After floundering around in the Hong Kong film industry for several years, Stephen Chow finally hit box office gold in 1990 with All for the Winner. Like most HK actors of the time who tasted a bit of success, Chow immediately found himself working almost non-stop.

The results were a varied lot, but Chow once again scored a major hit with this film and solidified his star status. Unfortunately, Fist of Fury 1991 hasn't aged as well as some of Chow's other entries from this period, but it's still a fairly entertaining romp.

Fist of Fury 1991 has Chow starring as Lau Ching, a Mainland bumpkin who travels to Hong Kong to meet his family. Soon upon arriving, Lau's belongings are stolen by a hustler named Smart (Kenny Bee). After a "loogie fight" (which is as gross as it sounds), the two become friends and decide to enter in a martial arts tournament, where Lau's powerful right arm (yes, that's right, just his right arm -- he's kind of a wuss everywhere else) will hopefully get them the $10 million prize.

The trouble is that since Lau isn't sponsored by a school, he can't enter the tournament. After some failed attempts, Lau meets up with Master Fok (Corey Yuen). Fok's attention to his new ward makes his former prize pupil (Vincent Wan) jealous, and so Lau is set up for the attempted rape of Fok's daughter (Cheung Man). Kicked out form the school, Lau begins training with a group of strange old masters with the hope he can enter the tournament and redeem his name.

Fist of Fury 1991 certainly has some funny moments. Of particular note is a sequence where Lau is sent in by his new teachers to rob a bank, which turns into a very canny parody of the A Better Tomorrow films. And though it is not a remake of the classic Bruce Lee movie per se, there's also some very nice homages. After watching this movie, it's pretty obvious that Stephen Chow has some furious blows to go along with his rapid-fire mouth.

But with all the good Fist of Fury 1991 offers, there's just as much bad stuff. A lot of the jokes (which heavily depend on Cantonese puns) will fall flat on western audiences, especially given the poor subtitles on the DVD. The film also takes a much too serious turn during the third act. It's kind of hard to take a film seriously as a dramatic vehicle when the lead actor has just spent the last hour doing bathroom humor. There's also a lot of bloody violence that feels out of place.

Still, this is Stephen Chow we're talking about here. Even though this is not his best work by any means, it's still a lot better than what passes for comedy, both in Hong Kong and in the States. If you're a fan of his work (or that of Bruce Lee), Fist of Fury 1991 is a solid movie that's well worth your time.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]