PartTimeCritic Review of Last Hero in China

Last Hero in China (1993)

Overly Complicated, Failed, Jokes, but a Quirky/Strong Final Act

[5/10 · 12 March 2023]

LAST HERO IN CHINA (C+) comes during an incredibly prolific stretch of films for Jet Li as depending on how you count it, this one of six or seven films he made for 1993 alone! Jet Li continues to play the role of local kung fu master Wong Fei-Hung, but this time outside of the Once Upon a Time in China series. This entry is written by Jing Wong and co-directed by Jing Wong and Yuen Woo-Ping. The basic concept is simple - the local temple is abducting and smuggling women and the corrupt government officials are in on it. Wong Fei-Hung and his students must stop it. The spin this time, and I expect this is from Jing Wong, is that Wong Fei-Hung has accidentally transplanted his growing school next to a brothel. Early in the film they try and mine some comedic set pieces from it but it all falls flat. After an initial run-in with the temple and the government officials, Fei-Hung is rendered deaf and he exiles himself to get better so he can return and defeat the evil powers. Believe it or not, it gets more complicated than that with lion dances and centipede enemies. The fight sequences are hit or miss with a lot of short undercranked sequences early on. The two stand out sequences here are a mid film fight between Jet Li and Gordon Liu that succeeds despite a lot of gimmicks and a strong two-part finale that see's Jet Li take on a centipede as a chicken (yes you read that right) and then get a very good one vs one fight with the film's main villain. A quirky but strong final act Redeems a mediocre film.