Drunken Monkey (2003)

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

After looking at the 5.9 average rating for this movie I gave it a try. Good grief! After ten minutes, I told myself I'll give it another ten minutes or so. I couldn't take it after around 25 minutes. Believe me when I say I love movies and I like all sorts. I don't watch TV - I only watch movies on DVD. There have been very few movies that I simply could not justify wasting my time watching the rest of it. As a matter of fact, I couldn't name one now if you asked me. I admit that by not finishing the movie, I don't have much of a leg to stand on. But I wanted to warn those after me to not waste their time. The acting and story is simply horrible. At first I thought it might be a comedy - they were exaggerating the acting on purpose. My conclusion was that they were serious and that was when I took the DVD out.

It is true many movies from Hong Kong are strange if not awkward in the humor department. But holy crap man, this one takes the cake. I have seen hundreds of martial arts movies, and this one is among the worst. There are many reasons not to watch this. However, because Lau Kar Leung(Legend of Drunken Master),Gordon Liu(Kill Bill 1&2), and Jacky Wu(The Legend of Zu) are in it, some will watch anyway. But understand before watching that the plot was ridiculously stupid at best, and despite the martial arts talent in the movie, the fights aren't anything to brag about. And for you martial arts enthusiasts out there, who heard this movie is the first movie made by the re-opened old Shaw Bros studio- you're right. And to all those who heard this movie was a throwback to traditional Kung Fu in movies- you will be sorely disappointed; while they do fight in a traditional style they use wires so much, it seemed like it was caught in limbo between a Shaw Bros movie and a Tsui Hark movie.Damn this was a disappointing movie...........seriously, go rent Legend of Drunken Master instead.

After watching Drunken Monkey the first time, I wasn't all that impressed, and rated the movie a 6.But in hindsight, I have to say the action was really good, the kung fu was superb, and the story almost epic - not so much in its content, but in the way it was presented. The movie looked really good in a graphic and cinematic sense, and many scenes are quite memorable. While the plot structure and most of the characterization weren't fantastic, the comedy was after all fairly effective most of the time, and the movie also managed to maintain the serious story quite well.I have now amended my rating of Drunken Monkey from 6 to 7 - if it wasn't for some very silly things (like, why is the "young uncle" suddenly considered head of the family??), it could have gone as high as 8 (edit: which in fact it now has). The production values were consistently great.Edit (may 10, '05): Having seen the movie again, I am now up to an 8 rating. Man, these guys take kung fu seriously! The silly things no longer strike me as all that sillly, and I'm growing much more fond of the characters. What a crime that the fabulous Jacky Wu has only done three movies. All three are great; the two others (Tai Chi Boxer from '96 and Legend of Zu from '01) have both earned a 9 rating from me.

Set in the 1930's, the movie is about the head of a delivery guard service who faces the challenges of survival in more "modern" times in Canton, China. Man Bill (Man Biao?), a master at Monkeyfist kung fu, confronts Man Pao, a relative about his lifestyle and different vision for the company.A young heir and his great uncle, a family betrayal, a government agent, drugs and foreign influence are all interwoven into the plot filled with old fashioned kung fu action and humor.I wanted to watch this movie because of the director, Lar Kar Leung a.k.a. Liu Chia Liang, whose film credits include: "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin", Chen Kuan Tai's "Executioners from Shaolin" Jet Li's "Martial Arts of Shaolin" and Jackie Chan's "Legend of the Drunken Master". I enjoyed the movie.