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Cast:
Sammo
Hung
Liu
Chia-Yung
Meg
Lam
Lee
Hoi San
Jason
Piao Piao
Dean
Shek
Karl
Maka
Action:
Sammo
Hung
Liu
Chia Yung
Karl
Maka
Producer:
Sammo
Hung
Liu
Chia Yung
Director:
Karl
Maka
Score:
 
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DIRTY
TIGER, CRAZY FROG
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1978 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Dirty
Tiger (Liu Chia-Yung) is a sly bounty hunter whose main
interest is in making money from his unusual assignments. One
such job sees him hired by an abandoned wife to find her
missing hen-pecked husband, Crazy Frog (Sammo). Frog is
meanwhile blissfully unaware of his hunter, but soon has his
own troubles when a crafty gold-digger manages to trick him
out of his prized possession - the Invincible Armour. This
Armour is not the expected kung-fu technique or manual of
martial excellence, it is in fact a thin chain-mail vest that
is impervious to blades. When Dirty Tiger finally catches up
with his target he agrees to help him get back the Invincible
Armour, though he naturally has his own ulterior motives for
this. Numerous crosses and double-crosses soon occur as each
of the varied parties realises the true value of this unusual
treasure. If the villainous groups are not bad enough, Dirty
Tiger and Crazy Frog are engaged in a relentless battle for
supremacy along the way - a dispute which loses them the
Armour on more than one occasion. The true ownership is
finally settled in an intricate fight between the uneasy duo
and their ruthless rivals.
The
artistic merits and overall success of 'The
Odd Couple' meant that the same team were once again given
the chance to rekindle the magic. Though it is often treated
as the sister production, 'Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog' simply
doesn't match up to the heights achieved in Sammo's classic
weapons film. Whereas 'The Odd Couple' was directed by Liu
Chia-Yung and therefore concentrated more on the martial arts
side of things, 'Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog' is helmed by comic
actor/film-maker Karl Maka. This unfortunately means that the
focus is on the humour rather than the action and because of
this it lacks the spark it needs. None of the fight scenes -
bar the finale - have enough polish to stand out among a
crowded genre and with the comedy invading any promising
scenes the viewer is robbed of real satisfaction. What also
becomes tiresome is the back-stabbing of the two leads and
their relentless bickering; although starting off with a
degree of entertainment, this device soon outstays its
welcome. The main reason for watching is really Sammo Hung who
rarely stars in anything that isn't worth at least a passing
glance. Here Sammo takes centre stage in a couple of sequences
and continues to dazzle with his physical mastery and overall
magnetism. 'Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog' doesn't compare to
Sammo's classics, but it's diverting enough to persuade genre
fans to catch it. An adequate action fix, though little else
is on offer.
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