The Magnificent Butcher (1979)
Reviewed by: cal42 on 2006-06-07
Summary: I found it derivative...
MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER is another in the series that resurrects the original Wong Fei-Hung, Kwan Tik-Hing, from his old black and white movies. Although now elderly and heavily doubled, he still commands screen presence. However, building a film around him would obviously prove difficult if not impossible. So they got around the problem in these pseudo-sequels by focusing on other characters – here, the real-life student of Wong Fei-Hung, Lam Sai-Wing (of whom Lau Kar-Leung is a real-life martial arts descendant), comes under the spotlight.

After DRUNKEN MASTER, it seems that every movie must follow the template and include the beggar/master Beggar So, and this is no exception. However, Fan Mei-Sheng is no Yuen Siu-Tien, and the film suffers because of it despite being directed by Yuen Woo-Ping.

Elsewhere, things seem a little “off” to me as well. The trademark Sammo Hung humour is in place, but for some reason, tends to grate rather than amuse.

The final fight between Sammo and Lee Hoi-Shan is pretty good and acrobatic, but this feels more like treading water than a truly landmark entry in the genre.
Reviewer Score: 5