When provoked, "Courageous" Cheung (Samo Hung) is about the bravest man in town, a label he's willing to protect. But his wife is apparently cheating on him -- with whom, he doesn't know -- but it turns out to be with Master Tam, the richest man in town, who's hired a money grubbing sorcerer to stage-manage Cheung's death. It comes in the form of a dare: Cheung has to spend the night in a locked temple, and with a vicious Chinese hopping vampire. He meets the dare not only once, but twice. They frame him for murder and imprison him; he escapes. The evil wizard possesses Cheung's limbs in a tea shop (a funny and effective scene), and the sorcerer's high-principled brother comes to the rescue, and with the perfect solution: initiate Cheung into the practice of magic which, combined with his superior kung-fu skills, would render him nigh well invincible. The real fun comes, as usual, in the climactic set piece, in which Cheung takes on the identity of a series of Chinese gods, including a hilarious bit as the Monkey King (it's a gag that'll have fans of the 1976 television serial in stitches). Samo Hung is a mediocre director and even worse as a comedian, so the movie comes to life in fits and starts, as if the magical incantations had a hard time connecting.

(2/4)



[Reviewed by Steve Spinali]