The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2022: City Hunter (1993), directed by Wong Jing

 The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune: 'City Hunter (Sing Si Lip Yan)' by Jackie Chan

       Are there films from China and Hong Kong that are based on novels that I could have done? Of course, some of the most famous and successful stories of all time came from China, and they’ve been adapted to film dozens of time. Are there films from China and Hong Kong that don’t star Jackie Chan? Yes, in fact we’ve even covered some in the past Marathons. But god damn it sometimes you just want to watch Jackie Chan do wacky and incredibly dangerous stunts, which for me is every October in between 30 other movies. Also I believe this is the movie where Jackie Chan cosplays as Chun-Li from Street Fighter, and I can’t truly die until I see that. That’s not hyperbole by the way, I was actually cursed by a witch last summer who was really into martial arts movies.

       Released in 1993, City Hunter was written and directed by Wong Jing and produced by Chua Lam through Golden Harvest, Paragon Films and Golden Way Films, based on the popular manga series by Tsukasa Hojo. Jackie Chan stars as Ryu Saeba, the private detective known as City Hunter, although he seems to prefer pretty ladies and eating over solving cases. Today Ryu has been hired by newspaper magnate Mr. Imamura to find his daughter Kiyoko, who in a fit of teenage rebellion has run away from home. Simple enough, until the case moves onto the luxury liner Fuji Maru, which aside from having its maiden voyage is also being targeted by an international gang of thieves. Now Ryu not only has to recover Kiyoko, but he also has to stop a boat hijacking while trying to salvage his relationship with his assistant Kaori. All on an empty stomach! What’s a poor City Hunter to do?

       Going into this movie, my first question was ‘how are they going to make Jackie Chan suave’? I mean you look at how Hojo drew City Hunter and it gives the impression that Ryu is the smooth, Han Solo type of badass, and while I’ll always contend that Jackie Chan is cool it was always based more so on what he could do rather than how he acted. Well it turns out the answer is ‘they didn’t’. Out of all of Jackie’s films that I’ve covered on this blog, City Hunter is far and away the goofiest, with some kind of gag or joke just about every minute. If you remember Roger Rabbit and the ways Zemeckis interpreted cartoon visual gags into live action, it’s very much the same for City Hunter, whose antics feel straight out of the anime trope handbook. Perhaps even more than Roger Rabbit, which at least had the benefit of a toon environment. City Hunter has folk transforming in video game characters and getting hit with comically oversized hammers with no attempt at reconciling it with reality.

       Which I guess could be considered City Hunter’s biggest flaw, depending on your connection to the source material. Having never really read City Hunter or watched any of its numerous OVAs I have no idea if this film could be considered a loving tribute or outright parody of Hojo’s work. I can tell you that it doesn’t take itself or its story seriously; Even at the very beginning of the film where Ryu is discussing the brutal murder of his former partner the scene is done in a very slapstick manner, so there’s very little in the way of emotional weight or depth. Yet the film is written in such a way that it kind of expects you to understand the references? Is this Tim Burton’s Batman or more like The Guyver?  I dunno, the whole thing ends up feeling like a fever dream by the end, hyperactive and often horrifyingly incoherent.

       One thing that is consistent however is the action, because Chan knows his audiences. Nothing especially elaborate/bone breaking, but the level of stunt and fight choreography is still leagues above others in the field, which is only compounded by the cartoonish elements. The Street Fighter tribute is a definite highlight, but I also really loved the climax of the film with the dancing gunplay and the final fight, which is a great showcase of Chan’s agility and dexterity. The man is a living highlight reel.

       City Hunter gets the recommendation. While the overwhelming goofiness could be a turn off to some, don't really need a running gag of a dude trying to bang his cousin, it maintains the level of action quality that Golden Harvest built its legacy on, so if not acceptable it’s at least tolerable. Pair it up with Wheels on Meals for more wacky kungfu antics.

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2021: Wheels on Meals (1984), directed by Sammo Hung

 

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune - "The Food Truck Blues" by The Arcadian Wild

       It felt like a little bit of a copout when the time came to pick this year’s martial arts film and I returned to the Jackie Chan well yet again, but I’m justifying it because this isn’t just a Jackie Chan movie, but a Samo Hung movie as well. Most people in the United States probably aren’t familiar with the name, but Hung has been an important part of the development of the Hong Kong kung fu film as a worldwide phenomenon, not only as an actor but as a stuntman, action director, producer and film director. If you’ve ever watched Enter the Dragon or some of those old Shaw Brothers films, then chances are good that you’ve either seen him on screen or seen fight scenes that he’s choreographed, because they’d release like six of those movies a year back in the day. Although he never had the star power of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, his rotund physique combined with his impressive acrobatic skills and choreography experience made him a unique figure in the kung fu flick scene, and he was eventually able to transition that into his own successful movie career, appearing in films as recently as 2019. Pretty sure a 58 year career in the movie business qualifies as a ‘good run’.

       Originally I wanted to cover a movie where Sammo Hung was the solo lead, but the film I was going to use for that, 1980’s Encounters of the Spooky Kind, was being oddly elusive at the time. So it’s Sammo playing alongside his old buddy Jackie Chan, but he is directing the movie, which I think is a suitable compromise. Maybe next year I’ll just avoid Hong Kong entirely and cover The Last Dragon or something.

       Released in 1984, Wheels on Meals was written by Edward Tang and Johnny Lee, directed by Sammo Hung and produced by Raymond Chow (the founder of Golden Harvest, the studio which either produced or distributed pretty much every kung fu movie you ever liked). Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao star as Thomas and David, two Chinese immigrants running a food truck in what I assume is Barcelona Spain, because what other Spanish city do they set movies in? While visiting Dave’s father at the local mental hospital, the cousins come across Sylvia (Lola Forner), a woman as beautiful as she is thievish, but luckily for her Dave is into that shit. After conning the two several times, it seems like Sylvia and the cousins actually form a kinship, but things take a turn for the serious when a group of mysterious thugs enter the picture, intent on nabbing Sylvia for undisclosed but undoubtedly nefarious purposes. David and Tom must team up with their friend Moby (Sammo), a bumbling private detective who as fate would have it has been hired by someone to track down Sylvia as well, in order to keep Sylvia safe and save the day. Most of which involves kicking people’s asses.

       The Hong Kong film scene was no stranger to action packed movies back in the day, but I don’t think it was until the 1980s that the action film began to crystallize. Wheels on Meals for example has plenty of those fight scenes that made Golden Harvest such hitmakers, but a significant portion of the run time is dedicated to action set pieces such as automobile stunts. Pretty good car stunts too while we’re at it; They’ve got cars flipping over and smashing into each other, cars driving on their sides, it’s very frenetic. That might not seem all that remarkable in these modern times of perpetual Fast & Furious movies, but similar to the case in Once Upon a Time in the West with Cheyenne on top of the train, diversifying the ways in which you excite the audience makes for a more engaging film overall.

       Comedy wasn’t a stranger either to these films either, and Wheels on Meals is principally a comedy. In a similar situation to before, there’s plenty of the physical comedy that you loved in films like Drunken Master, but just as much of the humor is built around cartoonish gags and dialogue. Chan, Biao and Hung had been collaborating since their days in the Peking Opera so they’re completely at ease with one another, and that chemistry lends itself to gag-writing which feels quite fluid which comes through even in spite of the dub. With Samo directing I think there’s the assumption that his character Moby would get the best bits and while Moby is definitely the clown of the film each of the three stars get their own chance to shine.

        As I wrote earlier, while Wheels on Meals is more of an action movie than strictly a martial arts movie, this is still a film starring kung fu actors distributed by a kung fu movie studio, so there’s still plenty of fight scenes to scratch that itch. The greatest of these fights is naturally in the climax, where our protagonists are engaged in three separate fights, which manage to be not only masterful displays of choreography and the stars’ speed and skill in acrobatics but great examples of slapstick comedy as well. If the 3 Stooges were living weapons, basically. We also get some non-fight stunts as well (in case you ever wanted to see Jackie Chan ride a skateboard), nothing as complex and potentially deadly as what we would see in Jackie Chan’s later films, although there is a running gag involving leaping out of a first floor balcony onto the street that probably didn’t feel too good on Biao and Hung’s hips when they busted their ass.

       If there’s a problem with the film, it’s the same one shared with a lot of these kinds of movies, in that the story is secondary to the action. The movie begins, then we kind of meander around a bit doing whatever, until the characters finally learn what the plot is in time to stop it and save the day. I can’t even say this film has a main antagonist; Yeah there’s a guy that we see boss the thugs around who means to harm our good guys, but he gets so little focus it’s as if he barely exists at all, and when we reach the climax of the film he’s barely an afterthought. Sylvia isn’t all that memorable either; She spends most of the film not as a femme fatale con artist but as the love interest/macguffin for the characters to fight over, and her dubbed voice only serves to further increase her blandness. There’s also a number of scenes set in the mental hospital where the jokes are based on how wacky people suffering from mental illness can be, which may or may not be a dealbreaker depending on your view but is in any case a tired trope. 

        In a decade that saw dozens of amazing action films come out of Hong Kong, Wheels on Meals doesn’t stand at the head of the pack. However it’s a film that knows who its audience is, knows its stars and knows how to craft an action scene, and that is what it delivers, and I can respect that. Wheels on Meals gets the recommendation, if you’re looking to relax and want something fun and uncomplicated to watch in the 80’s style, throw this on and see how you like it.

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2019: Drunken Master (1978), directed by Yuen Woo-Ping

The Trailer

and

The Appropriate Tune: "8 Drunken Gods", by Chow Fu-liang

       Bruce Lee may have been the pioneer of what we know of as the martial arts genre of film, but I don’t think anyone can deny that Jackie Chan was its greatest innovator. With a style honed by the rigorous acting training he underwent as a child for the Peking Opera , a natural gift for comedy and a willingness (if not desire) to put his body through hell for the sake of the movie, Chan not only firmly established himself as one of the top dogs of Hong Kong/Chinese action cinema, he also found great success in the West as well with such films as Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon. I first discovered him as a child through the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures, one of my favorite shows back in those days, and even if didn’t match up 1 to 1 with Chan’s actual life, it did put his name in my head, and later pushed me towards his films. Bruce Lee was undoubtedly a legend, but that legend was confined to a couple films and a role in short-lived superhero show. Jackie Chan, on the other hand, WAS martial arts to me for a long time, and when I think of martial arts movies, his name is the one that immediately comes to mind. Not Bruce Lee, not Jet Li or Tony Jaa, but Jackie ‘remember that time I dressed up as Chun-Li from Street Fighter?’ Chan. So if the newly established guidelines state that we get in at least one martial arts film a year, it only makes sense that he would eventually make an appearance. A proper inauguration, if you will.

       His 37th or so film of that decade, his fourth film of 1978, and his second with director Yuen Woo-Ping (the first, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, having come out earlier that year), Drunken Master stars Jackie Chan as a young Wong Fei Hung (or Freddie Wong, depending on your dub), a real life Chinese folk hero, martial artist and acupuncturist. The son of a well-respected martial arts master, Hung is something of a lazy punk, relying on his natural talents in kung-fu to get out of the messes he finds himself in. When he finally pushes things too far his father arranges for him to be taken in by Master So-Hi for one year, in the hope that he will find discipline through training. Despite appearing like a feeble old drunk, So-Hi reveals that he is more than a match for the over-confident and rebellious Hung, possessing an incredibly bizarre and powerful kung-fu that astounds anyone who comes up against it. Hung, deathly allergic to strain or work of any kind bristles at the idea of the harsh training So-Hi, but it’s training he’ll need, as an assassin with deadly kung-fu roams the land. Can Wong Fei Hung become the Drunken Master, or will he die on his knees? You’ll have to watch to find out.

       If you’ve never seen a Jackie Chan movie before now I can’t think of a gateway film as good as Drunken Master. You’ve got the long takes of quick, intricate and acrobatic fight choreography, the use of props in said choreography, the comedic aspects, everything that defined Jackie Chan as an action star wrapped up in one movie. Not only that, but this is a Hong Kong action movie, which means they’re not selling you a sports car with nothing under the hood. You came for fights, and Drunken Master packs them in as much as they can. With weapons and without, in multiple styles, all the while Jackie Chan (in his physical prime) flips and move through space like gravity forgot his name. It’s amazing to see, almost as if Jackie and the crew are doing their very best to make sure every minute in this 2+ hour movie doesn’t go to waste. If only some of the other filmmakers in this Marathon had taken notes.

       As for cons, well as as a story there’s not to say, there’s not much of a plot or character development beyond ‘guy trains in martial arts to beat people up’. There’s also the fact that use of martial arts in this film emphasizes acrobatics and theatrics, which means it can lack the visceral energy that made The Big Boss and Enter the Dragon such great films. In terms of comedy Drunken Master has a tendency towards the childish and cartoonish at times, including fart and poop jokes, which might turn more serious minded people away. Then there’s the English dub, which has some issues beyond the trope of kung-fu movies having bad dubs. Aside from shoe-horning English names here and there, Wong Fei Hung and his dad becoming Freddie and Robert Wong for example, I just found Jackie’s voice actor rather annoying to listen to at some points. Of course Hung’s character does a lot of whining, but there’s something about the tone of it that struck my ear the wrong way. Definitely a movie you’d want to go subs not dubs for, or you could get up off your ass and learn Mandarin. I mean, unless you’re a coward or something.

       A lot of films get labeled as popcorn movies, occasionally in a derogatory, ‘turn your brain off’ manner, but Drunken Master is an example of this at its best. So much work, so much blood, sweat and tears shed all so that we can see Jackie Chain act like an idiot and beat the shit out of people with chairs and Hong Kong audiences drank it in like fine wine, Drunken Master making over twice what Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow managed to rake in. I loved it too, which is why it’s getting the unabashed full recommendation. It might not seem like Halloween fare, the only horrors here are the horrors of alcoholism, but if you need a fun break from the spooks then this should be your first stop. Drinks are on me.