Kung Fu League

Director- Jeffrey Lau

Cast- Ashin, Jay Chou, Kwok-Kwan Chan

Country of Origin- Hong Kong
 

Distributor - Well Go USA

Number of Discs - 2

Reviewed by - Tyler Miller

Date- 11/01/2019

Nerdy amateur comic book writer Fei (Ashin), is obsessed with the old martial arts heroes and hopes to be as cool as them one day. He daydreams about finally having the courage to ask out his crush, Bao’er (Madina Memet). But a misunderstanding in the breakroom causes Fei to be fired. In a drunken fit of rage, he calls out in desperation for the heroes of his comic to save him. The next day a time loop opens and drops the legendary Wong Fei-hung, IP man, and Chen Zhen into the present and the only way back is to help Fei become the hero of his dreams.

Kung Fu League (2018) is one of the newest films from Jeffrey Lau, who gave us such hits as A Chinese Odyssey Part One and Two, and the hilarious Stephen Chow comedy Out of the Dark (1995). But in recent years his work has been hit or miss with Just Another Pandora’s Box (2010). League is luckily a return to form with plenty of comedy timing that reminds me of the bizarre slapstick of Out of the Dark. The film as a whole does suffer from poor pacing and a lackluster villain.

The chemistry between the various martial arts legends is spot on with some charming performances by Wenzhuo Zhao, Jay Chou, and Kwok-Kwan Chan. The fish out of water element starts off strong with some mishaps on a kung fu movie set. The wirework and action choreography are all thrilling and caught well on film. There is also a hilarious bit of business at a McDonalds where free wi-fi is mistaken for a meal. But by the time the cast of heroes meets Fei, the story starts to fizzle out.

The script loses focus and only throws in drama long enough to keep the film at feature length. It doesn’t help that our lead Fei is a bit of a one-note wet blanket with no drive. Singer/ songwriter Ashin does passible acting work here, but his character is so uninteresting that I wish the story had one more rewrite to just make it a time travel comedy.

From a visual standpoint, the whole film looks fine. The production design and set pieces are impressive for a silly comedy. It’s still a little off from being close to the energy of some of the madness of the 1980’s Hong Kong cinema. The best scene in the movie is the opening spoof of the rainstorm fight in Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster (2013). The gags that do work are few and far between. It’s all too clean and neat. Aimed at the widest audience, which will ultimately lose more viewers.

Well Go USA’s Blu-ray has an impressive transfer but sadly lacks in the extras department. The 1080p HD transfer is nearly spotless with some minor issues with the film’s CGI work in some of the action scenes. There is no digital noise or motion blur. The Mandarin 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio is clear with no hiss or pops. English subtitles are included. Extras are limited to a trailer gallery for other Well Go USA releases.

For fans of martial arts comedy, Kung Fu League is passable entertainment with a handsome Blu-ray from Well Go USA.