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ONCE
UPON A TIME IN CHINA 5 (1994)
A.K.A.
- OUATIC 5; Once Upon A Time In China V - The Capital
Reviewed
by Scott Napier
Hong
Kong Master filmmaker Tsui Hark continues the 'Once Upon a
Time in China' saga with the 5th part. Although far from being
a successful film, it is still worth a place if you own the
rest of the series and are eager to see this one. This time
again, we have Chiu playing the part of the legendary Wong Fei
Hung.
All
6 films in the series are set in the late 19th century and
usually imply politically themed storylines involving the
country militia's defence against any foreign invasion or
gangsters based in China. Whilst sometimes biased, the
action-adventure plot will lead viewers away from this to a
fairly enjoyable film - just don't expect maximum results
however!
As
more corruption occurs from foreign powers or country bandits,
we now see Wong Fei Hung and some of his heroic
students/relatives face the bloody war against pirates in the
South China Sea. Due to lack of justice in the country, many
government officials and the Empress Dowager abandon their
positions and become traitors in society.
Wong
and his courageous but sometimes hapless outfits attempt to
uphold justice by joining forces with a court magistrate and
his group of henchmen as they struggle to survive in a
deteriorating court hall and suffer in poverty but still
remain loyal and trustworthy at the same time. Aunt May (Jean
Wang) and Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) also feature showing their
love interests for Wong throughout...
Due
to a fallout between former Wong Fei Hung actor Jet Li and
director Tsui Hark, the younger talented performer Chiu Man
Cheuk was given the lead role as legendary Wong Fei Hung in
the 4th and 5th parts. Both are Wu Shu practitioners and it
wouldn't be right (nor fair) to put the two in comparison as
they both have different values in acting/performing in film.
With Jet slightly more experienced and his international
status secured, Chiu today still remains underrated sadly and
only makes very occasional appearances in movies and like many
others, focuses on TV and simultaneously drifts away from the
industry.
Also
reunited to the film is Hung Yan Yan who plays the Northern
style practitioner of kicking; 'Clubfoot'. As ever Kent
Cheng also returns as the legendary Lam Sai Wing for the last
time. Sadly the original 'Leung Foon' and 'Buck Tooth So'
actors (Yuen Biao and Jacky Cheung) only feature in the first
film and have since then been replaced by Max Mok Siu Chung
and Roger Kwok.
Personally,
the film could do without the sloppy acting. Of all the parts
in the series, this will likely be worst part I'm afraid.
Other fans may disagree but I did hold my feelings before my
first viewing in result of frequent negative feedback from
dissatisfied fans/critics. Slightly disjointed production
makes this film a failure. Even it's following sequel 'Once
Upon a Time in China and America' did well and remained a
faithful production (likely due to the inclusion of top action
choreographer Sammo Hung and the return of original actor Jet
Li)!
Most
or all cast members rely on wires a lot; Chiu in particular.
For those that hate the frequent use of wire-fu (like me), you
better look elsewhere as action choreography will be nothing
new. This unexpectedly is joined together with the common use
of firepower battles and somewhat intolerable violence
compared to the rest of the series. The fact that Chiu
sustained a serious injury during production may explain why
wire-fu was frequently used for his character (this maybe
questionable if he was injured after the making of 'Once Upon
a Time in China 4' - a lot of wire-fu featured in that part of
the series).
Other
things that compliment the movie quite badly is the sometimes
teeth grinding comedy and weak screenplay involving Wong's
students. They can become of major irritance and be quite
distracting to the film's realistic value.
It's
a disappointing movie... but it's actually not bad. I wouldn't
recommend this to a casual viewer however. To me, it was a
guilty pleasure.
Rating:
 
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