A silly title, and star Andy Lau Tak-Wah not taking off his shirt once? What kind of a movie is that? Well, actually it's a rather endearing hommage to the b/w swordplay kungfu movies of the fifties and sixties, complete with special effects done in the same style. The movie indeed opens with b/w clips from those old films, where magical kung fu heroes would wave their hands and some charming, hand-painted type effects would signal to the viewer that they were watching mysterious supernatural kungfu power in action. We're talking FX here that were surpassed by what you can see in the Flash Gordon serials of the 30s... Rather silly looking for anyone not familiar with these films, so be warned, don't watch this movie expecting any true Martial Arts action or even any of the fake stuff familiar from movies like Storm Riders. In fact, Storm Riders, Legend of Zu etc. are a modernization of the same tradition, except that they try very hard to employ impressive FX, whereas Kung Fu vs Acrobatic goes the completely different direction - nothing about these FX is impressive. They are plain silly, albeit in a nostalgic, charming way.

The story is set in modern day HK, where two bumbling advertising execs (Andy Lau and Nat Chan) are sent off to some remote location in mainland China to gather some artifacts to be used in an ad campaign. They accidentally discover an ancient tomb where Yuan dynasty princess Joey Wang awaits in suspended animation. They revive her, swallow some kung fu pill that gives them magical powers and then flee the scene, as Yuen Wah, the villain who's been after Joey, awakes as well. From here on in, the film alternates between fish out of water comedy (we've seen this done much better in movies like The Iceman Cometh) and magical kung fu action (complete with all the required mumbo jumbo). All the familiar elements are there, including the worm-swallowing/drum-beating scene (similar scene was in Eagle-Shooting Heroes). It's all presented in a relaxed manner, none of the fights try to create tension or any sense of true danger, and Yuen Wah, who can play the menacing villain better than anyone, actually cracks a smile every now and then. Lots of parodies of TV commercials that may hold more significance for anyone living in HK at the time, and some decent performances, including a supporting turn from the under-rated Lau Shun. Joey looks lovely, but doesn't get to do much (at least she's not a ghost this time around), and Andy and Natalis chew up the scenery with their semi-funny antics.

One last word on those FX - imagine Andy striking a pose, and then little hand-drawn hearts and/or feet streaming out of his hands to strike his opponent. You really gotta see it to appreciate the humour in this. And I'm glad I did, if only because it reminded me of the long FX tradition in HK that eventually led to such modern adaptations as Legend of Zu, Storm Riders, Avenging Fist etc.

Marginal Recommendation.