After its' premiere in 1981, My Young Auntie was a huge success, both with critics and audiences. Its' star Kara Hui went on to become the first female star of a kung fu movie to win a Hong Kong Film Award, and she earned the nickname of "Auntie" (a term of repect in Chinese culture), which she maintains to this day. My Young Auntie is also regarded as one of director Lau Kar-Leung's strongest movies and one of the pinnacles of the kung fu comedy genre.

Unfortunately, time has taken off a bit of the sheen of My Young Auntie. The broad comedy, which includes cartoonish musical cues and seemingly endless mugging for the camera, is very hit-or-miss. It's pretty obvious that Lau was trying to emulate the success of the Cantonese comedies of the Hui brothers, with a menu that features puns, pop culture references, and musical parodies. But nothing ever seem to really gel. A big reason of this goes to Kara Hui. She's likeable enough, but the character feels woefully underwritten and underdeveloped -- which is surprising, since the role was created especially for her by Lau Kar-Leung.

However, any misgivings a viewer might have about the story or comedy are forgiven by the fight sequences, which -- as you might expect from Lau Kar-Leung -- are very exciting. There's nothing particularly inventive about them (except for perhaps a seemingly invincible bad guy with some very vulnerable armpits), but they are all done well. In particular, the last forty minutes or so of the movie is almost wall-to-wall action, and definitely shows why many people think the "old school" kung fu movies are some of the best ever created.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]