Maverick cops Skinny Tiger (Karl Maka – Aces go Places ) and Fatty Dragon (Samo Hung – Martial Law ) attempt to break a crime syndicate headed by The Cocaine King (the multi-talented Lau Kar Wing, taking up the role after his original casting ideas proved non-viable) but manage to trash the police commissioner's wedding celebrations – along with the Cocaine King’s Mercedes – in the process.
Their long-suffering boss sends the pair to Singapore on holiday while the heat dies down. There Tiger and Dragon run into – literally – a couple of local babes, hit it off and make plans to relocate and open a karaoke bar.
On their return to Hong Kong they find that case against the Cocaine King has collapsed and the Triad kingpin wants his revenge…
Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon (Shou hu fei long) is one of those films that starts off smartly but then literally loses the plot. The high energy opening scenes establish the nature of our heroes – the shaven-headed Tiger scheming and relying on his quick wits in a fight, the bowl cut sporting Dragon preferring to go toe-to-toe with opponents in the manner of his idol Bruce Lee, yelps and all – but as soon as the pair leave for Singapore – a decision made solely for co-production reasons – the momentum drops off considerably with comedy disco scenes and the like that might have played well to the domestic audience but which fall flat as far as the gwailo is concerned.
Thankfully the fast paced, skillfully choreographed and constructed action scenes are of sufficient number and calibre for the film to get by, with a nice mixture of styles and techniques on display and Hung demonstrating once more that he's a better Bruce Lee imitator than any of the so-called Leealikes who flooded the market after Lee's untimely death.
Unfortunately another signature mark of Hung's, violence against women also rears its ugly head, although in a bizarre twist two of his victims this time round are Thai lady boys cum assassins, thereby either lessening the offensiveness – no one really minds when guys beat one another up – or adding a homophobic twist.
The look of the film also suffers from a few too many mullets and brick sized car phones that betray its 1990 vintage, while the intention of having Hung as a Lee obsessive falls somewhat flat outside the fight scenes on account of the film-makers inability or unwillingness to secure the use of Bruce's actual iconic image, making one feel that they should have spent the Singapore excursion money on getting the rights. Carrie Ng is also underused in a thankless minor role as a gangster’s moll.
Yet, despite these issues, Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon comes through as a decent martial arts/action/comedy entry that will appeal to fans of the Aces Go Places and Lucky Stars series and its two stars.
A/V on this DVD from Hong Kong Legends is up to the company's usual high standards, with a restored widescreen transfer and 6.1 Cantonese and English dub audio options.
Bey Logan's commentary track likewise meets expectations, giving a wealth of background information on just about every aspect of the production and pointing out who everyone is along with all manner of minor details that you'd otherwise miss, such as the presence of respected old school screenwriter Kuang Ni ( One Armed Swordsman , 36th Chamber of Shaolin ) in a small role as Fatty's dad.
The two featurettes, "The Weapon Master" and "Partner in Crime" run 25 and 18 minutes respectively and follow HKL's familiar format of intercutting a talking head – here director Lau Kar Wai and action choreographer/stuntman/jack of all trades in that familiar Hong Kong way Ridley Tsui – with action clips from their films. Fans will find both pieces well worth a look, though fellow travellers may stuggle a bit.
A perfunctory two page text essay on the Hung/Lee connection and a brace of trailers for the film representing its original domestic promotion and current US/UK release, round off a quality package.
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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