Summary
A mild parody of martial arts master epics is all over the place tonally, but its charismatic cast and some broad comedy is designed to appeal to a wide audience.
Competitive martial arts films are plum targets for parody, from 1978’s Enter the Fat Dragon and Drunken Master to more recent hits like Kung-Fu Hustle. So, who better to tackle the genre for a broad audience than Dayo Wong Tze-wah, one of the more prominent actors/stand-up comedians in Hong Kong?
While he’s had some big successes in the last few years as the star of Agent Mr. Chan, one of the highest grossing films in Hong Kong in 2018, it’s been almost two decades since his last feature as a director, Fighting to Survive, in 2002.
Wong and co-writer Chung Kai-cheong aren’t exactly on a narrative high though, pulling on a familiar thread and revealing a flimsy garment. THE GRAND GRANDMASTER (乜代宗師), as the title would imply, aims to capture a broad audience already familiar with the lofty titles of the genre. It was crafted as a Chinese New Year release, and wound up being one of the few releases to hit cinemas before the pandemic shutdown.
Wong plays Fei Lung, the head of the prestigious Ma Ka Thunder Style dojo. Yet when a comic misunderstanding sees him punched out by former boxing champ Chan Tsang (Annie Liu), Fei Lung does whatever he can to avoid the rematch. As it turns out, his meagre skills and blossoming romance with Chan complicates matters.
On one level, you have to respect what Wong has done here. As has been reported elsewhere, he claimed on social media that he sold an apartment to fund the Hong Kong production and avoid dealing with China amidst the local boycott of Chinese-backed films. It’s just that it would have been even more admirable if he’d used that chutzpah on weightier material.
With low-brow humour that runs the rails of sexism, a problematic ‘nerdy virgin’ thread and a body of water stalking our lead for some reason, it’s safe to assume that Wong’s film is a little all over the place. Which isn’t to say there aren’t some solid laughs: the dissection of the commercialisation of kung fu is on the money, complete with its own line of ready-made merchandise.
So, much of the film’s strength winds up resting on Liu’s shoulders. While the romance plot fizzles into a weird pillow fight, some reasonably impressive boxing matches act as counterpoints. Book-ended by training montages (with music!), the back third of the film is effectively one long fight sequence.
In a year when Enter the Fat Dragon has also been remade with Donnie Yen, there’s definitely a sense of Hong Kong looking inwards to establish a firm sense of self. Yet, as the ubiquitous mid-credits scene takes us out of the film and into another genre entirely, one has to wonder exactly what that self is made of.
2020 | Hong Kong | DIRECTOR: Dayo Wong Tze-wah | WRITERS: Dayo Wong Tze-wah, Chung Kai-cheong | CAST: Dayo Wong Tze-wah, Annie Liu, Hui Shiu Hung, Ivana Wong, Catherine Chau | DISTRIBUTOR: Golden Scene | RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 January 2020 (Hong Kong), 15 May 2020 (Blu-ray)
