To Kill With Intrigue (1977)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Lung Ku
Directed by Wei Lo
Starring Jackie Chan

Features:

• Digitally mastered audio
  
• Cantonese and English language tracks
  
• Subtitles in English, Spanish, Portugese, and French
  
• Theatrical trailers
  

Rating: NR, recommended for audiences 17+

Anamorphic: Yep.

My Advice: Pass.

Jackie Chan has long been synonymous with outrageous kung fu stuntwork and really funny action movies. Such was not always the case, alas, and To Kill With Intrigue aptly demonstrates why Jackie Chan should never, ever, under any circumstances, move away from his natural comedic skills. A stock historical wuxia flick, this movie serves as a glimpse into what the world would be missing if Jackie had stayed on the road of serious historical action dramas, instead of taking Drunken Master and running with it for the rest of his career. And I'll be the first to tell you that it's not a pretty picture. I shudder to think what we'd have instead of his current catalog of classic kung fu comedies and buddy cop flicks.

This is not in any way to suggest that Jackie doesn't have the acting chops to be serious. But even though he ably performs the role, it just seems fundamentally wrong throughout that he's trying to be very serious and dramatic. Not helping matters is the weak story of To Kill With Intrigue, which goes approximately like this: Cao Le (Chan) and Chin Chien are in love. But another woman (Chin Chang Yin) is coming to Le's family looking for her revenge against Cao's father for an injustice some years ago. So Cao does what he thinks best -- verbally abuses his (pregnant) girlfriend until she runs off and leaves him and the doomed Le household. The wicked Chin Chang Yin and her gang of assassins (the "Killer Bees," an unintentionally comedic moment in a movie trying to be serious) show, slaughter lots of people, but leave Cao Le alive (why we are unsure). Then, having left him alive, Chin Chang Yin torments and hinders Le at every turn as he seeks out his spurned girlfriend to explain and reconcile with her.

Why he thought he should piss the girl off instead of telling her his grand plan in the first place is beyond me. But To Kill With Intrigue is full of such inexplicable plot holes. Why doesn't Yin kill him? Dunno. Why does she then, if she was going to let him go, continue to torment and attack him? Not clear. There's a sense of just wanting to toy mercilessly with Cao Le, or perhaps make life even more miserable for the girlfriend, but it's rarely investigated in any detail. Basically, the movie is generic wuxia fare, with a thin plot that serves to do little more than propel the characters from one fight sequence to the next. That said, the fight sequences are pretty entertaining, though nothing revolutionary (except that there are a lot more sequences of a woman kicking ass than is typical in kung fu theatre, and even that can be found elsewhere).

The DVD treatment is decent enough for the film. Digitally remastered audio and anamorphic video transfer, so colors are sharp and so is the sound. There is some evidence of the film's age in the video, as there are streaks and fading in places, and some serious pops and crackles (particularly in dark scenes). The dub is execrably bad, but most all kung fu movie dubs of that era were. Watch it in Cantonese with subtitles. It may seem tedious, but it's definitely more entertaining than the mangled English translation.

Extras are minimal to non-existent, consisting of the various subtitle options and some theatrical trailers. I suppose after cleaning up the sound and picture, nobody was interested in sinking even more money in a forgettable Jackie Chan flick. And I can't say I blame 'em, but still. Without any sort of extra material or bonuses, even die-hard kung fu movie fans will need no more than a rental. Jackie Chan or wuxia completists might want to pick it up, but then only to round out their collections. I can't imagine anybody falling all over themselves to run out for this one. I'm not convinced Jackie even lists it on his resumé.