Dragon Inn

viewed November 13, 1999 on video

For full information about this film, click here

At last, a Hong Kong kung fu epic that I can really sink my teeth into and finally appreciate the genre -- as camp.  Perhaps an ironic enjoyment of Dragon Inn's over-the-top ambition and haphazard quality is not the intended effect, but I liked this energetic and often surprising tale much more than the more serious, genre-crossing Peking Opera Blues.  Tsui Hark directed that one and produced this one, and his penchant for showmanship is evident in both.  Both feature action sequences filled with flourishes, but I really appreciate the compelling cast of characters that Tsui compiles in both films.  

Once again Brigitte Lin is spellbindingly androgynous as a woman undertaking a man's role for the sake of national security.  Her charms are matched this time by the lithe-limbed and quick witted Maggie Chung as Jade King (apparently this was the role that excited the French enough to invite her to star in Irma Vep).  Whether she's spinning around in translucent white lingerie across a room or hurling insults at whichever pathetic man crosses her path, she is impossible not to watch.  The slimy-skinned Tony Leung gets away with a hero's role and gets to court both ladies, but he is a hundred times better as a villain.   

Watching the action sequences of this film, I have a feeling that it was a watershed film for filming flying warriors and spinning kung-fu fighters.  The fights get only better as the movie rolls along, while the shoddy plot is kept buoyant by the watchability of the two leading ladies.  Everything pays off with the fantastic final fight sequence involving two ladies, two gentlemen, a lot of sand, and a crazed butcher.  No amount of words I write could properly prepare you for what the butcher does to one of the men.

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