirates. (the head female pirate (Elaine Lui) is a pleasure to watch) This film is a mixed bag. It looks great, of course, and Wong Fei Hung and his students get to dress up in a number of great outfits. Fei Hung as a bandit and Clubfoot in a top hat are priceless! Use and abuse of firearms seem to be a prevalent theme in the film, but unfortunately the super-fu and excessive wire tricks make the fight scenes more campy than they should be. There is also a considerable amount of inappropriate and awkwardly unfunny humor throughout the film which makes you think you're watching a Wong Jing picture! Overall, great in parts and annoying in others.