Movie review: Kung Fu Jungle

Movie review: Kung Fu Jungle

KUNG FU JUNGLE (PG13)

100 minutes

***1/2

Part of the fun of watching this film is counting how many cameos you can spot.

Director Teddy Chan was not kidding when he said this is his tribute to Hong Kong action cinema - he must have gone to great lengths to gather the biggest names in martial arts cinema.

From veteran star David Chiang to action choreographer Tony Leung Siu-hung, stars show up everywhere.

Jailed gongfu expert Ha Hou Mou (Donnie Yen) learns that one of his martial artist friends has been murdered. He strikes a deal with the lead inspector of the case, Luk Yuen Sum (Charlie Young) - if he helps her solve the murder, she will get him an early release from prison. They cross paths with Fung Yu Sau (Wang Baoqiang), who is eager to reign as Hong Kong's ultimate gongfu master.

At 51, Yen is still in fine form. He gets a little full of himself at times, choreographing sequences in which he has to fight his way through a dozen men without even getting a scrape, but they are all so quick and entertaining that you can almost forgive him.


This article was first published on Oct 31, 2014.
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