Kung Fu Jungle

一个人的武林

Hong Kong/China, 2014, colour, 2.35:1, 3-D (China only), 99 mins.

Director: Chen Desen 陈德森 [Teddy Chen].

Rating: 6/10.

Formulaic Zhen Zidan [Donnie Yen] vehicle suffers from a weak script and lack of star chemistry.

STORY

Hong Kong, the present day. In the middle of the night, Chief Inspector Lu Xuanxin (Yang Caini) of the Serious Crime Squad takes over the case of former boxer Mai Yongyan, aka Shark Yan (Zhang Jinliang), who has been found beaten to death near his crashed car in Salisbury Road, TST. In Stanley Prison, former Mainland martial arts champion-turned-Hong Kong police instructor Xiahou Wu (Zhen Zidan), who was jailed three years ago after confessing to killing a foreign kickboxer (Bey Logan) in a rage fight, sees the TV report and demands to meet Lu Xuanxin. He tells her he can help find the killer, as he understands his mindset. Lu Xuanxin is dubious. Meanwhile, at a Kowloon art museum, Tan Jingyao (Shi Yanneng), a martial artist-turned-modern artist who’s preparing an exhibition, is challenged to a fight by Mainland martial artist Feng Yuxiu (Wang Baoqiang) and killed. Lu Xuanxin finally agrees to use Xiahou Wu’s help and has him temporarily freed from prison. He says the killer is taking on former champions in different martial arts fields – first boxing, then kicking – and the next victim will be Wang Zhe (Yu Kang), a onetime grappling champion. He and Lu Xuanxin arrive at Wang Zhe’s home in Wangjiao [Mong Kok] district just as he dies; chased by Xiahou Wu, Feng Yuxiu manages to escape. Xiahou Wu travels back to his home in Foshan, Guangdong province, China, to visit his martial arts school, the Six Mergence Sect 合一门, which has been run since he left by his devoted former pupil Shan Ying (Bai Bing), who loves him. There he finds another of the swallow-shaped darts that Feng Yuxiu has left at the scene of all his murders, symbolising the recipient is a loser. Xiahou Wu and Lu Xuanxin visit Feng Yuxiu’s former home where he lived with his wife Shen Xue (Si Xuan), who had cancer. They learn that Feng Yuxiu was born with an atrophied leg but overcame his disability by fanatical training. Back in Hong Kong they contact former swordfighting champion Chen Boguang (Jiang Dawei), whom Xiahou Wu thinks will be the next victim. In fact, it is swordfighter-turned-film star Hong Ye (Fan Shaohuang), whose death creates major bad publicity for the police. Lu Xuanxin is given 72 hours to close the case or face re-assignment.

REVIEW

Hong Kong action star Zhen Zidan 甄子丹 [Donnie Yen], who’s had a dodgy run the past couple of years apart from Special ID 特殊身份(2013), fails again to rediscover his mojo with Kung Fu Jungle 一个人的武林, a poorly written vehicle that reunites him with his Mainland co-star, wacky Wang Baoqiang 王宝强, from Iceman 冰封侠 (2014). Decidedly retro in feel – harking back to a classic age of Hong Kong action films and dedicated to a long list of well-known names in front of and behind the camera – it’s also the first movie in five years by Hong Kong director Chen Desen 陈德森 [Teddy Chen], whose last production was Bodyguards and Assassins 十月围城 (2009), unofficially co-directed by Liu Weiqiang 刘伟强 [Andrew Lau] and Chen Kexin 陈可辛 [Peter Chan]. The result is a mish-mashy plot about a martial-arts serial killer (played full-out by Wang) with a couple of memorable action sequences but not much else.

The central idea of the script by Liu Haoliang 刘浩良 and Mai Tianshu 麦天枢 (who co-wrote Zhen’s 14 Blades 锦衣卫, 2010) is overcoming the desire to be No. 1 at any cost – a weakness that once led Guangdong martial artist/teacher Xiahou Wu (Zhen) to kill a foreign kickboxer in a rage fight and now drives crippled Mainland fighter Feng Yuxiu (Wang) to prove he’s top dog by murdering former champions in various disciplines. The woolly plot, which doesn’t delve into any real psychology, is an excuse for a series of brief fights that are just okay. Only in the finale, which sees Xiahou Wu and Feng Yuxiu going at it in a road full of passing traffic, does the action really take off in an original way. Prior to that, a more general action sequence set among the stilt houses of Da’ao [Tai O] fishing town is the only other time that the movie really lifts off, though not to an extent that hasn’t been seen in prior Hong Kong movies.

In fact, the most resonant section is the postscript, which dedicates the film to some two dozen people involved in the production – including old-timers like Golden Harvest producer Zou Wenhuai 邹文怀 [Raymond Chow], action stars Jiang Dawei 姜大卫 [David Chiang] and Yang Panpan 杨盼盼 [Sharon Yeung], and martial arts choreographer Yuan Bin 元彬, all of whom appear in the cameo-filled cast – for “upholding the fine tradition of Hong Kong action cinema”. (The Chinese simply says: “Dedicated to the creators, on- and off-stage, of action cinema.”) Disappointing as it is (again) to see a Hong Kong movie trading on a more glorious past rather than adjusting to present realities, it’s a shame that the dedication isn’t attached to a better movie.

Zhen, 51, still looks trim and youthful enough to play a character seven years younger than his real age, and handles the action smoothly enough. But he establishes no sympathetic personality for his character nor any chemistry with his co-stars, including Yang Caini 杨采妮 [Charlie Young] (miscast as a tough detective) and Mainlander Bai Bing 白冰 (as the putative love interest). In their brief fights, Hong Kong’s Fan Shaohuang 樊少皇 [Louis Fan] (Wu Dang 大武当之天地密码, 2012) and China’s Shi Yanneng 释彦能 (The Wrath of Vajra 金刚王  死亡救赎, 2013) forge strong action profiles, but it’s Wang, combining his martial-arts background and doofus comic skills, who steals the film in a grandstanding performance as the crazed serial killer.

Production values are good, with the widescreen photography by veteran d.p. Huang Yongheng 黄永恒 [Horace Wong] (Reign of Assassins 剑雨, 2010) adaptable to both rural Guangdong and concrete Hong Kong, and visual effects well integrated into the action. (In China the film was shown in 3-D.) Composer Jin Peida 金培达 [Peter Kam] produces another driving score that’s unmemorable but effective, and editing by Zhang Jiahui 张嘉辉 [Cheung Ka-fai] and Xu Hongyu 许宏宇 [Derek Hui] is trim. During production the film was also known under the English titles Last of the Best and Kung Fu Killer. The original Chinese means “One Person’s Martial Arts World”.

CREDITS

Presented by Emperor Film Production (HK), Sun Entertainment Culture (HK), Beijing Silver Moon Productions (CN). Produced by Heart & Soul Production (HK).

Script: Liu Haoliang, Mai Tianshu. Original story: Chen Desen [Teddy Chen], Liu Haoliang. Photography: Huang Yongheng [Horace Wong]. Editing: Zhang Jiahui [Cheung Ka-fai], Xu Hongyu [Derek Hui]. Music: Jin Peida [Peter Kam]. Production design: Mai Guoqiang [Kenneth Mak]. Art direction: Lin Weijian. Costume design: Wu Lilu [Dora Ng]. Sound: Zeng Jingxiang [Kinson Tsang]. Action: Zhen Zidan [Donnie Yen], Dong Wei. Martial arts: Yuan Bin, Yan Hua, Yang Jingjing. Visual effects: Chen Yinuo (Herbgarden). Second unit director: Zou Lianyou.

Cast: Zhen Zidan [Donnie Yen] (Xiahou Wu), Wang Baoqiang (Feng Yuxiu), Yang Caini [Charlie Young] (Lu Xuanxin, chief inspector), Bai Bing (Shan Ying), Fang Zhongxin [Alex Fong Chung-sun] (Lin Shuoquan, police chief), Fan Shaohuang [Louis Fan] (Hong Ye), Shi Yanneng (Tan Jingyao), Jiang Dawei [David Chiang] (Chen Boguang), Yu Kang (Wang Zhe), Si Xuan (Shen Xue), Wu Haokang (Da Yu, detective), Ji Huanbo (Big Guy, detective), Wang Jiahui (Xiaowen, detective), Zhang Wenjie (Hui, detective), Chen Weixiong, Huang Weihui (Central Police District HQ duty officers), Bey Logan (K-1 kickboxer), Chen Desen [Teddy Chen] (Tan Furong, TST district officer), Zhou Shuhui (Identification Bureau officer), Liu Weiqiang [Andrew Lau] (YTM district officer), Jin Peida [Peter Kam] (superintendent), Zhang Jinliang (Mai Yongyan/Shark Yan), Huang Zhiqiang [Kirk Wong] (prison inmate), Meng Hai (Hunan gang leader in prison), Zhang Guoming [Alex Cheung] (Li Yaoming, TV newscaster), Liang Xiaoxiong [Tony Leung Siu-hung], Li Dachao (prison correctional officers), Zheng Baorui [Soi Cheang] (prison governor), Xu Xiaoming [Tsui Siu-ming] (Du Fuming), Yuan Xiangren (Lei Qingyuan), Yang Panpan [Sharon Yeung] (landlady), Zou Wenhuai [Raymond Chow] (Zou, foodstall customer), Zhang Tongzu [Joe Cheung] (film director), Lin Di’an (coroner), Zeng Jingxiang [Kinson Tsang] (Li Yangzhong, deputy commissioner OPS), Situ Huizhuo [Roy Szeto], Chen Shuxian [Susan Chan] (reporters), Guo Zijian [Derek Kwok] (Chen, new police chief), Yuan Bin (Shao Henian), Luo Lixian [Bruce Law] (lorry driver), Chen Huiyi (prisoner at end), Yan Hua (prison correctional officer), Wu Siyuan [Ng See-yuan] (radio announcer’s voice), Chen Yinuo (prison officer), Yao Minqi (detective), Liu Haoliang (prisoner).

Premiere: London Film Festival (Thrill), 12 Oct 2014

Release: Hong Kong, 30 Oct 2014; China, 31 Oct 2014.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 11 Jan 2015.)