[KFCC] Fist of Fury 91 Review

Story: Sing, Stephen Chow, is a Bruce Lee enthusiast whose possesses a powerful right hand. Upon his arrival in Hong Kong, he becomes lost and ultimately befriends a thug named Siu, Kenny Bee. Sing convinces Siu to give up his corrupt ways and they both look around for jobs but to no avail. Luckily the two learn about a Fighting Championship Competition, where the winner receives the million dollar award, and Sing decides to enter and win by his powerful right hand. They experience a problem entering and learn that they need to be sponsored by a Martial Arts School. Their troubles don't stop there because when they do find a school they must deal with corrupt schools, betraying students, and avenging a master's death.

Review: There's something captivating about the Hong Kong films of the 80's and early 90's:Whether it was the plethora of cheap hurried yet extremely entertaining and influencing productions or it being the heydays of the HK's film industry now established actors, actresses, directors, producers, etc. Whatever it was, the era has long since passed and the films representing the time thankfully remain; which leads to Fist of Fury 91 giving me a nostalgic feel for the HK films of this era. It has an uneven, rough, and abrupt feel to it in terms of the mood, story and pacing. This fault is also a cherished characteristic that results in an unprofessional feel; which for some reason makes it feel refreshing from the serious schlock pumped out by other Film Industries. The notion that the HK Film Industry of yesteryear wasn't able to always afford an extravagant production design but still succeeded due the raw talent that occupies the film, is one that I cherish.

The film was slapped with a category III rating and features a slightly darker and almost perverse comedic side of Stephen Chow:Kung-Fu fights where the moves are substituted with spit and grabbing the crotch, an actually funny scene revolving around the issue of rape(with Chow dressed as Mark Gor for A Better Tomorrow),and a frequent amount of bloodshed used for laughs.

The film carries the title Fist of Fury 91, and includes a couple of scenes parodying Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury: It focuses on his master's death and the infamous"eating the slanderous banner/Sick men of Asia" scene. The latter parody is done quite nicely (albeit in a vicious manner) where Sing challenges a gigantic Japanese martial artist, with Sing believing that they are just acting out the famous scene from Fist of Fury.

In terms of acting the entire cast pulled off an adequate job, but its Stephen Chow and Kenny Bee that I enjoyed the most in the film as conventional though wickedly humorous mismatched buddies. On an interesting note Chow's usual on screen pal Ng Man Tat has a short but great appearance in which they shortly reprise their roles from All for the Winner.

Fist of Fury 91 isn't Chow's best or probably even most appealing due to the humor, but somehow it's quickly become one of my favorite guilty pleasures.