I think Jackie Chan plays a bit of an alien in this one. His character seems to have no past and no real aim or objective. Mind you, he comes off quite well when viewed against everyone else in the film, who all appear to have escaped from a special hospital. There is some semblance of a story involving “Evergreen Jade” and “Soul Pills”, but it’s all very circumstantial. To get things moving along, the film contrives to have Jackie accidentally help kill a famous Kung Fu hero while he’s confronting a villain. He then takes on the identity of the deceased hero in order to claim the reward. Obviously, he later discovers that stealing someone’s identity is not such a great idea, especially when you know no martial arts whatsoever!

I have to buck the trend yet again with my opinion of this film. However, it’s mostly due to a big case of nostalgia – this was one of the first Hong Kong movies I saw, and everything was fresh and exciting to me, and now reminds me of a time in my life when things were much simpler. It was also my very first “period” martial arts film, and I found it all quite exotic with all the Taiwanese locations and unfamiliar costumes.

I remember being shocked at the primitiveness of the film, and to be honest, even judged against some other low budget films from this era, HALF A LOAF OF KUNG FU does not come off very well at all. Obviously, the title sequence references went completely over my head at the time. Nowadays, I understand the parodies and find them quite amusing – so much so that like many people I find the sequence the highlight of the movie - but back then I remember thinking “I hope the whole film isn’t like this”!

Like DRAGON LORD that followed a few years later, HALF A LOAF OF KUNG FU has a non-fighter as the main character. Even at the end, he’s not an expert, though he does learn a few moves from the student of the Beggar Master (I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be Beggar So or not – the only time he’s referred to by name, the VCD subtitle goes off the edge of the screen. D’oh!). The student is played by Dean Shek, and he pretty much plays the character the same as every other around this period, only with fart gags thrown in as well.

It had been about ten years since I last saw this film, and I was pleasantly surprised that I found so much of it still amusing. More so than superior flicks such as FEARLESS HYENA, for example. The scene where Jackie interferes with the real Whip Hero’s arrest of the villain is pretty damn funny still. Other scenes probably seemed like a good idea but didn’t work out as well as intended – the dream realm is the one place Jackie can really fight, and in a dream sequence we see him showing his stuff briefly. However, it does degenerate into a sped-up parody of Popeye when Jackie spies some spinach growing on the ground. Other scenes are reminiscent of Buster Keaton, such as the egg throwing at the big bully.

In fact, the whole film is very episodic and fragmented. The action sequences don’t help either, being mainly forgettable. But it still has some fun parts and can be an enjoyable viewing experience. I mean, I used to watch this film on a weekly basis, and apart from a permanent twitch on the left side of my face and long dark hair growing on the palms of my hands, it hasn’t done ME any harm.