House of Fury (2005)

Pretty Good

best movie i've ever seen.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Actually I was surprised after having watched "House of Fury", because I didn't really expect much from it because of the people on the cast list. Usually Charlene Choi, Stephen Fung and Gillian Chung make rather silly movies in the romantic comedy or boring action genre.But "House of Fury" was pulled up by a rather unusually interesting storyline, which took me by surprise. Plus it was also brought up a notch by Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and Michael Wong. And the action and martial arts scenes in the movie were also quite good. Funny that when I was younger (around the time "Heroic Trio" was released) I wasn't much fan of Anthony Wong, but I have come to enjoy his movies, and he does actually have a good talent for acting.The story in "House of Fury" is about chiropractor Yue Sie Bo who tells a lot of action-packed stories with agents, ninjas and martial arts, but his two children Nicky and Natalie are embarrassed of him and his stories, and they don't believe them at all. But when their father is kidnapped and the two children have to find a retired agent, as they are threatened by Rocco who will kill their father if they don't do so within a day, they come to question whether or not their father has been telling the truth all along.The action in "House of Fury" is nicely choreographed, and there is no surprise here that there is a lot of usage of wires in this movie, it is a Hong Kong action movie after all. So be prepared to see a lot of rather unrealistic stuff, but it is still entertaining.Now, "House of Fury" isn't anywhere near action movies like "Hard Boiled", "Protégé" or "Infernal Affairs", but still it proved to be rather enjoyable and entertaining. And throughout the 101 minutes, the movie really didn't have any dull moments.

Being a fan of the Twins Effect movies, of course I had to catch the Twins in 'House of Fury', too. It's an okay movie - in fact, I like it better and better every time I see it. It starts out with a great fight sequence, pitting Anthony Wong against a pack of ninjas (incl. one that teleports, bamfing around like Nightcrawler from the X-Men). It proceeds to become a Spy Kids style lighthearted martial arts action adventure, with a bad guy trying to abduct and kill some retired secret agents to get revenge.Out of the two Twins, the less interesting one, Charlene Choi, isn't in the movie very much. Deliciously, the focus is on Gillian Chung, who has the superior looks and fighting skills. The story isn't great, and many details that would be necessary to make it believable are just not there (like, seeing the brother and sister train a bit would have been nice, to explain how they are suddenly better fighters than their secret agent parents and mentors). The fight scenes themselves are technically not great, but certainly very entertaining and action-filled; definitely the high points of the movie.Since the fights were pretty serious, however, I missed seeing something a bit more deadly and powerful. When the bad guys want to kill the main characters, why do they just push each other around and always letting each other get back on their feet before continuing the fight? I must say that I was looking for some slightly harsher fighting here - it would have been the realistic thing in a series of fights that were supposed to be deadly serious. But I guess it was a family-friendly movie, and so they didn't want to show anything nasty. That's too bad. I'm not usually a fan of extreme violence, but this was so un-extreme that it was almost silly, everything considered.The ending wasn't very good, either; they just left the bad guy alive. What's to stop him from just continuing where he left off, and sending his assassins to kill them all over again?? But, since the big main thing about the movie was to ogle Gillian Chung, I have to say I found it pretty satisfying, overall. I was also very impressed with Stephen Fung, the 31-year-old director, who also played Gillian's older brother, being passed off as a teenager, and pretty believably, too. And he could fight! Well, not like a real pro, but passably. I liked him a lot and hope to catch him in other movies as well.My rating: 8 out of 10.

The fights aren't by JC as mentioned by another user - his company is just the producers.*********{some minor spoilers below}********** Anthony Wong stars here as widowed father Yue Siu-bo, an ex-secret agent who is now retired and alone, looking after his 2 children Nicky (Stephen Fung) and Natalie (Gillian Chung). His relationship with his children is noticeably strained as his constant stories about his illustrious former career come across more as the fanciful tales of a mid-life crisis, constantly causing them embarrassment. However, little do they know that their father's supposed penchant for Jackanory should actually turn out to be true, when an enemy from his past resurfaces and takes Siu-bo hostage. It is inevitably left up to the 2 teen idols to save the day, in what is essentially another popcorn blockbuster from the current crop of HK movie talent.House of Fury is clearly a lightweight adventure, and makes no pretences at being a grand dramatic exercise. An hour and a half of over the top action, less than subtle comedy and a fair sprinkling of in-jokes and parody are what is on offer. Ultimately, it delivers on this promise.First and foremost this is a modern day actioner, and as such, there are a number of fight scenes peppered throughout the running time. Most of these are solidly choreographed by (the now world-famous) Yuen Wo-ping, along with his less well-known associates Yuen Shun-yi and Ku Huen Chiu. The execution of their typically tight stylings is pretty good considering the cast are not stunt people of the 80's mould. Wirework is used to enhance spins and kicks, as well as some of the more OTT moves, but otherwise the fisticuffs are grounded and realistic. In terms of comparing the action to other contemporary films, it holds up well, and anyone familiar with the current trends will know what to expect. Overall the fights are good, and sometimes impressive, but not revolutionary.The comedy in this feature is less broad than I expected it to be from an overt HK parody. There are moments when it is truly silly (such as seeing Wu Ma flying across the rooftops or Anthony Wong's impression of Bruce Lee complete with skeleton nunchaku) but otherwise the comedic element is restrained, taking a backseat to the fast moving, but simple plot.Away from the action and comedy elements, almost all of the cast still perform well. "Almost" being the operative word here. As in 99% of his roles Michael Wong has yet again managed to confuse me. I am confused because I just do not understand why he is ever cast in any film. Here, he is typically stilted with his dialogue, and has no action to perform at all. He speaks English, even when being spoken to in Chinese, and no-one has a problem understanding him at all?! Anyone could have played his role in this film, and I fail to believe that anyone could do a worse job.Aside from the usual Michael Wong grumbles, House of Fury does an excellent job of distracting you for 100 minutes. It doesn't rank up there with the best of any genre but for a lightweight action-comedy it is worth a watch. After his full directorial debut with "Enter the Phoenix", Stephen Fung has shown a lot of promise and I'm surprisingly looking forward to his next attempt behind the camera.

This is another okay/maybe-below-okay action-comedy from Hong Kong. Stephen Fung doesn't really show any ability behind the camera, and really, any fight choreographer could have done all the fighting stuff for him. The script is pretty lame, not to mention as original as "Agent Cody Banks". The fights are okay, but you've seen them before in so many other movies, it's not even funny. Anthony Wong is the best thing about the movie, and choosing a villain that is confined to a wheelchair is the worst decision EVER. Overall, I'd give it a 2 out of 5. I wouldn't waste 90 minutes of your life on it, and I really wish I had waste 90 minutes of mine on something better. "House of Fury" is just too plain and uninventive to waste time with.