|
 t the turn of the 20th century, China is in chaos
as foreign imperialists move in and divide the country into neat little
pieces to exploit. This leads to the rise of quasi-religious societies/cult
militias made up of Chinese "Boxers," warriors bent on expelling
all foreign influences in the country. Many of these boxers believed they
held magical powers over weapons, including invincibility to the gun. One
such society is the Yi Ho Boxer Society, whose own spirit warrior, Lei Gung
(Lau Kar-leung), has left them.
Sent to the Yunan province to
recruit and train more boxers for the uprising, Lei Gung instead saw the
futility of using martial arts to combat Western troops. As a result, the Yi
Ho Society wants him eliminated before he can spread his
"blasphemy". Magic warriors Ti-hau (Hsiao Hou) and Shao-ching
(Kara Hui) and spiritual boxer Ti-tan (Gordan Lau) are sent to track down
and kill Lei Gung, who has since abandoned the world of martial arts and now
lives a simple life as a woodcutter named Yu. But all that's about to change
as the assassins rapidly close in on him.
When it comes to the global reputation of the kung fu
movies churned out by the Shaw Brothers, two directors are most
responsible. One is Chang Cheh, the man who gave the world the
borderline-fantasies "Five Deadly Venoms," "Crippled Heroes
(Mortal Combat)," "Spearmen of Death," "(Chinese)
Super Ninjas," and "Kid With the Golden Arms." The
other man is Lau Kar-leung, a real martial artist who was once the action
choreographer on Chang Cheh's movies. While Cheh's movies were usually
about guys who used kung-fu to improve their own lives, Lau Kar-leung, a
man whose training lineage goes all the way back to the Shaolin temple,
was more concerned about the place martial arts held in Chinese history.
The great thing about "Legendary Weapons"
is that it starts off like a comic book but doesn't stay that way. Early
fight scenes involve characters that incorporate sleight-of-hand magic,
secret weapons (smoke bombs, darts and throwing stars) and Zen-like
chants/hexes with kung fu to trick their adversaries and work themselves
up. Ironically for a Hong Kong movie, this is likely the closest anyone's
ever come to depicting the aura of historical ninjitsu on film without
throwing in blatant supernatural elements. But the pretense of these
tricks taking the place of genuine combat is revealed to be just another
illusion, something that many of the characters themselves come to learn.
So with each succeeding fight, the tricks become less prominent and the
fights are more straightforward and "real."
What this means for the viewer is a series of
terrifically choreographed fights that change in tone as the story
progresses before culminating in a duel to the death featuring the 18
legendary kung-fu weapons of China, which plays out like a "Soul
Calibur" jam session. Among the highlights is a one-on-one scuffle in
the cramped attic crawlspace above an inn where fighters trade punches,
kicks and darts without ever standing up. There's an exchange of swords
where one guy hangs from a ceiling in an upside-down split while his
opponent hangs by the arms and fights with swords attached to his legs.
And don't forget a four-way free-for-all where everyone throws in their
secret weapons and techniques.
Unfortunately for everything the movie gets right,
there are a few goofy points that don't work. The "mystery" of
Lei Gung's secret identity is obvious and not much of a secret at all.
Neither is the identity of the fourth assassin sent to kill him. When
Shao-ching shows up on Lei Gung's trail, she's dressed up in typical
Chinese male reverse-drag and everyone seems to fall for it, including
other magic fighters/spiritual boxers, though you'd think these guys more
than anyone else would be used to looking through disguises. The movie
also sees fit to drop in a fake Lei Gung who is used by the Yi Ho Society
agents to draw out the real one. Played by old-school Shaw Brothers star
Fu Sheng, the double is an annoying comic relief player prone to making
funny faces and overacting. Lau Kar-leung may be a great action director,
but his tastes in comedy are way off. And don't even get me started on the
voodoo/mind control nonsense that pops up every now and then.
"Legendary Weapons of China" would prove to
be one of the last old-school kung-fu movies by the Shaw Brothers. The
timing worked for and against the movie, since by then audiences had seen
untold numbers of kung-fu movies, many of which blurred the lines between
fantasy and reality. "Legendary Weapons'" storyline was about
stripping away the bogus mysticism that by then had become an integral
part of many kung-fu movies. However, coming at the end of the cycle, it
had to compete with the likes of Jet Li's "Shaolin
Temple" and Jackie Chan's "Dragon Lord" and
"Project A." These movies were decidedly different from what
audiences were used to and changed how kung-fu movies were presented.
The bad timing also meant that star Hsiao Hou would
never became the superstar he clearly could have been. Although he did
appear in a few Sammo Hung movies throughout the 80's, before coming out
of left-field as the evil double-fisted swordsman in "Iron
Monkey." Watching Hou in "Legendary Weapons", as
well as other Lau Kar-leung movies like "Mad Monkey Kung Fu" and
"Disciples of the (36th Chamber/Master Killer)," it's incredible
how spry and athletic he was, if not a little on the short side. It's a
shame that the kind of movies in which he was so good in would soon be
phased out.
|
