Ma Wing Jing (1997)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Corey Yuen

Writers:

Ann Gee (writer)
Jeffrey Lau (writer)

Release Date:

17 June 1997 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Dangerous Times Make Heroes of Desperate Men

Plot:

Ma Wing Jing and his older brother Ma Tai Chueng arrive in Shanghai to make their fortune at the end of the Qin Dynasty...

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Mobster | Remake | Rivalry

Cast

Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Ma Wing Jing
Biao Yuen	...	Tam See
Jessica Hester Hsuan	...	Kim Ling-Tze (as Jessica Hester)
Wah Yuen	...	Ma Tai Cheung
Tak Yuen	...	Yeung Seung
Valerie Chow	...	Yam Yeung-Tien
Corey Yuen	...	Uncle Po

Also Known As:

Hero (Hong Kong: English title)
Ma Yong Zhen (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

Germany:93 min | Hong Kong:97 min | UK:99 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Germany:18 | UK:18

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

Remake of Ma Yong Zhen (1972)

"Hero" - Period Shanghai Gangster epic

A rare post studio closure kung fu spectacular from the Shaw Brothers. Even Mona Fong is involved. Longtime kung fu actor and director, Corey Yuen, has the reins.

The plot follows the exploits of a refugee from Shangdong province, Ma Wing Ching, and his brother as they try to climb the ladder of success in the chaos of colonial Shanghai in the 1930's. Ma Wing Ching is a super kung fu fighter although it's never explained how he got so good. He gets involved with the local king pin Tam See, played by Yuen Biao and falls in love with a beautiful singer at one of Tam See's nightclubs. After fighting off a rival gang, Ma Wing Ching is given a chance to work for Tam See but he refuses and proceeds to build a criminal empire of his own. But it's a nice criminal empire as Ma is sympathetic to the plight of the exploited Shanghai coolies! All doesn't go well as Ma becomes the target of the rival gangs.

The first thing I noticed was the excellent recreation of Shanghai and all the period trappings. This is a well designed film. The martial arts are as expected from Corey Yuen and well done. When the action is going it's very entertaining. Unfortunately Mr. Yuen's cartoonish style seems at odds with the very realistic sets. The fights are absolutely fantastic in both senses of the word. Things happen that are completely unrealistic and that sort of hurts the film. Mr. Yuen also has no sense of epic scale and many of the great sets are never shown very well. The camera-work is good but not anything to raise the film up above a dozen other martial art films of the last twenty years. The story treats the characters very superficially and that causes boredom to set in at times.

Fun but not among the greats.