"House of Fury" is a smooth mix of action, comedy and family drama. It's a lightweight film that neither tries to solve the world's problems, not does it turn into the fashionable bloodbath. And yet there is a degree of character complexity here; a couple of people are not who they appear to be, and even the villain of the story (Michael Wong) actually has a very understandable personal motive for his actions. But it is the fighting (co-choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping) that is undeniably the main draw: although there is occasionally too much wirework for my tastes (sometimes justified - like in the opening sequence, giving it a fitting fairy-tale quality - but often not), there is also a lot of solid and intricate ground (and weapon) fighting that's a throwback to the golden era of HK action cinema (hey, the climactic fight is even set in a warehouse!). Nearly everyone in this film can fight: men, women, old people, kids, etc. Sometimes they do so quite creatively too - as when Anthony Wong defends himself against four kidnappers by imitating Bruce Lee! Gillian Chung has speed, technique and flexibility, she is a female action star in the making; she just needs to increase her aggressiveness a bit. Despite her high billing, Charlene Choi has what amounts to a cameo; this should not really be classified as a "Twins" film. *** out of 4.
Review of House of Fury
