|
Cast:
John
Liu
Lung
Jun Er
Cheng
Ching
Kwon
Young Moon
Wu
Ma
Director:
Chang
Cher Ting
Score:
 
|
FIGHTING
ACE
AKA:
Kung Fu Ace ||
Master Of Death || Kid's Ace In
The Hole || Brutal Revenge
Year:
1979 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Although
the majority of kung fu films, especially the independent
productions, are reliant on a familiar stock of clichés, some
have used these to their advantage. Even the most tired themes
can be presented in a slightly oblique and interesting way.
This seems an appropriate introduction for the John Liu
vehicle 'Fighting Ace' as it initially manages to make the
generic conventions appear pleasingly fresh, only to come
undone near the end due to blandness.
When
an evil kung-fu master kills a couple in search of a secret
fighting manual, the housekeeper is left to bring up their
infant son and encourage him to gain revenge. On reaching
manhood, the orphan (Liu) learns kung-fu basics and then, with
housekeeper still by his side, he searches for a skilled
master to follow. Thankfully he happens upon a renowned leg
fighter (Kwon Young Moon) who has been employed by a wealthy
local, therefore he's given the opportunity to learn in
secret. After a brief time under his new master's care, the
secret student is discovered by the employers and thrown out
of the house along with a newly acquired sidekick. The friends
work as street traders and use their time to observe the
various fighters who wander the streets. Following a few
entanglements, they find two new masters who teach them a
variety of kung-fu styles and techniques. By the time the
avenger meets his parents' killer, he's fully trained and
ready to exact revenge.
The
description for 'Fighting Ace' doesn't exactly make it jump
off the page, but it proves to be a better than average
effort. Firstly the expected plot twists and turns prove to be
enjoyably handled; the usual master/student story is expanded
to accommodate four masters and an extra student. Even the
opening catalyst for revenge allows for a bit more empathy
than usual and John Liu's character is given extra depth
because of it. Perhaps it is this character enhancement that
makes Liu's performance more charismatic than he often is and
instead of being just a superb screen fighter, he has a
certain charm here as well. The leading man is comfortably
assisted by a solid cast including fellow kicking king Kwon
Young Moon who steals the brief scenes he features in. The
fight action is also excellent to watch with a bit of
innovation going along way. As was mentioned, the film loses
some of its qualities later on with the clichés happen at a
slackly delivered pace; the last twenty minutes packs in all
of the tiresome moments and again features a very inadequate
epilogue. 'Fighting Ace' features one of the sequences that
was in just about every independent kung-fu film of the time,
perhaps due to some obscure Asian law: the young heroine of
the piece must meet a gang of lecherous bullies who harass her
only for the hero to leap in at the last minute. Seeing scores
of these moments before, one wonders if ancient China was one
of the most dangerous place ever, especially if you were twenty-something,
female and attractive. It's this kind of cinematic drudgery
that stalls this in the three star category.
|
