Exiled from his martial arts school, a young man tries to track down his brother, but being mistaken by many for a notorious outlaw along the way derails his quest in this Hong Kong action film written by, directed by and starring Jackie Chan. The movie is incredibly slow to warm up with almost half an hour elapsing before he leaves the martial arts school, but once the film gets going, it rarely lets up. The fight sequences throughout are wildly inventive with Chan incorporating everything from benches to folding fans to ancient pipes into the fights and the choreography is just as impressive. There is a particularly memorable scene in which Chan goes from sitting at a desk to under the desk and back again while try to evade a policeman he is fighting against. The film has several genuinely funny moments too once the mistaken identity theme gets going, with a wash room scene especially standing out. The comedy edge is a little uneven though; most of the initial humour comes from characters being whacked in cartoon-like manners. The jerky camera-work - full of rapid fire zooms in and out - is a little off-putting too; same goes for the melodramatic music score. Chan holds his own as both a comedian and kung fu master throughout though and even as the plot starts to turn episodic towards the end, Chan's presence renders the experience endlessly enticing. This is certainly not an action film for all tastes, but watched in the right frame of mind, it is far more entertaining than one might expect from the first half hour alone.
Review of The Young Master
