Drunken Master

There is so much to be said about Drunken Master, the film that would prove to give Jackie Chan his major breakthrough with his own comedic brand of Kung Fu.

I guess the obvious place to start is with Jackie Chan himself, who had starred in movies before but was only ever expected to be a successor to Bruce Lee and had mostly played in more serious movies such as New Fist of Fury until 1978 with the one-two punch of Snake in Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. It's almost impossible to review these films separately though I will try to focus on Drunken Master. In these two films Chan arrives as the perfect cheeky, cocky hero we all know. The only thing really yet to form in the 'Jackie Chan style' at this point is his use of the environment and props to build ever more elaborate stunts but I actually appreciate that it's missing here because we get to see the raw martial arts skills in all their glory.

For me, when Jackie Chan comes up in conversation with someone and the first thing they inevitably bring up is Rush Hour, I die a little inside. I recognise this is pure film-snobbery but it really is the most basic and Americanised of Chan's films, and yes it's still a good movie but please, go watch Drunken Master or Rumble in the Bronx or Police Story or Project A or First Strike or so many others. By the time Hollywood really embraced Jackie Chan he was already getting pretty old and Hollywood safety just wouldn't let him get away with what he would in Hong Kong, so he mostly just became fodder for playing the Kung Fu straight-man sidekick to weak-sauce comedy actors like Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Johnny Knoxville or Chris Tucker. It's a sad state of affairs for possibly the greatest action star ever.

Jackie should never be a sidekick. Apprentice, yes, fine. Now that he's older he would be great even as mentor, but never a sidekick. Even as early as Drunken Master it's clear that Jackie was destined to be a star. Sure his performance, and particularly his facial expressions are a bit 'big' sometimes, but that's mostly a remnant from Cantonese comedies (along with fake teeth, painted freckles and hairy moles). His portrayal of real-life Chinese physician, martial artist and folk legend Wong Fei Hung is compelling in that he is by no means perfect. He makes plenty of mistakes, he is insolent and cheeky and does not always respect his masters, but he is also endearing and that's mostly brought about by Jackie's naturally innocent but playful charm. He is like Bruce Lee meets Charlie Chaplin.

Wong Fei Hung and his father, Wong Kei Ying have been portrayed in over 100 film and television series, most notably Jet Li played Wong Fei Hung in the 'Once Upon a Time in China' films which cover his life, but also Magnificent Butcher (1979), Challenge of the Masters (1976) and Martial Club (1981), the latter 2 starring Kill Bill's Gordon Liu, and of course Jackie Chan played him once more in Legend of the Drunken Master (1994).

If Jackie Chan has ever been upstaged in one of his films, it's only been twice and both times by Yuen Siu-tien (also known as Simon Yuen, Simon Seed or just 'Ol Dirty' which is more than likely where ODB of the Wu Tang Clan picked up the name) who in this movie plays Uncle Su Hua, and plays a very similar character in Snake in Eagle's Shadow. His Old beggar is even cheekier than Jackie and often more nimble too. I don't know if it's just the joy of seeing such an old man pull off such impressive moves but I loved this guy. He's fantastic in both of these movies, but I also enjoyed him in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and look forward to checking him out in two alternative sequels to this film, Story of Drunken Master and Dance of the Drunk Mantis, in which Thunderleg from this movie returns as Rubberlegs. And that's the beautiful thing about 70s Kung Fu movies, they are kind of like the Marvel Cinematic Universe with less budget and continuity. They all seemingly exist in the same world where if you enjoy a movie, you have options with what to watch next as different characters branch off into their own spin offs and sequels.

If anyone tries to tell me that Jackie Chan was also upstaged by Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour movies, I will laugh politely at your little joke, but just know that I will also think less of you as a person.

Finally I can't finish this review without mentioning director Yuen Woo-Ping, real life son of the Old Beggar, who briefly appears in this film as 'Man with Bucket of Greens'. If Jackie Chan is arguably the greatest action star ever, Yeun Woo-Ping is, without question, the greatest fight co-ordinator. As if the moves in this film aren't evidence enough, the dude also choreographed the fight scenes in The Matrix movies, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill 1 & 2, The Grandmaster, and a few of the IP Man films, as well as, my personal favourite, Kung Fu Hustle.

For me, the best kung fu films ignore plot in favour of finding a string of excuses for fight scenes or training exercises. I really don't know why this film needed to be based on a real life person because there really isn't much of a plot, but there is a ton of apparent excuses for fight scenes, and even when they couldn't find a valid excuse, they often just fight anyway. It's great. Especially when they give each little fight scene it's own concept or style, eg. 2 Vs 1; a fight where Jackie can't hit back; a fight where Jackie keeps getting tied up etc. The training sequences are often just as fun, whether it be the wrist strengthening, the water jugs or Uncle Su just throwing Jackie to the floor over and over again.

I love 70's Kung Fu movies and this is certainly among the top tier and definitely a great introduction for anyone new to the genre.

4 Drunken God's out of 5

Of course as mentioned, there are various knock-offs, spin-offs and sequels to this movie of varying quality, but if you enjoyed this, here are a few other films seek out:

• Snake in Eagle's Shadow

• Legend of the Drunken Master

• Young Master

• Once Upon a Time in China

• Iron Monkey

• The Magnificent Butcher

• The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

• One-Armed Boxing Boxer & Master of the flying Guillotine

• Kung Fu Hustle

There's also a ton of free 70s Kung Fu films on YouTube