All Men Are Brothers: Blood Of The Leopard: Reviews

Based on a famous Chinese novel, "Blood Of The Leopard" tells the tale of Lin Chung (Tony Leung), a chief military instructor, kung fu expert, and all around nice guy. He has a strong sense of justice and fair play, which makes him a threat to the greedy and corrupt government. He finds a friend in Lu Chi Sum (Tsui Kam Long), a brash and thick-headed monk with immense strength, and together they practice kung fu and eventually become brothers. All would be well except that General Kao's appalling son has his mind set on wooing Lin Chung's beautiful wife (Joey Wang), and in an act of foul play Chung is framed for treason and sent far away. Will Chung be able to survive long enough to save his family and friends?

The film has a great nostalgic 90's feel to it, when high flying frenetic kung fu was at its peak. While there aren't any big kung fu names in the cast, Tony Leung and Tsui Kam Long perform admirably. Loyalty and brotherhood are the central themes, and the ridiculous male bonding can get suffocating at times. Tony Leung does what he does best, which is quiet stoicism matched with graceful and fluid movement. Tsui Kam Long's goofy and overly enthusiastic performance is meant to lighten the tone of the film, but his long winded tirades quickly become tiresome and annoying. Joey Wang is lovely as always, but her character is only window dressing. The film looks very nice and the lighting, colors, costumes, and cinematography are wonderful. The action scenes are fast, fun, and exciting, but do nothing to distinguish themselves from similar fare of the same time period. While "All Men Are Brothers: Blood Of The Leopard" can be tedious at times, it's an entertaining reminder of what the Hong Kong film industry used to look like.

The story tells of Lin Chun, Chief Instructor of eight hundred thousand Imperial Guards, who is naīve to the intricacy of power politics. His honesty and loyalty lead him to be framed by the treacherous court officials...

SYNOPSIS:
Lin Chung, a duty-bound military officer during the Ching Dynasty befriends a fierce warrior monk named Ru Chi-shen who shares his love of martial arts. Chung is double-crossed by his rival and wrongly accused of plotting an assassination of the local governor. Saved by his friend Chi-sen, Chung is reluctant to turn against the government that spurned him until he learns of his wife's death at the hands of his rival. The dismissed military commander spurns the aid of the deadly spade-wielding monk to face his enemies alone. Chi-sen the monk must choose between saving face or helping his friend.

REVIEW:
This movie is based on a Shaw Brothers film called Pursuit, made in 1972. This in turn was based upon a classic Chinese story called All Men Are Brothers. The story deals with the popular theme of the rebellion against the Ching Dynasty run by the Manchu's who were unpopular with the Chinese people. The film captures the frustration and confusion that officials might have felt upon being told to turn on their fellow countrymen.

1993 was a big year for kung fu films in Hong Kong and this one rates below some of the top picks such as Iron Monkey and Fong Sai Yuk. All these films share fanciful wirework and gravity-defying leaps but All Men Are Brothers doesn't pull it off with the same style. The story is engaging but uneven as too much of the film is spent building up to the final showdown which seems rushed. Elvis Tsui is clearly the star of the film with the best role I've seen yet in a modern kung fu film. He plays it loud, intense, outspoken, and simply oozes charisma onscreen. The rest of the characters seem wooden by comparison.

The transfer is a disappointment as the fixed white subtitles are frequently hard to read. The sound and video are standard or below and the extras are weak. The synopsis and cast information are simply the same as provided on the jacket. Why do distributors even bother? Two trailers feature some romantic comedies?!

All Men Are Brothers doesn't have the best choreography or originality of story. What remains though is a fun, energetic film about loyalty and friendship that just manages to reach its nose above the silt of mediocrity.