What do you get when you cross a Law
& Order-style police drama with the fast-paced Wing Chun martial
art popularized by Donnie Yen? You get Kung Fu Killer, a cop film
about a crack unit's quest to track down a serial killer. Really, it's just a
barebones excuse to have Yen put on a "kung fu clinic" on his foes,
and fans of Hong Kong action movies will appreciate that more than the
procedural aspects.
Yen plays Hahou Mo, a former martial arts
instructor (oh, you thought he'd be a chemist or something?) in prison for
accidentally killing a rival. After seeing a news report about the murder of
the best boxer in Hong Kong, Hahou somehow realizes this is all part of some
grand master plan to wipe out the world's top fighters by using their own
styles against them. After forcing an encounter (meaning he beat up fellow
inmates) with the lead detective (Charlie Yeung), Hahou joins in the
investigation, which mainly amounts to following a step behind as the killer
brutalizes his opponents with obvious glee. Good thing he's nice enough to
leave a "calling card" behind letting the cops know he was there.
Fans of Yen may be disappointed that he
doesn't actually take center stage in most of the fighting. Instead
it's Baoqiang Wang as the villain who stays busy, and his crazed
performance is perhaps the movie's greatest surprise. The killer turns out to
be a total psychopath, and flashbacks to his past reveal the pain that steered
him towards murder. What it doesn't explain in enough detail is why he feels
the need to best his opponents in such a specific manner, but then again
expecting too much backstory in a film like Kung
Fu Killer is foolish. All
anybody will really care about are the fights, and there are plenty of them
done with a beautiful, graceful complexity. Yen, along with director Teddy
Chan, have been taking a few cues from The Raid and the new breed of action flick.
Combining an edgier brutality with the balletic-style Yen is accustomed to
makes for a deadly awesome combination. The set pieces are creative, as well,
including one fight that takes place on the top of a giant fossil. However
attempts to include CGI into the mix, such as a ropey battle set in the middle
of rush hour traffic, are so ineffective they become a distraction.
There's really no drama to be found here
as we know Yen is the guy who will end up facing the killer in the end, but
again it's not likely anybody goes into a film like Kung Fu Killer expecting an intricate plot. This
isn't one of Yen's stronger films, but it has enough action to keep his legion of fans satisfied until the next time.
Rating: 3 out of 5
