The Magnificent Wonderman (1979)

One of my all time favorites.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

good back-story, and good acting

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The movie opens to three guys walking across snow or sand, cannot tell from the VHS resolution. The narrator explains the Mongolians are the bad guys. Three guys arrive at a temple martial arts practice. Casanova is a deaf mute and acts retarded too. The guy in black has come to learn martial arts and he is a Mongolian. Cut to the head monk complains the students are weak. Aside, some students speak of stealing a golden Buddha. The master wants to use the Buddha to fund the war against the Mongolians. Eagle Han Ying, the Mongolian, joins with the three monks who want to steal the golden Buddha and claims that Casanova Wong is a fake and a spy.That's enough for the story line.Kin Jeong-Nan plays the female martial artist. I never liked her previous performances particularly with Jackie Chan but the real problem could be the character she played were simply annoying, not her.The ending is totally stupid. I tried to ignore it and pretend it was a bad translation. Casanova has a solar powered fist. The final fight was a cloudy day so he did not have his super power. Yet, I could see their shadows as they fought. The sky was clear and blue unless Casanova looked up, then it was cloudy. What was the purpose of the stupid gimmick anyway? Just have the fight! I deducted a point from the rating because of this. Casanova Wong was one of the greats but this was one of his worst.

Cassanova Wong always puts in a good performance but the first half of this film is about him wandering around as a stupid dumb servant / disciple of a rather strange looking Abbot trying to protect a golden Buddha that he wants to sell to fund a rebellion from robbers disguised as Shaolin Monks, one of whom killed Cassanova's dad. Any film directed by Godfrey Ho is always slightly strange, so par for the course. It was filmed in Korea (using the same locations as Secret Rivals by the look of it) and features Korean actors as extras. Through the love of a good woman (the very good Gam Ching Lan who only made a few films but all of which were good) and a secret fire fist manual (to combat a wind blade technique) Cassonova finally reveals his abilities and some good fights ensue. The last third is much better and it ends in a terrific fight.

The undisputed king of kicks Casanova Wong stars in this kung fu flick. This classic kung fu bonanza sees Casanova Wong defend the honour of the Shaolin Temple against the merciless Mongolian hords. A truly special production that has eluded fans for more than two decades.