Sleeping Fist

I'd heard that Sleeping Fist was supposed to be one of the very best Kar Yan Leung movies, so I bought the DVD together with the sequel, Thundering Mantis.

I started watching Sleeping Fist, and about 40 minutes into it I got bored, stopped it, and didn't finish the movie until about a week later. I was happy to find out that the second half is where all the good stuff is (whew!). The Kid and his acrobatics are nice enough, and he also acts fairly well, but overall I'll maintain that the first half of the movie is pretty bad and boring. Fortunately, we get a lot of quality fighting in the second half, where the incredible precision moves of Kar Yan Leung are put on display.

Still, for several reasons (a couple of very annoying urination scenes, for instance), I can't rate the movie higher than a 6 out of 10. Kar Yan Leung is in his prime here, but this does not compare with his better efforts, like Legend of a Fighter or Knockabout.

I do not in this case share Brian Camp's fascination with Simon Yuen in this movie (although I generally tend to agree with Brian's excellent kung fu movie appraisals). I think he is boring and slow, and the scenes with his fighting are terribly and glaringly inter-cut with a wigged stuntman (one of his sons, Brian educates us). I don't think his performance are on level with his earlier efforts.

Eddy Ko is always a pleasure to see. I really like him, and I am puzzled that he almost always plays bad guys, because I think he has a very likable countenance. The man's got smiling eyes! Ah well. At least he got to be a good guy in Lethal Weapon 4.

And so it's on to Thundering Mantis... when I can spare the time.

It opens with the kid taking advantage of a baker by stealing a few buns then leading him on a chase. He has a silver coin though and next goes to a big tea house for a fish dinner. A gang enters looking for Beardie. He fights them off but it appears he has been previously injured or is sick. The kid helps in the fight.

The kid has been in just a few movies and I liked all of his performances. He has the flexibility and acrobatics of youth and that always adds something special to his fight sequences.

The kid takes Beardie to an old house to hole up and goes for medicine. The gang follows him back to Beardie. They escape and also rescue a lady in distress from a life in the brothel. After a dinner break the gang is back for another fight. There is an excellent bench prop fight. They are forced to flee. Beardie tries to dump the kid for his own safety but his wounds are worse. The kid and Beardie hole up at an old temple. A new fighter appears. This time it is Simon Yuen to the rescue. The three team up.

The kid won't learn kung fu from Simon Yuen. He goes for wine and meets the girl again. The gang finds him again and Simon to the rescue. There is a good fight sequence where Simon uses the kid as a prop. Cut to gang headquarters to make plans. The kid starts training with Simon. He has a secret technique he teaches to Beardie. Could it be the sleeping fist?

This movie is above average for the year and genre and has my highest recommendation. for fans of martial arts movies.

A plainclothes policeman, Chin Tai Ba (Leung Kar Yan), is seriously wounded in a fight with some ruffians but is helped to safety by a young wiseguy, Cub (Wong Yat Lung). Here he is taught the art of Sleeping Fist by Cub's master Chung Yiu (Simon Yuen Siu Tin), and the trio march to the Shang Wei martial arts school to take revenge on the thugs. However, in a last desperate attempt to get even, the gang call on Eagle Claw master Kao (Kao Hsiung) to sort out the snoozers.

Simon Yuen stars as a beggar who teaches not one student but two, one a bearded policeman and other a cheeky but good orphan and it's filled with fun, yet excruciating training sequences. The boy's contortionist skills are unbelievable. As for the hero, Leung Kar Yan, his fighting is solid, and his punches and block appear powerful - and he is charismatic as well. Matching him is the villain, who is quite a formidable foe. The finale features a great fight between them. It's a lively Kung fu saga with a lot of heart.

SLEEPING FIST (1978) is a fast-paced collection of small-scale fight scenes guided by a trio of expert kung fu performers assisted by a talented and precocious young boy. The story is slight, but the fight scenes are plentiful--and mixed with some welcome humor--and the cast a joy to watch in action, particularly the delightful `Drunken Master' himself, Simon Yuen.

Leung Kar Yan plays an undercover constable in old China out to apprehend a powerful criminal played by Eddy Ko. The wounded Leung is helped by a rambunctious orphan boy called `the Kid' (Wong Yat Lung) and the two soon hook up with a reclusive old kung fu master, `Old Fox,' played by Simon Yuen, who heals Leung and teaches advanced kung fu to the two, giving Leung special instruction in a series of `sleeping' techniques. The heroes befriend a local girl (O Yang Lin-Lung) and get lots of practice fighting off bullies who are constantly hitting on her or trying to force her into prostitution. It all culminates in a big showdown with Eddy Ko and his men at Old Fox's humble country cottage. One amusing touch is Leung's clever use of the "Sleeping Fairy" move.

The fight scenes are frequent and well-staged, with the emphasis on furious and intricate hand-to-hand combat, although Simon uses his walking stick to great advantage. The training scenes are also fun to watch, particularly those involving the Kid, whose contortionist skills are quite impressive. Otherwise, the film is extremely low-budget, with a relatively small cast and shooting limited to a couple of countryside locations and one village street.

Simon Yuen (patriarch of the famous Yuen Clan) made this film in the wake of the success of DRUNKEN MASTER and DANCE OF THE DRUNK MANTIS (both 1978), in both of which he played the archetypal Drunken Master, i.e. master of drunken-style boxing. Both `Drunk' films were directed by Simon's son Yuen Wo Ping. Another son doubles the elderly star in long shot for his more strenuous leaps and kicks.

Leung Kar Yan (aka Liang Chia-Jen) was a fixture of 1970s kung fu films and a favorite of many directors (including Sammo Hung) because he was a quick study at picking up moves in a variety of styles. Eddy Ko was a frequent and reliable villain. SLEEPING FIST was followed by the equally exciting THUNDERING MANTIS, which reunited Leung and the child actor seen here, Wong Yat Lung, along with Ko repeating his bad guy duties. Both films were directed by Yip Wing Tsui.

a real disappointment. this is the team that gave us very strong "Thundering Mantis". which ends with one of the most unsettling fight scenes on record (one of the corpses gets eaten!). added to the team this time around is Yuen patriarch and drunken master Simon Yuen; and it's fairly clear that this was intended for inclusion in the series that would have developed around Simon Yuen's character from the original Chan film of Drunken Master (Sam the Seed), had it not been cut short by Yuen's death. Nonetheless, this is clearly Sam the Seed Yuen is playing here, and the so-called 'sleeping fist' is a drunken boxing style variant.

One would think that if you took the energetic cast of Thundering Mantis and added elements of Drunken Master via a supporting role for Simon Yeun, we would get a grand film with odd bits of straight comedy, as well as magnificently choreographed fight scenes. well, think again.

For one thing, the Thundering Mantis cast reunited here doesn't seem particularly interested in the material; so of course they're not performing with their usual skill and energy. Then there's the child-actor - he was also in Thundering Mantis, where he played a crucial role as victim of the bad-guys. I don't know what he's doing here, since all he does is mimic Simon Yuen and perform unnecessary double-jointed body contortions.

All this leads up to the realization that the reason they named it "sleeping fist" is because long before anybody throws a punch, we've nodded off from boredom.