in the wake of the smashing success of " rumble in the bronx , " it's looking more and more likely that more jackie chan films will see american release . rumor has it that one of these films will be drunken master ii . the version i have is a copy from the laserdisc ; it's widescreen and bilingually-subtitled , as are most hong kong films these days . availability over here in the united states is very limited ; these films must either be purchased via pirates or sought out from asian distributors such as tai seng . the subtitling on the copy i have is slightly hard to read ; the letters are white and a bit small . although the american release will almost certainly be dubbed , this review is of the subtitled version , so please keep that in mind if you're reading this review to help you decide whether to go out and see it . to be fair , i must admit that i've never been very fond of " period-piece " martial arts movies--the ones set in some nebulous china of the distant or not so distant past . perhaps it's because most of those i've seen were filmed on inferior stock , with either butchered dubbing or all-but-illegible subtitling , or perhaps it's because their plots all tend to be very similar to each other and , in many cases , all but nonexistant . in fact , many of them get so wrapped up in their subplots that they seem to forget their main plot entirely until only a few minutes before the end . or , for that matter , it might be because the jackie chan films with more modern settings ( armour of god , rumble in the bronx , etc . ) tend to have more spectacular stunts , often involving large motor vehicles and large explosions , whereas period pieces simply have the martial arts . having said that , i must now turn right around and say that drunken master ii is a remarkable exception to all or most of the above , is one of the better martial arts films i've seen , and i quite enjoyed it . surprised ? well , so was i . drunken master ii is about a young man named wong fei-hong ( played by jackie chan ) who is a master of the drunken boxing style of kung fu . where he learned this style is uncertain , as his father , wong kei-ying ( ti lung ) is steadfast in his opposition to fei-hong's practicing it rather than some more normal style of kung fu . apparently , fei-hong is some sort of figure from chinese folklore , rather like paul bunyan is for americans , but i've heard very little about this , and could quite well be wrong , so i'll leave analysis of that to the people who know it better . one of my friends points out that the character of wong fei-hong is also featured in the " once upon a time in china " movies , but i have not yet seen those . the plot of drunken master ii is somewhat hazy , as are the plots to many such films , but if you're watching a jackie chan film , odds are you aren't expecting something on the order of " war and peace " . the story seems to revolve around those evil foreigners who are spiriting away ancient chinese relics ( and hence , china's cultural heritage ) while overworking , underpaying , and beating up chinese workers in a nearby steel mill . however , this plot merely serves as a framework for the other main story of the film--fei-hong's perpetual struggle to win his girlfriend , supplicate his father , keep his ( pregnant ) mother ( played by anita mui ) from fighting , and keep from getting beaten up by evil foreigner thugs . the macguffin that drives the plot ( s ) is a precious antique jade imperial seal which is being taken away by the evil foreigners . in the beginning , fei-hong accidentally steals it while trying to recover an identically-wrapped box containing the medicinal ginseng his father was bringing back for a customer . in the process , he clashes with another thief , who is himself trying for the seal but ends up instead with the ginseng . after fei-hong narrowly avoids getting caught with the seal by the evil foreigners' lackies , thanks to some timely intervention by a general's son ( a cameo appearance by andy lau , who would later take on the starring role in drunken master iii ! ) , comedic chaos ensues back at the wong household when fei-hong and his mother attempt to come up with a replacement for the missing ginseng . and so it goes . and the plot thickens later on , such as when fei-hong's girlfriend maneuvers him into a kung fu match with a rival , or when fei-hong and the thief , now revealed to be a loyalist manchu officer trying to recover the seal and stop the evil foreigners , are attacked en masse ( another grand kung-fu movie tradition ) , but i think i've already spent more time on the plot than it really deserves . let's move on to the real draw of jackie chan movies . . . the action . there's plenty of martial arts action to be found in this movie . . . of course , in a kung fu film , that's to be expected . however , this isn't just another kung fu movie ; this one has jackie chan doing the fight and stunt choreography , and jackie chan is a genius . the primary martial arts " style " featured in the film is drunken boxing , a form of kung fu which attempts to draw the adversary off his guard by making it seem like the fellow using it is drunk . further , for the purposes of this film at least , drunken boxers fight better when they actually _are_ intoxicated . . . but there's a fine line between just drunk enough and drunk into a stupor . under normal circumstances , the idea of someone staggering around looking sloshed but managing to fight effectively and even incredibly might seem rather stupid , but jackie pulls it off with flair . the kung fu sequences are so intricate in their staging and execution that it is pointless to try to describe it on paper , so i'll just say that the fights--especially the big climactic fight at the end--in themselves make the movie worth watching . another thing drunken master ii has going for it is the stunt work . even without motor vehicles ( well , not counting a train ) , there are some remarkable stunts in this film . among other things , jackie dives off a balcony into a table and crawls across hot coals ( not once , but at _least_ twice , if you count the outtake shown during the credits ) . ( quicktime movies of these stunts can be found through the www movie database . ) unlike in american films , these stunts are _not_ faked . drunken master ii stars several veteran actors of the hong kong movie scene , including jackie , ti lung ( " a better tomorrow " 1 & 2 ) , and anita mui ( the " heroic trio " series , " rumble in the bronx " ) . the performances are first-rate , especially when it comes to the comedy parts of the film . the scene where fei-hong and his mother conspire literally behind fei-hong's father's back to cover up for the missing ginseng root is hilarious , as is the scene where fei-hong's mother , having just revealed that she is pregnant , is threatening to hurt herself ( in order to draw her husband's anger away from fei-hong ) . jackie has developed his knack for physical comedy into a sort of mastery over the years , and he's in fine form all through drunken master ii . as far as cinematography is concerned , it certainly works for this film . it's nothing spectacular , but is at least a dozen times better than all those old kung fu movies of the 70s . the picture is crisp and clear . one thing i find particularly worthy of mention is that , at least in the copy i have , the screen was wider than any film i've ever seen on videotape before--almost a whole 1/3 of the screen was blocked out above and below . ( watch this on a bigscreen tv or movie theater if you can . ) it will be an utter shame if this film is eventually pan-and-scanned for american video release . drunken master ii shows the full potential of " period piece " kung fu movies , and it's good enough to overcome even my usual distaste for such movies . the plot does meander a bit , but that's to be expected in this type of film . if you like this kind of movie , you'll love this movie , and if not , well , give it a chance anyway . if nothing else , the martial arts and stunt sequences are by themselves worth the price of admission or rental .
