CHINATOWN KID is yet another Shaw Brothers kung fu movie that feels fresh and different despite the fact that the studio made literally hundreds of similar movies during this era. Like so many others, this one is directed by Chang Cheh, although this one is a bit unusual as it features the fresh-faced star Alexander Fu Sheng in the leading role instead of one of Cheh's earlier favoured stars like Ti Lung or David Chiang. The Venoms also play in support, on the very cusp of stardom before 1978's FIVE DEADLY VENOMS.
What I liked about this film was its setting. It's a modern day story that feels more convincingly modern than something like THE ANGRY GUEST. Fu Sheng is a country bumpkin who finds himself transported off to the USA to begin a new life, before inevitably falling in with some drug-dealing criminal gangs who run San Francisco's Chinatown. The story is thematic and densely-plotted in places, featuring multiple rival factions and characters and of course a multitude of thrilling action scenes.
I saw the Chinese version of this film which is some twenty minutes shorter than the international release. As such it feels very fast-paced and never boring. Fu Sheng has never been more innocently likable than he is here and he's given fine character support from the underrated Sun Chien, an actor I thought never really got his dues as he's always very good and should be better-known in the west. The exemplary supporting cast features Wang Lung Wei as a stock villain (with hints of grace) and two of the Venoms, Phillip Kwok and Lo Meng, as rival gang leaders. Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, and Dick Wei also appear as henchmen. The action sequences are fantastic, of course, and bolstered by the engaging story; there's very little to dislike here, although I would like to see a good-quality version of the extended cut one day to find out what I'm missing.
What I liked about this film was its setting. It's a modern day story that feels more convincingly modern than something like THE ANGRY GUEST. Fu Sheng is a country bumpkin who finds himself transported off to the USA to begin a new life, before inevitably falling in with some drug-dealing criminal gangs who run San Francisco's Chinatown. The story is thematic and densely-plotted in places, featuring multiple rival factions and characters and of course a multitude of thrilling action scenes.
I saw the Chinese version of this film which is some twenty minutes shorter than the international release. As such it feels very fast-paced and never boring. Fu Sheng has never been more innocently likable than he is here and he's given fine character support from the underrated Sun Chien, an actor I thought never really got his dues as he's always very good and should be better-known in the west. The exemplary supporting cast features Wang Lung Wei as a stock villain (with hints of grace) and two of the Venoms, Phillip Kwok and Lo Meng, as rival gang leaders. Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, and Dick Wei also appear as henchmen. The action sequences are fantastic, of course, and bolstered by the engaging story; there's very little to dislike here, although I would like to see a good-quality version of the extended cut one day to find out what I'm missing.