I love the movie. It is actually, my favorite Kung Fu movie and Hsiao Hou is my favorite Kung Fu star. Now, I prefer to watch these movies with sub-titles. The British actor voicing little monkey's character, and the one voicing for Ah Choi's sounded ridiculous and were difficult to understand sometimes because the audio would become very low. This doesn't help because they sound so horribly whiny. I think these bad voice over actors do an injustice to the actors on screen. Should have used American voice over. My copy did not have subtitles.
Despite this, I was still able to enjoy the performances by all...Lau Kar Leung, Hsiao Hou as well as the supporting cast. Some will not like the comedic facial expressions by Hsiao Hou, but all of it is to make him look and behave like a monkey.
The story begins with Chan (Lau Kar Leung) whose hands are crippled by thugs after he is falsely accused of rape... a trick staged by a local gang boss who hopes to claim Chan's sister (Kara Hui) as his concubine. He ultimately succeeds when she sacrifices herself in order to spare her brother's life.
Many years later, Chan is a street merchant with a monkey show. His hands are crippled as a result of the beating given to him after the "rape" charge. He is also bullied by local thugs who works for the big boss. He meets an orphan who calls himself little Monkey. Little Monkey takes pity on Chan and befriends him. They become roommates, and ultimately work together after Chan's real monkey is killed by thugs when he refuses to give them the money they want.
Little Monkey looks (check out the haircut) and acts like a real monkey so he fits the show perfectly. But Little Monkey is tired of being shaken down by the thugs and wants to do something about it. He tries to fight them, but is badly beaten. Chan agrees to teach him the Monkey style, and so the epic training sequences begin and for me, that makes the movie. Little Monkey is eager to get back at the thugs, and leaves his training early. He's learned everything about the Monkey style except its most crucial skill, which is HITTING your opponent. He leaves training early, against the wishes of Chan, his sifu. Little Monkey challenges and and humiliates the gang in a hilarious fight. They finally take him to meet their boss, Ah Choi, who is also beaten and humiliated by Monkey. Then finally, the big boss appears and Little Monkey is badly defeated and saved by Chan's sister, who is injured in the fight. He also learns about the trick and the false rape charge.
Little Monkey tells Chan about the trick. Chan agrees that Little Monkey must complete his training first. The results are awesome. They go back to rescue the sister and things happen. I won't spoil the ending but it's pretty cool.
Some of the best, if not THE best, acrobatics in a Kung Fu movie are displayed by Hsiao Hou and that was also very enjoyable for me. Even the smaller gestures, jumps, and flips seem so natural, it's like watching a fish in water.
Mad Monkey Kung Fu is your standard Kung Fu movie. An underdog learns Fung Fu to avenge his master. But in the end... so few movie are done as well.
Despite this, I was still able to enjoy the performances by all...Lau Kar Leung, Hsiao Hou as well as the supporting cast. Some will not like the comedic facial expressions by Hsiao Hou, but all of it is to make him look and behave like a monkey.
The story begins with Chan (Lau Kar Leung) whose hands are crippled by thugs after he is falsely accused of rape... a trick staged by a local gang boss who hopes to claim Chan's sister (Kara Hui) as his concubine. He ultimately succeeds when she sacrifices herself in order to spare her brother's life.
Many years later, Chan is a street merchant with a monkey show. His hands are crippled as a result of the beating given to him after the "rape" charge. He is also bullied by local thugs who works for the big boss. He meets an orphan who calls himself little Monkey. Little Monkey takes pity on Chan and befriends him. They become roommates, and ultimately work together after Chan's real monkey is killed by thugs when he refuses to give them the money they want.
Little Monkey looks (check out the haircut) and acts like a real monkey so he fits the show perfectly. But Little Monkey is tired of being shaken down by the thugs and wants to do something about it. He tries to fight them, but is badly beaten. Chan agrees to teach him the Monkey style, and so the epic training sequences begin and for me, that makes the movie. Little Monkey is eager to get back at the thugs, and leaves his training early. He's learned everything about the Monkey style except its most crucial skill, which is HITTING your opponent. He leaves training early, against the wishes of Chan, his sifu. Little Monkey challenges and and humiliates the gang in a hilarious fight. They finally take him to meet their boss, Ah Choi, who is also beaten and humiliated by Monkey. Then finally, the big boss appears and Little Monkey is badly defeated and saved by Chan's sister, who is injured in the fight. He also learns about the trick and the false rape charge.
Little Monkey tells Chan about the trick. Chan agrees that Little Monkey must complete his training first. The results are awesome. They go back to rescue the sister and things happen. I won't spoil the ending but it's pretty cool.
Some of the best, if not THE best, acrobatics in a Kung Fu movie are displayed by Hsiao Hou and that was also very enjoyable for me. Even the smaller gestures, jumps, and flips seem so natural, it's like watching a fish in water.
Mad Monkey Kung Fu is your standard Kung Fu movie. An underdog learns Fung Fu to avenge his master. But in the end... so few movie are done as well.