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Starring
:
Michelle
Yeoh
Donnie
Yen
Waise
Lee
Yuen
King Tan
Cheng
Pei Pei
Norman
Chu
Action
:
Yuen
Clan
Donnie
Yen
Producer
:
Yeung
Gwok Wing
Director
:
Yuen
Woo Ping
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WING
CHUN (1994)
Reviewed
by Tony Ryan
For
a film based around the theme of Wing Chun, or at least one
starring its namesake, one would expect to see some of the
fighting style. However, this is not the case, and the action
is typical Woo-Ping, and unfortunately, some typical Donnie
Yen too! By that I mean, quality choreography, but an undue
amount of ridiculously OTT undercranking.
The
story follows Michelle Yeoh as a Bean curd seller, but quickly
becomes confusing, convoluted, and an excuse for bizarre
comedy between the usual high quality flying fist action. As
mentioned, the fight scenes are well choreographed as you
would expect from the Yuen’s, but suffers drastically from
Donnie Yen syndrome - i.e. maximum undercranking. What
confuses me most, is that Donnie is quite possibly the
fastest, most gifted screen fighter of his generation, and
looks even more ridiculous being sped up than someone with
average talent. It has dogged his work throughout the 90’s
and he doesn't seem to have learned not to do it. Michelle
doesn’t quite perform as well in some scenes as she did in 'Tai
Chi Master' but this may be due to her picking up a
serious back injury during filming. Otherwise the action is up
to the Yuen’s usual standard.
'Wing
Chun' is not a bad film by any means. In fact, it is quite
enjoyable, but only for those partial to Hong Kong style zany
comedy, and wire-worked action sequences. If that’s your
bag, then this is the film for you. It doesn't match either
stars best films, so newcomers may be better off seeking out
films like 'Iron
Monkey', 'OUATIC
2' and 'Tai Chi Master' first, but this is a welcome
addition to their collection. If only the undercranking
wasn’t there, this may have been one of HK’s finest 90’s
actioners. Instead, it is more on a par with the entertaining
'Heroes
among Heroes'.
Rating:
 
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