Skinny Tiger And Fatty Dragon

What stops Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon from getting a higher rating are the detours it takes during the running time. There are several instances of pro-China sentiment that come off as heavy-handed and uneffective. Sammo's dad being a virtual fortune cookie of Chinese rhetoric, the usual nasty gweilos turned up a notch, and one sequence where a foreign car is demolished seem to go a bit over the top. It's okay to be proud of one's heritage, but you don't need to beat it over the head of your viewers -- Bruce Lee's "no dogs or Chinese allowed" bit from Fist of Fury seems subtle versus some of the stuff in this movie.

More disarmingly, there is a sense of misonogny which seems out of place in this supposedly family-friendly film. There are a few scenes, such as one where Maka "beats some sense" into Carrie Ng, and a later very violent assassination attempt against her (as well as some gratutious nudity), which feel very out of place with the rest of the movie and come off as a bit unsettling.

All in all, though, this is a pretty fun movie that should please fans of Sammo Hung, and action films in general -- it's worth a look. And in case you're too dense to notice (like the guy at the video store where I rented this), this movie has no relation whatsoever to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, other than the fact that there's kung fu in both films.

Review Courtesy of Neil Koch