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Cast:
Yuen
Biao
Maggie
Cheung
Yuen
Wah
Wong
Jing
Anthony
Wong
Action:
Yuen
Tak
Yuen
Wah
Yuen
Biao's Stuntgroup
Chin
Kar Lok
Producer:
Stephen
Shiu
Director:
Clarence
Ford
Score:
 
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THE
ICEMAN COMETH
AKA:
Time Warriors ||
Ice Man Cometh
Year:
1989 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
In
a ruthless period during the Ming Dynasty, a princess is
brutally raped and murdered by the psychotic Fung San (Wah).
When the Emperor finds out he blames his guardsman Ah Ching
(Yuen Biao) for failing in his duty and offers him one last
chance to redeem himself by bringing this rogue to justice.
San has other plans and steals the mystical Jade Buddha that,
when used at the correct time, can grant the user the gift of
a hundred lifetimes. Unable to let him escape, Ching is
drawn in by the bizarre Buddha's powers and the two ancient
swordsman are transported forward to present day Hong Kong.
Confused by modern society, Ching is tricked into becoming a
butler for a prostitute (Maggie Cheung) whilst San adapts to a
new life of crime perfectly, utilising his sadistic attitude
to great effect. Will our hero be able to redeem himself
and punish San or is he condemned to a life of servitude?
During
the late 1980's and early 1990's, Yuen Biao's solo movie
career really accelerated as he starred in several successful
movies that included the likes of 'Righting
Wrongs', 'Peacock King', 'On
The Run' and 'Rosa'.
In the middle of this boom came 'The Iceman Cometh' that
pitted Biao against long-time friend, work colleague and
fellow Peking Opera school student - Yuen Wah. At times,
both stars have struggled to hold down leading roles and have
often had to be content with playing second fiddle but for
once they were given the chance to clock up some real screen
time.
Thankfully
when given this opportunity, both leading actors don't
disappoint and put in two of their finest performances to
date. Biao gets a chance to bring his comedic timing to
the forefront whilst also displaying an obvious naivety to his
characters' traits whereas Wah does exactly the opposite and
propels such evil that, thanks to this film and probably 'Eastern
Condors', he was condemned to play the bad guy role for
the majority of his career. Maggie Cheung brings up the
romantic rear guard and it has to be said that she is really
the weakest of all the major stars. This is not down to
her acting ability though as she is not exactly given that
much to work with and only added to give Biao's character
someone to fight for and a lady to scream out his name in
times of need.
The
martial arts choreography for the majority of the film is of a
high standard with two outstanding duels between Wah and Biao
that occasionally exceed expectations. However, you
can't help that feel that with two such acrobatic leads that
the movie could have featured a few more interesting
combinations along with some more adventurous aerial attacks
(by that I mean jump kicks etc.). It's also odd that in
the thick of watching several similarly themed films, I found
'The Iceman Cometh' contained some fights that could have
benefited from undercranking but watching it now they seem to
maintain a consistent speed. Maybe a case of being
overly picky or that in comparison to other films the combat
is slower, decide for yourself.
Minor
gripes aside, 'The Iceman Cometh' remains one of Biao's finest
solo movie moments thanks to the outstanding performances,
enjoyable kung fu and an above average story.
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