I watched this over the weekend and enjoyed it. It was indeed a light action/comedy and lived up to that.
Michelle Yeoh,Donnie Yen, and Norman Chu were very fun to watch in their fights (Wing Chun, Pok To, and Flying Monkey, respectively.)
King-Tan Yuen has won me over with her Abacus Fong, Wing Chun's aunt. Love her! The smart, canny businesswoman who finds who she wants to marry- yeah, a caricature, but carried off with fun acting chops and good writing for the character.
It was fun and a feather in the cast and crew's cap. Yet...
*SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! The Following Is A PLOT POINT That Angers Me!*
Yes, it's a period piece. Yes, women who work out get muscular. Yes, Wing Chun chose to dress in men's clothing. But her Fiancé couldn't tell who she was?!?
I know that the conventional idea is that Asian ladies seem to age slower, but for Pok to think that his fiancé would wear the exact same clothes for TEN YEARS, that she wouldn't age any in that time, and that the actual Wing was *a MAN!* is just angry-making. It was a movie produced in the mid90s, fer heaven's sake! I like mistaken identity comedies- ones that make sense and dovetail with what I see on-screen. That this guy, Pok, was the only one to *continually* believe that the real Wing Chun was a man is just insane- several other characters, had no real problem realizing that Wing was a female, just a freaky one (to their way of thinking.)
It was a point that made the movie lessen in my estimation of it. Pok is supposed to be "educated" as shorthanded by him studying martial arts for six years and a passing mention or two of him working for a city official in a Big City. Yeah, he's been busy and has gauzy, schmoopy memories of "his" Wing Chun, but his twigging to the truth in the las half hour was just.... let's just say disappointing. I was rooting for Bandit Warlord #1/Flying Monkey to win. At least he knew Wing Chun was a female and respected her prowess. *END OF SPOILER SECTION- END OF SPOILER SECTION-END OF SPOILER SECTION*
Overall, I recommend this movie, as it is fun. I just had to vent on that one bit. As for other Michelle Yeoh recommendations:
The Heroic Trio, and its sequel, The Executioners; Royal Warriors; Magnificent Warriors;The Soong Sisters (a period piece that's a biopic)
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