Kung Fu Killer

Kung Fu Killer, directed by Teddy Chan and starring Donnie Yen, is a rousing entertainment that uses some of Hollywood's most reliable tropes, such as the serial killer and the Western showdown, and showcases them in a martial arts film. I'm not a big fan of martial arts films, because they are frequently way too over the top, but I liked this one. It does have the annoying habit of making kung fu masters into super-humans who can't be felled by bullets, but at least it's not ridiculous.

Yen plays Hahou Mo, a kung fu instructor and champion, who accidentally kills someone in a duel. He turns himself in and is dutifully doing his time when, three years later, another kung fu master is killed. Yen figures out that the killer is targeting masters, and urges the police inspector (Charlie Young) to let him out to help. She reluctantly agrees. Yen finds his girlfriend (Michelle Bai), who is also a martian arts expert, and they figure out that the killer is a man who has lost his mind after the death of his wife and aims to be the greatest kung fu fighter of them all, despite having a crippled leg.

The fights, choreographed by Yen, are a joy to behold and grounded (mostly) in reality. There is a sword fight where the actors are obviously on wires. There is also a fight on top of an artistic representation of a dinosaur skeleton and a long, exciting scene set on a river. We put up with the haplessness of police, who are easily taken out by bare-handed men, but I've learned to live with this.

The script is smart, the direction fluid, the acting more than competent. I got a few chills during the showdown scene, when Yen takes on the killer on a busy highway. The ending, as it should be, is both inevitable and unpredictable.

The film is also known as Kung Fu Jungle.