The Hero (1971)
Reviewed by: Gaijin84 on 2010-05-04
Summary: More Wang Yu, more bashing...
A kung fu school's master is killed by a disgruntled former student and now casino owner (Sit Hon), and the master's children seek out the help of Tiger Wong (Jimmy Wang Yu) to get revenge. Unfortunately, Tiger's mother (Cheung Bing-Yuk) constantly reminds Tiger of the promise made to his father that he would not utilize kung fu against people anymore. For some reason the casino owner, with the help of some mean-spirited Thai boxers, are relentless in their pursuit of the master's kids, and it eventually leads to them killing Tiger's mother while he is away doing errands. Tiger returns to find his mother and, forsaking his father's wishes, sets out to massacre the everyone associated with the casino.

The Hero is for the most part a pretty typical Jimmy Wang Yu film. He plays the righteous hero who is pushed to the limit despite wanting to avoid trouble. The fight scenes are straight basher with maximum body count. Some unintentionally funny scenes are the result of the handling of the Thai boxers. They initially show up in what look to be outfits worn by strongmen in circuses. Tight, high spandex shorts and diagonal half-chest wifebeaters are not flattering to anyone. The lead boxer, Tin Yau, is further humiliated with a ridiculous Cleopatra-like wig that he wears for the first scene. The three back up boxers, including Lung Fei, essentially kill their Chinese challengers and show no remorse for their deeds. The baddies are typically bad and the good guys typically good, there is no blurring of moral lines here. Unfortunately, whoever was consulting on Thai boxing techniques had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Their fight scenes are absolutely painful to watch and threaten to bring the movie to a grinding halt. Thankfully, Jimmy finally gets to wreak havoc on the casino employees and does so with a pair of long knives. Tons of people are skewered and Jimmy winds up challenging the Thais to a final duel on the beach. This final battle is lackluster save for another unintentionally funny part when Jimmy turns one of the boxers into a human fence post. The Hero doesn't set itself apart from other Wang Yu films, and therefore remains mediocre in my eyes.

5/10
Reviewer Score: 5