The movie has Kwok as a young man named Kuan, who has come to the big city from his village in order to pick up his deceased father's effects. They're being held at pop's old place of employment, a weaving company owned by the lovely widow Miss Ho (Maggie Cheung) and supervised by the stern Tuan (Ti Lung). Miss Ho takes pity on the impoverished Kuan and offers him a job. Kuan fits right in, and even begins courting a teacher (Wu Chien-Lin). But things start to go awry when the local magistrate (Paul Chun Pui) plots to take the company's secret dye-making techniques by any means necessary.

The plot isn't anything mind-blowing, but there are a few nice twists to keep the viewer interested, and Johnnie To moves matters along at a nice clip. Most of the acting is solid; Maggie Cheung and Ti Lung, in particular, turn in very good performances. And the action (though there's not a whole lot of it until the last part of the movie) is, as you might expect from the mind of Lau Kar-Leung, is staged well, with inventive use of different weapons.

Even with all of that going for The Bare-Footed Kid, Aaron Kwok's performance is so terrible that it threatens to de-rail the whole picture at many times during the proceedings. Long-time readers of this site will know that I am not a big fan of Kwok's work -- he often comes off with the personality and charisma of a gargoyle that just smoked a fatty -- but I will grant that he can do good work, such as with After This Our Exile.

Unfortunately, this is not one of those times. Kwok's attempts at acting here make The Bare-Footed Kid come off at times like a bad farce, rather than the touching and exciting martial arts picture it sets out to be. But if you can forgive the shortcomings in that department, The Bare-Footed Kid still has a lot to offer potential viewers, and thus still warrants a mild recommendation.

REVIEW
The Bare-Footed Kid is a Shaw Brothers co-production and a remake of Chang Cheh's Disciples of Shaolin (1995). With cast members that include Aron Kwok, Ti Lung and Maggie Cheung, not to mention choreography by Liu Chia Liang, this is a remarkably fine production with a story that actually has bite.

Aaron Kwok plays Kuan Feng Yao, a naive and shoeless beggar with impressive fighting skills. He is in search of Tuan Ching Yun (Ti Lung), a fugitive who was a friend of his father. Kwok finds him working at a dye factory run by Miss Ho, played by the always charming Maggie Cheung. A powerful official named Ke Hu-Po (Kenneth Tsang) is trying to take over Miss Ho's factory at all costs and resorts to extortion and violence. Feng Yao attempts to defend the factory, but ends up causing Miss Ho to lose face through his thoughtless actions. He is even suckered into working for Hu-Po who offers him money and new clothes. A political struggle between Hu-Po and another individual results in Ching Yun being used as an expendable pawn after his criminal past is made public. Distraught by Ching Yun's fate, Feng Yao redeems himself by turning on his employer.

This is slower-paced martial arts film with more drama at the onset thanks to the direction of Johnny To (Wu Yen). As the subtle story unfolds, the intensity builds up to a powerful and tragic ending that has more significance thanks to the carefully layered character development. Everything hinges on Aaron Kwok's performance and he does a fine job of playing a simpleton who through his own ignorance, causes a lot of grief for himself and his friends. He goes through several phases beginning with idealism. Trying to help Maggie Cheung by returning her deed to the factory using force doesn't get the approval he seeks, leading to disillusionment. This turns to anger and he decides to use his martial arts skill for material gain. But his indirect role in Ching Yun's death fosters despair. Finally, we see Feng Yao "wake up" from his state of self-loathing and the best quality in Kwok's character emerges which is self-sacrifice.

Maggie Cheung is stunning in her role of a woman who shares a love with Ti Lung's character, but keeps it hidden. For his part, Ti Lung gets to do two things he's great at, playing a character of noble spirit and giving the best martial arts performance since his days at Shaw Brothers in the '70's. The fact that characterization is so strong in this film only enhances those limited fight scenes, all masterfully directed by Liu Chia Liang. Chia Liang successfully merges the old school techniques he perfected over a decade earlier with the glitzy wire-fu that emerged in the early '90's. Although Ti Lung is past his prime as a martial arts star and Aaron Kwok is not a strong martial arts performer, Chia Liang brings out great performances from both of them.

The Bare-Footed Kid is a thoughtful kung fu film with an unusually strong story that winningly delivers a message that strength and fighting ability is useless without morality and sound judgment. While the viewer may be wishing the title character had come to his senses sooner, the final outcome is satisfying. I recommend this film to anyone tired of the infantile plots and uninspiring characters sadly all too common within this genre.