Review: ‘Heroic Fight’ is like talking to a hyperactive nine-year old boy with attention deficit disorder while he is ripped to the tits on sugary drinks. Sporting an obvious Yuen Clan influence, this movie takes elements which made earlier Yuen movies ‘Miracle Fighters’ and ‘Shaolin Drunkard’ so great, and transposes them to 1980’s Hong Kong. Yuen Cheung Yan plays a wizard of a different kind, and becomes a technical wizard learned in the arts of movie making. Instead of magic, gadgets are used to dispose of evil henchmen, and instead of ghosts and demons, we have movie costumes used in battle.

In it’s own way, this is quite post-modern stuff. By playing a movie stunt team, the tricks and stunts are semi-factual versions of the real methods used in HK movie making, and the movie props used are neither realistic or convincing in any context but a movie set. This allows the set-pieces to transcend their ridiculous premise, giving a sly wink to the audience and suggesting that the film’s detractors sit down, shut up and enjoy it. It’s just a movie!

In amongst the HK style insanity, there are a lot of references to 80’s Americana. One key scene sees Duh’s Granddaughter Ting-Ting, (dressed as an 8 year old freaky whore-child version of Madonna) go to a McDonald’s restaurant with her friends. In comes Mickey Mouse, who uses balloons to float Ting-Ting up to the roof, where she is smuggled away by kidnappers. Lin Hsiao Long witnesses this happening, and uses her BMX skills to rescue Ting-Ting. Then we see Duh informed of this plan on his various telephones, shaped as a Coke Can and Garfield the cat. If this wasn’t barmy enough, this scene is only a quarter of the way into the film. Later on the American influence is seen at a wedding reception shoot-out. The good guys disguise themselves as a band, and sing ‘Power of Love’ by ‘80s power ballad crooner Jennifer Rush (‘I am your lady, and you are my man’).

Lin Hsiao Long is perfectly cast, even though it is unclear whether her character is supposed to be male or female. Whichever is the case, she is fantastic as a boyish have-a-go hero. Yuen Cheung Yan is also very good as the buck-toothed head of the stunt-team, and the lesser members of the cast all play along with a refreshing enthusiasm. Special mention has to go to the always watch able Dick Wei, who as lead bad guy, has one of the few serious roles in the movie, and somehow remains menacing even when fighting against papier-mache monsters.

The Yuen Clan have never been to everyone’s taste, and to some their movies may be too silly to absorb, but if you enjoy the more unusual oddities of Hong Kong cinema, then ‘Heroic Fight’ is a fix of pure ‘A’ grade hallucinogen. There is some genuinely satisfying Kung Fu on display, but depending on your idea of a good HK movie, other things get in the way, such as the squashy faced dog in a nappy, the rocket powered skates, the BMX stunts, and the giant ‘Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robot’. In retrospect, maybe including Jennifer Rush was just pushing things too far.

On the plus side, apart from the painfully unfunny humor and mind boggling insanity, the action scenes are tight and quite enjoyable (if not overly silly). Lin Hsiao Lan is superb. She's got the moves and fights like a champ, and takes quite a beating as well. Her unfliching delivery is so full of intense conviction that it lends a sense of credibility to the completely over-the-top action. The always enjoyable Dick Wei also delivers kung fu goodness (and possibly his best dramatic performance ever), and is the only one who adds a touch of class to the film. He is totally straight and serious, even when the action around him gets unbearably stupid. Veteran kung fu actor Yuen Cheung Yan is also quite a treat to watch, and is a lot more active than I'm used to seeing him. With all of this talent involved, it's just such a shame that the movie is so stupid and non-sensical.

On the plus side, apart from the painfully unfunny humor and mind boggling insanity, the action scenes are tight and quite enjoyable (if not overly silly). Lin Hsiao Lan is superb. She's got the moves and fights like a champ, and takes quite a beating as well. Her unfliching delivery is so full of intense conviction that it lends a sense of credibility to the completely over-the-top action. The always enjoyable Dick Wei also delivers kung fu goodness (and possibly his best dramatic performance ever), and is the only one who adds a touch of class to the film. He is totally straight and serious, even when the action around him gets unbearably stupid. Veteran kung fu actor Yuen Cheung Yan is also quite a treat to watch, and is a lot more active than I'm used to seeing him. With all of this talent involved, it's just such a shame that the movie is so stupid and non-sensical.

She is something of a cult figure for her performances in the period costume films Child of Peach, Kung Fu Wonderchild and Magic of Spell in which she plays characters with magical powers who fight for good over evil. This film is set in contemporary times (though there is a fun homage to her other films as well as one for A Better Tomorrow!), but Lin is just as amazing fighting for good once again in this film.

A portly but very nasty triad head is trying to force an elderly businessman into distributing drugs for him, but Mr. Duh refuses. So this nasty triad decides to kidnap Duh’s small granddaughter – Ting Ting - and this is where our heroes enter the story. Lin is first sighted combating an array of underground ninjas and then a supernatural beast, but it turns out that it is only a movie set. She is an action actress, her two brothers are stuntmen and her father, Yuen Chung Yan (one of the famous Yuen brothers) is the props/special effects man on the set. They live in a house or make that a room that is a nutty Rube Goldberg fantasy in which every item is somehow tied to a pulley or a lever – even the salt shakers! Hidden doors, dropping walls and other devices just round out this normal family’s living conditions. Needless to say it all comes in very handy later on.

So Ting Ting is kidnapped at McDonalds by Mickey Mouse tying a bunch of balloons around her wrist thus lifting her to some waiting thugs five floors above! Lin witnesses this and gives chase on her speedy bicycle - but no ordinary bike is this – the U.S. Defense Department would pay billions for this bike – as it contains every imaginable device ever needed to save a little girl from being kidnapped or for starting a small revolution.

After saving Ting Ting by utilizing some unbelievably amazing aerodynamic and kung fu biking, she meets Mr. Duh. The grandfather is worried that there will be a further attack on him (which in fact there is – a bomb planted in a Penthouse magazine) – so he arranges for Lin’s family to use their film expertise to pretend to assassinate him so that he can leave the country for a while. But things go very wrong afterwards and all of a sudden the film takes a shrieking turn towards the very violent. A sea of dead bodies killed by darts to the head, explosions, kung fu, poison snakes and various other bizarre implements – primarily by the courtesy of Lin – is soon spread like butter over warm toast all over town. And then there is still Dick Wei to contend with.

This is a crazy, goofy, fun film that keeps surprising you with its cleverness and its attitude of “why not try it”. There is no time for things like character development or even much of a plot – but it is a complete hoot that should entertain those who enjoy films that don't take themselves seriously for a second and veer wildly between complete silliness and fast moving shake your head in disbelief action.