Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1980)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Chi-Hwa Chen
Starring Jackie Chan, Chung-erh Lung, Dean Shek, James Tien, and Ma Wu

Released by: Columbia Tri-star
Region: 1
Rating: R
Anamorphic: Nope; rancid full-frame only.

My Advice: If you've seen 10+ kung fu theatre pics from the 70s, you owe this one to yourself. Otherwise, a rental should suffice.

Jiang (Chan) has a tough life. He's an orphan, he's dead broke, he has no marketable skills, and he's therefore probably on a quick road to starving to death. But in his dreams he is an absolute kung fu master, thrashing bandits and ninjas and assorted other ne'er-do-wells at every turn. In the waking world, he's also a charming liar. So, with a concerted effort, he bluffs his way into guard duty for a wealthy local man, only to be shown for the incompetent dope that he is in short order, when bandits nearly kill his employer. Then he meets a flatulent beggar (Shek) who takes pity on this poor buffoon, and teaches him how to fight. With miraculous speed, Jiang becomes a living weapon, just in time for the return of the bandits and a massive free-for-all battle royale featuring the newly-talented Jiang as the unlikely hero.

Half a Loaf of Kung Fu is to cheezy 1970s kung fu movies what Austin Powers is to spy movies. Spoofing conventions from dozens of films from the Hong Kong "factories" that cranked them out during that decade, the entire picture is a tongue-in-cheek homage to the genre that launched the career of Jackie Chan, who also acts here as his own fight choreographer. This movie marked a turning point for Chan, as it not only brought some closure to the cheesier films of his early career, but also a new contract with a new studio, featuring bigger budgets and more creative freedom to do what HE wanted to do. The 1980s would move Chan away from historical pieces and towards more high comedy, as well as the police comedies that have been his major stock-in-trade since then.

The fight sequences are pretty entertaining, though it's really the physical comedy that makes them great. Chan is solid in his portrayal of the lucky buffoon Jiang, whose dreams of greatness involve occasionally stuffing his face with wild spinach to boost his strength a la Popeye. The other portrayals here are passable, except for Shek, whose gaseous kung fu beggar is a thing of beauty. Taking the disheveled master trope a step beyond the pale, Shek is the only one on screen that can hold his own toe-to-toe with Chan.

Features here are sadly lacking, which is unfortunate. Chan seems legendarily willing to talk about his work, so I don't understand why more of his DVDs don't feature either new or archival interviews with the superstar regarding the pictures. Hell, as he acts as director and fight choreographer on lots of his films from this point forward, you'd think the occasional commentary track wouldn't be too bad. The dub here is decent, but not spectacular...of course, the script isn't exactly gonna knock anybody dead anyway. I suspect much of the interaction was loosely improvised to move from one fight sequence to another with minimal fuss. What is incredibly disappointing is the decision to release this in full-frame only--especially an action flick where the more the screen can open up for the prerequisite butt-kicking, the better.

Chan fans need this one, despite the pan and scan version, as it marks a turning point in his career. Those familiar with the conventions of the Hong Kong historical film genre would recognize a great many of those conventions being set up and mocked throughout the film, which makes it much more enjoyable. As a straight physical comedy with some kung fu, the jokes are occasionally a bit puerile (hell, a farting kung fu master is, at best, funny once), but then again, so was much of what made Austin Powers funny, so perhaps I sell the prospective audience short. Feel free to rent it and prove me wrong.