By Russ Houghton

Prince Charles Cinema, London, UK
September 19th 2002

Sequels are never as good as the original. It’s often an unbreakable rule, whether it’s movies, books or farts, that magic is lost with repetition. The first HKL Fight Night, held back in the summer was excellent, and free to boot, so the idea that a second evening of Hong Kong cinema in the heart of London (England) could live up to the good reputation of the first, and charge a portion of our well-earned pocket money for the pleasure, seemed too good to believe. Well, believe it, because for a measly £5, HKL delivered the finest entertainment an Asian cinema fan could ask for.

The first was great fun, and apparently a little hastily put together. This time, as promised to KFCCinema the first time around, more time had been put into the event, and apart from the excellent choice of films, there was a prize draw, even more exclusive goodies, and a full house. It’s obvious that London has been crying out for this kind of thing. First up was the John Woo helmed ‘The Killer’, starring Chow Yun Fat. Whistles were issued at the door, yet the crowd fell mostly silent. It is, after all, a ‘real’ film. The kind with a strong story, emotional weight, artistic merit, and lots of gangsters’ chests exploding in glorious slow-motion. While some of the dated melodrama and canto-pop campery was met with affectionate amusement by the crowd, the gunfights inspired mute awe. It’s likely that the majority of the audience had seen ‘The Killer’ several times before, and wanted to see it on the big screen for a reason. It is brilliant. The credits rolled, and the audience applauded as if Chow Yun Fat himself were about to appear and start handing out autographed firearms.

During the interval HKL merchandise was on sale, all of which will be available soon from the website. This includes baseball caps, T-shirts, rugby shirts, and a chance to grab the restored HKL version of ‘My Lucky Stars’ so you can boast that you have it before any grotty layman picks it up at Woolies.

Just before the second feature, the results of the prize draw was announced, and a compere fired up the crowd before giving Russell Cox of Reading an HKL DVD graphic signed by Whang In Sik, the bad guy from ‘The Young Master’. The lucky oik.

The second treat on the menu was Jackie Chan’s ‘The Young Master’. Under-rated but brilliant, the first twenty minutes of awkward plot stumbled by while the audience yearned for what they know Jackie does best. For those of you who have never seen this early Jackie masterpiece, it helped establish Jackie as a master craftsman, and once things heat up, they just get hotter and hotter. It was a slightly diminished crowd by the time the second feature began, but the most asbestos-buttocked were keen for more HK action. The audience were practically hyperventilating from all the whistle blowing, and with barely a break between bouts, the movie flew by in seconds.

There was more whistling and applause when the credits rolled, and everybody filed out in time for a kebab and the tube home.

The only real downside to the event is the venue itself. The Prince Charles cinema is not a commercial Cineplex, but an independent film-house that specializes in bringing lesser-known films to London. It’s always good to see a cinema show more than the usual blockbuster fare, but as such, it doesn’t seem to generate the revenue to be able to afford top of the line sound systems and ergonomic seating with little cup-holders on the arms. The audio during ‘The Killer’ was at times a little shallow sounding, and the front dozen rows of seats lean back in the most unusual way. In the cinema’s defence, for £5 entry fee, you would hardly expect THX sound, free smokes and a masseuse!

So, there have been two fight nights so far, and one thing seems clear. This could easily be here to stay. Two successful events, the first with a reasonable size audience, and the second with a full house. The endless number of Bollywood and European Arthouse cinemas have shown that import movies can succeed and survive in London, yet there really doesn’t seem to have been much to date in the way of South-East Asian cinema. Hong Kong Legends have proven that there is an audience hungry for more big screen Asian action, and judging by the success of the first two Fight Nights, could we in future see the event move to a bigger, better cinema?

Let’s hope so.

Hong Kong Legends will release ‘The Killer’ on DVD on the 21st October 2002, followed by ‘The Young Master’ on the 27th December 2002. My thanks to the HKL people for tolerating a tipsy Samurai Journalist, and to Jay Husbands (aka Akuma) for the photography.