For the story, the film sticks closely to genre conventions and plays out unevenly. Lau Kar-leung is Man Bill, rider for the Chun Yuen Delivery Service in 1930s China who discovers that one of his associates is secretly smuggling opium. This is unfortunately a tiresome throwback to the dozens of early '90s kung fu movies that used the evils of opium as the instigator of conflict. Nothing new is added to this tale as Man Bill is attacked and left for dead by all of his fellow riders who are all part of the smuggling ring. This opening is about 20 minutes long, grim, and full of bloody action with Lau right in the middle of it. Flash forward one year and the film's tone switches to near-slapstick comedy as we meet a young artist named Kai-yip (Lau Wing-kin) who is trying to create a Monkey Fist kung fu manual with the aid of his stereotypically conniving mother and Tak (Wu Jing), his great-uncle by marriage who happens to be approximately the same age. After a series of "comical" scenarios, Kai-yip and Tak are sent to a new school far away from home which allows them to search for the legendary master of Monkey Fist kung fu known as Man Bill. The pair not only find him, but also his feisty student (Shannon Yao) and Inspector Hung Yat-fu (Gordon Liu), Man Bill's close friend who has been looking for him all this time. A subsequent reunion is short-lived as word gets to Man Bill's enemies that he's still alive. After a deadly fight, Man Bill takes on the two men as his students. Fast-paced, yet intensive training in Drunken Monkey Fist follows and then the heroes confront their enemies with their combined skills.

I don't think anyone could say they looked forward to seeing this film more than I. It is fair to say that in his day, Lau Kar-leung was a genius with unparalleled skill in crafting realistic and entertaining kung fu action for film. His prolific work with director Chang Cheh and subsequently on his own led to some of the finest martial arts films ever made. But he never recovered his momentum following the fall of the genre in the mid-'80s. Operation Scorpio and his ill-fated collaborative efforts on Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II were his only real successes in the '90s. An attempt at thumbing his nose at Chan by directing an unofficial sequel titled Drunken Master III in 1994 ended up a flop. Nine years later and in his late 60's, Lau came to the conclusion that Hong Kong film needed to return to what it once knew best and offer something that Hollywood never could, namely real kung fu action.

Lau did succeed in part of his mission. Drunken Monkey does feature some terrific kung fu action, the likes of which have not been seen for years. Amazingly, Lau himself is the most energetic cast member who jumps right in there and shows us all how its done. Sure, he's doubled for some of the wide shots involving acrobatics, but I don't think I've seen a man his age look as spry or as fierce onscreen. Despite his age, he delivers the best action performance of his career since Mad Monkey Kung Fu (1979). The choreography throughout the film is uniformly excellent. Purists may not care for a few extravagant scenes with characters leaping between trees in a monkey-like fashion, but Lau's trademark display of precision, power, and clarity in the movements of the actors is clearly evident. In addition, the camera work and editing isn't obviously used to cover up any lack of skill.

Wu Jing (The Legend of Zu) is definitely the best and only choice to lead this film. Putting Jet Li aside, Wu is the go to guy for martial arts leads in film and television programming in China thanks to his tremendous skills. He appears to easily adapt his Northern Wushu training to Lau's Southern Shaolin forms. Unfortunately with a poor script and a weak character, Wu's physical prowess is diminished by a snotty demeanor and Lau's failure to fully give him the spotlight. Wu's onscreen partner Lau Wing-kin fares worse as he really isn't shown to be of any great skill, is rarely seen training, and yet unconvincingly manages to stand with Wu against their enemies. Likewise, the token female as played by Shannon Yao is nothing special. She also lacks Wu's abilities and is misused.

The treat for old school fans is three-fold. First there is the early appearance of Lau Kar-wing in a short, but sweet fight with Kar-leung. Then midway through, Kar-leung's real-life student Gordon Liu shows up which leads to the film's highlight, a forced battle between Gordon and Kar-leung. I didn't care for the contrived circumstances that lead to the fight, but watching them go at each other is worth it. Finally, the talented Chi Kuan-chun, who sports an even more muscled frame than in his Eagle's Claw (1977) days and looks very fit becomes the central villain whose special ability is using a number of hoop bracelets on either arm.

Where Lau goes wrong is unfortunately on everything else outside of the casting and choreography. The worst aspect is the plot which starts out strong, but drops out when comedy is introduced. Instead of keeping its focus, the film flirts with unnecessary situational scenes ripped from the likes of '90s films like Fong Sai Yuk. Then Lau counters this with sappy drama and acting such as when he is shown caring for Shannon while her character suffers from a drug overdose. The conclusion to the film just falls together with Lau showing up with an improbable "secret weapon" that comes a little too close to stealing from Drunken Master II.

Drunken Monkey ultimately lives up to its title, but barely. You'll see the title kung fu style in well-crafted action, but its nothing new. In addition, the film lacks the magic that fueled Lau Kar-leung's greatest works while it safely sticks to the more uninspired plot outlines of the genre. But for classic kung fu enthusiasts, there is still much to enjoy in the action, where it counts. And Lau Kar-leung proves even in old age that he is still the Master of this art form.

Set in 1930s, Bill Man (Lau Kar Leung) of the Chun-Yuen Delivery company gets betrayed at the hands of his fellow men, including his sworn brother Pao (Chiang Chun Wan). In an ambush he sustains a serious injury but manages to flee while his men assume he's dead. One year passes, enter Ka-Yip (Lau Wing Kin) and, as it turns out when studying the family tree, his granduncle Chan (Jacky Wu). Ka-Yip wants to capture the monkey fist in illustration form and together with his uncle he travels to Canton to look up Master Man who now lives in seclusion. Word spreads that Man is alive and his betrayers set out to finish the job, including getting rid of Granduncle Chan and Ka-Yip...

The key to enjoying Lau Kar Leung's Drunken Monkey lies in setting expectations low. Judging by the general Internet buzz, it wasn't particularly highly praised, rightly so in regards to the movie as a a whole. Drunken Monkey does not come close to the great heights of, for example, The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, nor matches the action in it but the fact that it's a rare treat to even see this kind of film in 2003 ranks as a merit in it's own. Let's break it down the So Good way...

As with 36 Chambers and a few dozen other films in the genre, the opening is a martial arts showcase for the main performers in the film. A scene that never functions as something that actually had anything to do with the story but as a nice start to show off what's to come. Have to admit I felt a rush here, as I probably will mention in the review a few times, it takes you back to a genre rarely seen done today. Drunken Monkey, with its structure doesn't have to be a 2003 movie, feels like part early 90s New Wave and with it's kind of action, something more from the 70s. That is a good feeling because you see aspects you took a liking to in the first place, coming from a fan of the eras mentioned. Which in itself probably was the goal for director Lau. To get the old seasoned audiences back to the theater and if you make a few new fans out of it, then that's a bonus. I'm no lifelong fan of the genre but thoroughly appreciates the old school way. The plot, with staple themes such as betrayal, revenge, maniacally laughing villains etc isn't groundbreaking stuff by filmmaker Lau Kar Leung. Martial arts films, not all classics though, aren't there to display refined storytelling and even the best ones have their basic story structure. A structure that merely functions as a way of getting characters into action and into each others life. Much more is not needed if your primary goal is to deliver action. True in the case of Drunken Monkey and the viewer is quickly involved in the simple plot to set up Bill Man's trusted comrades betrayal of him. You have no objections to all of this this because it does flow well for the first 20 minutes, though a melodramatic scene early on isn't exactly subtle or involving. Within those 20 minutes we also find a good dose of fight action including a good, long set piece where the seemingly immortal Bill Man tries to fight off his opponents.

When the film cuts to one year later and introduces Jacky Wu, among others, the comedy aspect enters and I can expect many viewers to simultaneously go 'uh-oh' here. Admittedly the first comedy scene featuring Jacky Wu posing in different monkey positions while tied to ropes is pretty funny but this middle section of the film falters quite a bit. I realize this type of Hong Kong comedy shtick can work really well with local audiences (you have to think commercially in some ways still) but I also sense that this type of comedy isn't strictly local either. It truly isn't very funny watching these characters, mainly through dialogue, trying to win the audiences over after the serious opening reel. Jacky Wu has a likable screen presence and persona but that's about it for plus points in regards to the humour. Lau proved with Drunken Master II that this type of element to a film can work wonderfully well with a charismatic set of actors. There you had Anita Mui, the straight faced Ti Lung and Jackie Chan registering several memorable moments but in Drunken Monkey no such actors can be found. It doesn't help either that Lau has basically copied Anita Mui's character from Drunken Master II into the mother character and you know what they say about copies. Still, it all doesn't exactly become boring because Lau, maybe just in time, starts to reconnect to the main plot and steadily finds a way back to his basic structure with action in between. For the investors, audiences etc. it may not have been terribly compelling, although I would pay for it, to watch only the veteran players inhabit this picture but looking at the script, it's clear that Ka-Yip and granduncle Chan really could've been lifted out and the movie would've worked, maybe even better. Jacky Wu's presence is welcome because he's a capable martial artist obviously but it's a script sidenote that kept popping up in my head.

Production values are decent but one, it's not shot in the wonderful 2.35:1 Shawscope which would've been the ultimate nostalgic moment and two, the movie looks a bit flat. It was one observation someone made who saw this before me and looking at the middle section and all it's sets, thoughts go to a kind of TV look for some parts of the film. Lau chooses not to be very cinematic with big tracking shots and while the different settings looks good in their own right, it's far from that Shaw's feeling you might EXPECT..

But who wants to know about story structure, camera, lighting, production design when Drunken Monkey is interesting for one reason only, the fight choreography by Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing. Again, it has the feeling of something not from 2003 because mainly and frankly, you can actually see what the fight choreography is like. Both Lau's aren't from the MTV school of shooting action and before going into more detail, I have to say they've delivered the goods based on what they have. This was not a project with huge funding behind it and one of the main performers is getting on in years, namely Lau Kar Leung himself. Showing off traditional martial arts is quite thrilling though and the action suitably escalates as the story goes on. Very little reliant on wires, only for when the monkey style requires it and Lau performing most of his action without a double all looks good. The occasional choppy editing appears and a few sequences (in particular the tunnel fight) appears a little too quick edited for my liking. The reason action nowadays isn't terribly compelling in Hong Kong cinema is because there are so little actual performers. Few martial arts performers from the old days put acting first and that's why we've seen so many memorable moments of fight choreography over the years. Movies were rarely a showcase for acting. Jacky Wu for example performs very well under the direction of Lau's but wouldn't be mistaken for a good actor. His technique is allowed to be captured on camera and not knowing much or how to talk about action directing, I have to say that watching Lau and his brother Gordon fighting side by side is truly exciting plus it is quality choreography as well. All in all, the fight choreography has been done better, obviously, in the past but it's been a long time since we've seen any! Thank you Lau Kar Leung!

Drunken Monkey isn't THE return for martial arts moviemaking like it should be but more importantly it shows Lau Kar Leung still has it in him when given the chance. Will today's audiences accept this? I don't know but I hope the veterans at least will take a liking to the action aspect. I hope Lau is given the opportunity to build on this, given a higher budget and more real performers to perhaps deliver a final masterpiece. He's not going to be around forever and it can not die with him. Learn from this and don't let any of the pop stars near Lau Kar Leung!

I'm not going to pretend that the production of this movie was a Great Big Deal for me. Unlike a lot of you folks, I'm not an especially devoted follower of the martial arts genre and I didn't grow up on Saturday morning Kung Fu Theater on TV. My reaction to the news that the legendary Shaw Brothers studio was returning to active filmmaking and that one of its most esteemed directors was going to christen the comeback was a casual "hey, cool" as opposed to the fervent joy that a lot of the die-hards probably felt. So, it is with only moderate disappointment that I, with my limited expertise in this area, consider Drunken Monkey a largely unremarkable effort.

It starts out promisingly enough, with the principal actors doing a martial arts demo during the opening credits, like in many kung fu films of yesteryear. We are then introduced to Man Pao (Chiang Chun Wan) and Bill Chun-Yuen (Lau Kar-Leung), two brothers who run a delivery company for those extra-special, bandit-drawing packages. Man Pao uses the business to facilitate an opium smuggling operation, and when Bill finds out about this, he is marked for death by Yu Hoi-Yeung, Man Pao's partner in crime. After a grueling battle with Yu and his henchmen, Bill is left for dead but found by a young woman named Mandy (Shannon Yao, who is welcome to come and kick my ass anytime she likes).

The film then jumps ahead by a year, and there is a drastic change in tone and focus. It now follows the exploits of Chan Ka-Yip (Lau Wing Kin) and his "grand-uncle" Tak (Jason Wu Jing), who is actually of comparable age. Ka-Yip is an artist who wants to illustrate a monkey style kung fu handbook and finds himself unable to finish the project in a satisfactory manner. Who better to resolve this problem than renowned monkey kung fu master Bill Chun-Yuen?

A. Nobody
B. A dead dog
C. King Kong
D. The gorilla from that phony "Ghostbusters" cartoon show that had nothing to do with the movie

Okay, let's assume you selected "A" and move along. Ka-Yip and Tak fuck around for a while to pad the length of the film and then go looking for Bill. There's a lot of irksome, buffoonish comedy in this phase of the movie. Ka-Yip has a high-spirited mother and a dour father, somewhat reminiscent of Wong Fei Hung's dad and aunt in Drunken Master 2, which Lau Kar-Leung also directed until Jackie Chan got tired of having to use real kung fu and sacked him. I hoped that things would progress more steadily after these two dolts met Mandy and Hung Yat-fu (the one and only Gordon Liu), a detective who meets the Chun-Yuen brothers in the first part of the film. Alas, more lagging ensues. I don't mind forty fightless minutes in a martial arts movie, as long as those forty minutes are filled with worthwhile stuff. But, The Tak & Ka-Yip Show wears out its welcome pretty quickly.

Things do heat up eventually, and after Ka-Yip and Tak get whipped into fighting shape by Bill (Mandy is already taken care of), there's a big battle involving pretty much every surviving character, with Tak getting a bit more spotlight than the rest. Good stuff, but getting there was a chore.

Don't get the idea that Drunken Monkey is a bad kung fu movie. I've seen worse. MUCH worse. But it's not quite the Second Coming that some folks would expect from the circumstances surrounding its release.

Drunken Monkey is set in 1930's China, with Lau Ka Leung playing a courier named Wa Biao (translated as "Man Bill" in the subtitles), whose mastery of Monkey Fist (or "Monkeyish Fist" as the subs have it -- hey, at least the subtitles have that old-school flavor) helps his company gain a repuation for safe and quick deliveries of priceless artifacts. Unfortunately, some of the people in his company are not content with merely being couriers and have taken to smuggling opium. When Biao finds out about this, he tries alerting the authorities, but not before his former comrades beat him and leave him for dead. Eventually, Biao is found by a girl named Mandy (Shannon Yao Yao), who nurses him back to health. A year later, a pair of young men come looking for Biao in order to learn Monkey Fist. After their discovery of the old master, Biao's rivals set out to kill him once and for all.

This film, as mentioned before, was supposed to be a return to old-school action, and it does work on some levels. The action sequences, for the most part, are very good. It was indeed refreshing seeing people actually looking as if they were fightng instead of mimicking moves in front of a blue screen. While the action isn't terribly inventive (except for one part where the combatants used a briefcase full of booze in order to get the titular "drunken monkey" powers) and there are a few techincal faults here and there (i.e., shots that don't match and some too-obivous wirework in parts), it is solid and shows why Lau Ka Leung, even at his advanced age, is still a force to be reckoned with in HK martial arts movies.

Unfortunately, Drunken Monkey also falls prey to some of the faults that seemed to pop up in many old-school kung fu movies, namely a generic script and dependence on dopey comedy. I can forgive the faults in the script, since it really only serves to bridge the action sequences in a movie like this, but the attempts at comedy are really horrible and bog down the middle portion of the film. Things aren't as bad as Lau's Drunken Master III, but he is most definitely a better fight co-ordinator than a director. Overall, though, while Drunken Monkey doesn't quite capture the magic of the old-school classics, at least it's a step in the right direction. Frankly, I don't know how many more movies featuring pop stars tossing out fireballs or jumping over buildings I can take, and Drunken Monkey was a nice break from that.