Opera Wushu still looks ridiculous

Yep. The 'theater-kungfu' or 'opera-wushu' or whatever you want to call it that this guy practices, that has nothing to do with any real-world martial art, just looks ridiculous.

This movie is quite pointless, and it feels completely unnecessary. The enemy is over-the-top, the plotline is shattered and contradictory to itself (wasn't the 'bad guy' supposed to go to China? Then he later kills someone for making that exact suggestion - what the..?).

There's lots of unnecessary gore (though is it ever NECESSARY?), lots of the typically chinese 'relationship mess humor' and 'misunderstanding humor' and besides the jokes and silliness, there's an overly serious, dark undertone that doesn't really feel good to the viewer.

And of course the rampant misandry doesn't help (a guy is punished for utilizing the position for the very reason most men even achieve things - to get women. Again men's sexuality is vilified, and innocent men attacked, and men are made to look like some kind of unfaithful bastards who 'womanize' a lot (no woman can know how difficult it is to actually even get laid as a man, let alone 'womanize' a lot of women), etc. and so forth).

But despite everything, the whole experience is .. just.. BLAND.

It's completely lacking in flavor, charisma or anything to care about in the movie. Every character seems very unsymphatetic, and we are supposed to root for criminal thugs and gang members, just because they are 'losers'?

I wondered who that unpleasant minus-charisma is that's starring this thing, and who obviously tries so hard to look like Bruce Lee in certain scenes, and of course fails miserably. He seemed to be athletically capable and able to perform many kinds of physical movements, but he also seems to include a lot of fluff and unnecessary motions and really silly-looking poses to his 'fighting' in the movie. What's up with that?

Oh. He's the guy who rose to superstardom undeservedly. There must be thousands of better actual Kung-Fu practicioners and movie stars in Hong Kong that would have deserved his fame a lot more. He's the guy I have tried to avoid ever since I saw him the first time, and was disgusted by the unrealistic and overly 'decorative' and empty theater-kungfu (or opera wushu) movements, that Bruce Lee or any other good martial artist would never have tolerated in his movies, unless for comic relief.

Another empty 'let's twirl around and use unrealistic and fancy, silly-looking poses a lot, while changing the camera angle constantly'-fightscene movie with lots of other filler added in.

In fact, this movie is like filler, where some bits are filled with more filler. A real filler-filler movie.

The plot is incredibly idiotic, the injected romance crap doesn't work or seem even plausible, the main star is as minus-charisma as they get (I always felt him to be more 'repulsive' than anything), the 'master' is not full of wisdom, or calm and assertive, and women are again shown as 'powerful female lions' AND 'helpless victims' at the same time. Groan.

There's absolutely nothing about this movie that would ever seem like it was worth making or doing. I am guessing it was made purely for the money, and everything was calculated and rushed without much thought, and that the plot was changed along the way, or maybe written as they filmed it along.

I don't mind a clichéic plot, if the movie has some other redeeming qualities, or if it's done right. But this movie certainly doesn't, and isn't.

My advise: avoid.

One of the reviewers is correct; this movie would suit Mystery Science Theater 3000 style perfectly - it's stupid, unintentionally funny, and it's a chaotic mess, where pretty much everyone acts unrealistically from the beginning to end.

I wish someone would revive that TV show, so more of these movies would get what they deserve.