Parroting a previous review of the action masterpiece [the] Prodigal Son (and Warriors Two), Sammo Hung is one of the best directors of action there has ever been. Nobody has his ability to choreograph, shoot and perform an action scene to its highest level, as he can, not even friend and collaborator Jackie Chan – for that matter. Unfortunately, sometimes the movie around the action lets the side down, a theme that became more and more prominent when the Hong Kong action film industry moved away from period pieces and started making contemporary movies around the mid to late 1980s. I realise my opinion on this matter is an unpopular one, nonetheless, the new eureka release Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon Is one such contemporary era martial arts movie.
Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon tells the story of two heavy-handed cops who arrest the bad guy, get reprimanded for their violence, go on holiday to Singapore, and come back for the earlier bad guy to want revenge on all who wronged them. There we are, 1 hour and 40 minutes of the story in one sentence. Skinny Tiger, or Baldy, is played by Karl Maka. He isn’t much of a fighter, but he makes up for this shortcoming by endlessly running his smart mouth. Engaged to the long-suffering, Tall Sister (Wanda Yung Wai-Tak), who wants them to marry but both Baldy (Maka) and Fatty Dragon (Sammo) plan to run off to Singapore to be kept men, running a karaoke bar for two women they met on holiday. Fatty Dragon is a repressed singleton who is undermined at every opportunity by his best friend and partner. From those two character sheets, campy hijinx ensue.
Earlier, I stated that the work of Sammo & Jackie Chan set in the contemporary era is inferior to the work they did within classical, historical martial arts cinema. The reason is simple, comedy. Jackie Chan films often had him depicted as a creepy horndog, and Sammo’s lent on the fact that he is overweight and therefore must be socially inept. Funny, right? No, combine this with the campiest and cheesiest music heard this side of a lift muzak convention, and you have something that is both tone-deaf and dated. Keeping it specific to Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon, any attempts they make with women feel like salvage from the carry on cutting room floor. The decision by the director, Bruce Lau Kar-Wing, to have Sammo ape the mannerisms and moves of Bruce Lee don’t work. Worse, it deflates any tension in the action scenes because if he has the time to mess around, how seriously is the fight? Fights where his enemies, armed with swords and guns, are attempting to kill him and Maka. There are worse examples of this comedy (Lucky Stars), but that doesn’t save Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon’s face, on the contrary, it just gives it more company. Especially the running groping gag, that can get in the bin.
The first scene has Sammo prevent a jewellery robbery by thieves wearing Cookie Monster and Thor masks, establishing his character as a heavy-handed cop who throws his weight around with beautiful meaty violence.
That being said: the scene where Sammo dances with two girls in the Karaoke bar – that I’ll stand up for all day long.
As bad as the comedy is, the action is its opposite in every conceivable way. Ignore the sound effects, gestures and facials, and you will find three typically excellent scenes with a few minor ones around the sides. The first scene has Sammo prevent a jewellery robbery by thieves wearing Cookie Monster and Thor masks, establishing his character as a heavy-handed cop who throws his weight around with beautiful meaty violence. The second is the best of the bunch and owes the biggest debt to Bruce Lee, with it echoing the basement fight in ‘Enter the Dragon’, albeit in a multistorey car park with metal pipes. And the last is in a warehouse as the bad guy’s big boss is drawn into a trap by the titular characters, with Sammo beating up all the henchmen as par the course for the big final face-off. There are also a couple of fights around the sides with a pair of ‘Thai ladyboys’ that err closer to the tone-deaf comedy than the meaty action chops; even so, Carrie Ng (Lai) equips herself exceptionally well in her big scene.
The unending attempts at comedy will win Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon very few fans, for the Sammo completist, this is one to check off the list thanks to the ever-impressive action scenes of an action legend at the peak of his powers. It just demands a little more patience than you’d expect for what is ostensibly a homage to one of Hong Kong cinema’s greatest legends, albeit a clumsy one. Extras on this new eureka disc include new commentaries, archival interviews, and on the second disc, a 2018 documentary about British stuntman Mark Houghton, called ‘I am the White Tiger’. Special closing shoutout to Darren Wheeling for his excellent new box art.
SKINNY TIGER FATTY DRAGON IS OUT NOW ON EUREKA BLU-RAY
CLICK THE BOXART BELOW TO BUY SKINNY TIGER FATTY DRAGON DIRECT FROM EUREKA
ROB’S ARCHIVE – SKINNY TIGER FATTY DRAGON (1990)
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