Review courtesy of Jet Li UK - The Official Jet Li UK Fan Club (www.jet-fans.co.uk)

Reviewing this film was a joy as it is one of my all-time favourite Jet films. The combination of comedy and action in this film is seamless and it ranks as one of Wong Jing's finest hours.

If you do not take your Kung Fu films too seriously then you just have to give this a try. This was the first ever Jet Li film to get a official UK video release a few years back.

The storyline is in this case there to act as a framework on which to hang the numerous comedic and action set pieces. This isn't meant to sound dismissive as the script has a solidity that isn't that common in Hong Kong films and it serves its purpose admirably.

The film tells the tale of Wong Fei Hung's conflicts with the Boxer Society and kicks off with a cracking three-on-one fight in the local train station. Each side has their "stars" - Po Chi Lam (Wong's medical / kung fu facility) has Ah So & Liang Kuan (Leung Kar Yan) and their opponents have Lui Fai - their leader - and Hong Hung (Gordon Liu).

Central to the plot is Hong Hung's scheme to kidnap young women and sell them overseas. Naturally this outrages Fei Hung and so the battle is on.....

There a number of great fight scenes not least of all the intense and exciting aerial duel between Fei Hung & Hong Hung. It's seems a little odd at first seeing an inter-generational martial battle as Jet Li and Gordon Lui square off against each other but their wonderful talents soon made me forget my slight reservation !

Then there's the Lion / Centipede clash which is terrific fun before Fei Hung then breaks into chicken beak style to take out the Centipede and have a one-on-one with Boxer Society leader Lui Fai in which he finishes him off with a great display of drunken boxing.

Several things worth noting from the film are an early role for Anita Yuen , a hilarious comic turn from Nat Chan as the goofy pimp who wants to learn kung fu from Wong and an all-"bitchy" version of the famous Wong Fei Hung theme which is sung to the accompaniment of rib tickling poses from Wong's students in the building directly next door !

Jet's Wong Fei Hung in this film differs from that in "Once Upon A Time In China" in that it is more comic in style. The other performances are in the regulation Wong Jing style which isn't meant to sound as critical as it does - it is just that it is a style that grates badly if the script isn't of sufficient quality which thankfully isn't the case in this film as I mentioned earlier.

Director Wong Jing is for me anyway an inconsistent talent but when he gets things right like he does here his work is a joy to watch. Recommended without reservation !