Having paid his dues, first as an uncredited extra, then a stuntman, and finally as a leading actor, Jackie Chan gets a chance to really prove his worth by directing himself in this Golden Harvest production, turning what might otherwise be a rather routine old-school style kung fu story into something special with his incredible on screen presence, impeccable choreography and remarkably assured direction, a wonderful supporting cast, and some genuinely amusing comedy (and that's coming from someone who has repeatedly failed to understand the Asian sense of humour).
The rather scrappy story sees Chan, as martial artist Lung, searching for his brother Tiger (Pai Wei), who has left their kung fu school in disgrace after secretly competing in a lion dance for the opposition, and who has since fallen in with a gang of criminals. In the process, Lung is mistaken for a criminal himself, leading to all manner of scrapes with the law. After foiling a robbery, during which his brother is framed by the bad guys, Lung agrees to bring head criminal Kam (Ing-Sik Whang) to justice in exchange for his brother's freedom.
Although the plot for The Young Master is disjointed (hence my crappy synopsis) and the film suffers from continuity problems, the incredible fight action is more than enough reason to check this one out. Unsurprisingly, Jackie seizes every opportunity to show off his incredible athleticism and comedic ability, but the film also benefits from the amazing talents of fellow 'Little Fortune' Yuen Baio, the beauty and fighting prowess of Lily Li, and the awesome Hapkido skills of Ing-Sik Whang. The fight scenes are wonderfully inventive throughout, and include such delights as fan fu, rope fu, bench fu, and skirt fu, plus a prolonged final bout between Lung and Kam that delivers more bone crunching punches and kicks in that one hilltop scene than many martial arts films manage in their entirety (as well as some textbook moustache stroking from the dastardly villain).
The rather scrappy story sees Chan, as martial artist Lung, searching for his brother Tiger (Pai Wei), who has left their kung fu school in disgrace after secretly competing in a lion dance for the opposition, and who has since fallen in with a gang of criminals. In the process, Lung is mistaken for a criminal himself, leading to all manner of scrapes with the law. After foiling a robbery, during which his brother is framed by the bad guys, Lung agrees to bring head criminal Kam (Ing-Sik Whang) to justice in exchange for his brother's freedom.
Although the plot for The Young Master is disjointed (hence my crappy synopsis) and the film suffers from continuity problems, the incredible fight action is more than enough reason to check this one out. Unsurprisingly, Jackie seizes every opportunity to show off his incredible athleticism and comedic ability, but the film also benefits from the amazing talents of fellow 'Little Fortune' Yuen Baio, the beauty and fighting prowess of Lily Li, and the awesome Hapkido skills of Ing-Sik Whang. The fight scenes are wonderfully inventive throughout, and include such delights as fan fu, rope fu, bench fu, and skirt fu, plus a prolonged final bout between Lung and Kam that delivers more bone crunching punches and kicks in that one hilltop scene than many martial arts films manage in their entirety (as well as some textbook moustache stroking from the dastardly villain).