Available at Amazon.com
Lionsgate presents Drunken Monkey. Written by Li Pak Ling. 98 minutes. Rated R.
Directed By:
Lau Ker Leung
Cast:
Wu Jing Jason. Great Uncle
Lau Wing Kin. Chan Kai Yip
Shannon Yao Yao. Siu-Ma
Lau Kar Leung. Master Man Bill
The Film:
There are certain things one expects when watching a kung fu movie. A hero, an apprentice, a villain, a special kung fu move that the apprentice must learn, and so on. Drunken Monkey delivers all of these classic kung fu themes in a boring, hum drum, by-the-book film.
When Master Man discovers that his brother is using their delivery company to sell opium, he tries to stop him. This leads to what his brother perceives as his death. Cut to one year later where Great Uncle is trying to create a book of drawings representing the Monkey-ish Fist fighting style. He learns of the man who is a master and seeks him out. Which leads to the discovery of Master Man, still alive and “kicking.” His brother to learns of Man’s life status and a Kung-Fu fighting ensues. Of course, Master Man ends up teaching Great Uncle and his friend the fighting style then imparting the great secret: You fight even better when your drunk!
As stated above, the film is very dull. None of the characters are interesting enough to draw you in on an emotional level. Where the film really seems to fall apart, however, is in the humor. It seems to be aiming for a Kung Fu Hustle style but fails every step of the way.
Director Chia-Liang Liu has been making films since the early 70’s and brought us such kung fu classics as The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin. Sadly, Drunken Monkey does not live up his legacy.
The DVD:
The Video:
The film is presented in widescreen 1.78:1. This film looks okay, it’s a bit grainy but nothing too distracting. It’s the film itself that really isn’t worth you time.
The Audio:
The film is presented in Cantonese 2.0 and dubbed in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. The sound is okay, nothing to write home about. And the English dubbed version is terrible.
Extras:
Nothing.
The Inside Pulse
Please heed this warning: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. It’s utterly worthless. You want a good movie about drunk kung fu, go rent Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master.
