CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU is one of those low budget period kung fu flicks that found a new wave of popularity following the success of Jackie Chan's DRUNKEN MASTER. These films, all of them invariably made on poverty row budgets, mixed slapstick and lowbrow comedy with intense training sequences and wild kung fu fights, and usually followed a template whereby the initial humour of the production gradually gives way to the deadly serious climax. This film is no different, and for the most part it's pretty unmemorable.
The scripts are never the strongest points of these productions but CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU's story seems particularly weak. There are too many central characters, many of whom are just set up to be killed at some point, thus setting our hero on a path of revenge. There are lots of stereotypes and interchangeable folk, and as usual awful dubbing to sap away any credibility the production might have generated. The hero this time around is THE VICTIM's Leung Kar Yan, more affectionally nicknamed 'Beardy' by his fans. Kar Yan has been good value for money in every film I've watched him in, and he brings a level of depth and likability to his otherwise straightforward hero character here. The supporting actors are a motley crew, with genre staple Phillip Ko working hard as the chief bad guy.
The metallic title refers to the gruelling training procedures that Kar Yan is tasked with by the aged kung fu master. These involve practising with iron rings around his arms, and later attempting to break wire wrapped about his torso by flexing his muscles alone. There's also some fun with saplings and ropes pulling at our hero's limbs a full decade before KICKBOXER used the same trick. The production gradually gets more interesting before ending in an extended bout in the woods, when Kar Yan tackles the villainous Ko in a fight to the finish. As usual, the final fight is the best part of the film and makes good use of some STREET FIGHTER-inspired x-ray inserts to show our hero breaking the enemy's bones.
The scripts are never the strongest points of these productions but CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU's story seems particularly weak. There are too many central characters, many of whom are just set up to be killed at some point, thus setting our hero on a path of revenge. There are lots of stereotypes and interchangeable folk, and as usual awful dubbing to sap away any credibility the production might have generated. The hero this time around is THE VICTIM's Leung Kar Yan, more affectionally nicknamed 'Beardy' by his fans. Kar Yan has been good value for money in every film I've watched him in, and he brings a level of depth and likability to his otherwise straightforward hero character here. The supporting actors are a motley crew, with genre staple Phillip Ko working hard as the chief bad guy.
The metallic title refers to the gruelling training procedures that Kar Yan is tasked with by the aged kung fu master. These involve practising with iron rings around his arms, and later attempting to break wire wrapped about his torso by flexing his muscles alone. There's also some fun with saplings and ropes pulling at our hero's limbs a full decade before KICKBOXER used the same trick. The production gradually gets more interesting before ending in an extended bout in the woods, when Kar Yan tackles the villainous Ko in a fight to the finish. As usual, the final fight is the best part of the film and makes good use of some STREET FIGHTER-inspired x-ray inserts to show our hero breaking the enemy's bones.