Set in 20th century China, The Legend of Drunken Master (originally Drunken Master II in Hong Kong) follows the hijinks of Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan). Fei-hung stumbles his way into defeating evil British consulates using his infamous "drunken boxing" technique. With this unconventional martial art, he confuses, humiliates, and styles on his foes in this classic Hong Kong action comedy.

The main highlight of the film is the masterful mix of slapstick and action that always keeps you on your toes. Everything else mainly serves to present the cool set pieces. But, it still has some fun dialogue and a decent story to support itself. This movie is exactly what you want out of a good kung fu flick.

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Real quick head's up. I watched the US release that included an English dub over. The dub includes an entirely different cast, except for Jackie Chan who dubs over himself. It also has some different music and sound effects. I usually go for subtitles and the original language for foreign films, but in this case, the dub is a fine option. You are mainly there for the action; reading the subtitles mainly distracts from that point. Plus, the admittedly crappy voice acting adds to the charm in my opinion. However, if you prefer the original language, look for its original title, Drunken Master II.

Don't worry about the II in the title by the way. The movie has almost nothing to do with the prequel, you ain't missing anything.

Jackie Chan is one the greats when it comes to choreography and he really shows it off here. The main gimmick of the movie is drunken boxing. As Fei-hung drinks more and more, his fighting style becomes more erratic and hard to counter until it evolves into insane slapstick antics.

The action set pieces basically continue to escalate as the movie goes on. It starts pretty by-the-numbers, but each fight scene just gets crazier and crazier until the climax. It's honestly jaw-dropping at times and you wonder how they pulled it off.

It's not just combat all the time though. The film features plenty of characters and some dialogue-based comedy. The non-slapstick comedy was honestly pretty good, with Fei-hung's stepmother, Ling (Anita Mui), having great scenes. She's a great character that carries the film through some of its admittedly slower parts at the beginning. Besides her, most of the other characters are just stock tropes but they get the job done.

The villains are basic but hella effective. No sad backstory, no long speeches. They're straight up evil douchebags that you love to hate! Also the villains' plot is to steal artifacts for the British Museum. Screw the British Museum, go get em Fei-hung!

The story is a historical fiction, vaguely based off the real Wong Fei-hung so you get some great locations and costumes that transport you to 20th century China. Every scene has great detail that I really appreciated.

Bad part of being a historical fiction, is you also get all the bad parts of history like abusive fathers just being normal I guess. Fei-hung's father is a major character in the story and he is an abusive dick! He has a scene that is honestly a bit hard to watch because this dude straight up physically disciplines his family and is a dick to his wife. Warning for that hard-to-watch scene towards the middle of the film.

While we're speaking on the negatives, I will also say the film takes a bit to get going. Usually, action films start off with a bang to get you hooked. Instead, the film starts out pretty slow and gradually gets more chaotic. It's not a big problem, but definitely good to know. If it feels slow at the beginning, please stick with it.

The film is also very formulaic and didn't really have me caring too much about the characters. Dramatic things happen but it feels more like the movie is checking off tropes from a checklist. I honestly don't mind this; the movie knows what it is and doesn't waste time in the second half with its predictable story beats.

Watched this movie once alone and once with friends, and I will say this: this movie is perfect for a movie night! It's peak, goofy Hong Kong cinema goodness and with friends you can talk over the slow parts and laugh at the campy dub.

Plus, in the spirit of the movie, you can make a drinking game out of it and take a swig whenever Fei-hung drinks
(NOT RECOMMENDED/MAY RESULT IN ALCOHOL POISONING). But, I found the movie is amazing enough, no alcohol required.

• This movie is a real classic and has inspired a lot in pop culture! Many fighting game characters, like Lei Wulong from Tekken and Jamie from Street Fighter, are heavily inspired from this movie. So, if you are a fighting game fan, this movie will be extra fun! I loved noticing where all these fighting game moves were lifted from.
• Stick around for the credits to see how they pulled off the insane stunts from the final climax.

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final recommendation

PETER PIPER PLAYING THE FLUTE/10

If you enjoy:	classic Hong Kong cinema choreographed kung fu set pieces light-hearted popcorn flicks 20th century Chinese history	make a movie night out of it!

If you dislike:	outdated, problematic characters style over substance predictable, trope-filled plots	maybe not for you