[KFCC] Review

Story: Wong Fei Hung and his students are invited to compete against representatives of eight different countries in a Lion dancing contest. China is struggling to deal with the changes that the foreigners bring, and are suffering at the hands of corrupt foreign officials, so the Chinese see this competition as a good way to save face. The problem is, with vigilante groups such as the ‘Ladies of the Red Lantern’ attacking foreign properties, tensions are high, and violence is expected.

Review: The original ‘Once Upon A Time In China’ trilogy are undeniable classics, but when it came to creating the fourth entry in the series, Jet Li and Tsui Hark had apparently sworn never to work together again after an argument. Not wanting to put the series to bed, director Yeun Bun helmed this film, and the legendary starring role was handed over to Chui Man Cheuk. OATIC4 isn’t the worst film ever made, but the magic of the first three movies is absent.

The very first scene seems to try and calm our fears about the new leading actor. Wong Fei Hung stands in front of hundreds of martial arts students, and spends a couple of minutes going through a kata routine. It’s almost as if they are proving that Chiu Man Cheuk is more than a match for Jet Li. The problem is, while the guy is an evidently an impressive martial artist, he lacks Li’s star quality, charisma and authority. Li was always a little too young to play Wong Fei Hung, but Cheuk looks practically pubescent.

The action is more stylised than previously, relying heavily on wirework, elaborate death-traps (fighting atop a giant domino rally is a brief highlight) and Lion dancing. In fact, seeing as the Lion dance was the focus of OUATIC3, you have to wonder why this film simply revisits old ground. The foreign invaders bring huge ‘lions’ shaped like various giant creatures. Among the creatures are an Eagle, a Dragon, a caterpillar and strangest of all, Flamingos. Basically, the climax of the film entails a bunch of guys floating around on wires with giant paper-mache animal heads. It’s just too silly to take seriously. If the foreigners want a war, why not just start a war instead of a costume party? At least then the audience might get to see Wong Fei Hung kick some ass, instead of feeling like this is some peculiar Chinese version of Disney’s ‘Lion King on Ice’.

‘Once Upon A Time In China IV’ is a weak entry to a classic series. It suffers from poor casting, a contrived plot which serves up weak excuses for more Lion dancing, too little regard for the themes of the series, and nowhere near enough Kung Fu. Hardcore devotees of Wong Fei Hung will probably still want to see this, but for anybody else, this is not so much ‘Once Upon A Time In China IV’ as ‘Once Upon A Time In China Too Far’.