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#582 - The Kid with the Golden Arm
Chang Cheh, 1979
A warrior clan is tasked with transporting a shipment of gold by the government, which is then targeted by a gang of evil martial arts masters.
Chang Cheh's follow-up to 1978's Five Deadly Venoms reuses many of the same performers in telling an even more simple story than that particular film. Though the focus is once again based around whether or not the good guys or the bad guys will acquire a significant treasure, here the convoluted mystery-drama of Venoms is dropped completely. The government orders a reputable warrior clan to transport gold to a famine-stricken area of the country, assigning one of their agents to supervise the job. However, it's not long before a gang of martial artists with metal-based names openly declare their intention to steal the gold for themselves, prompting the clan to improve their guard. This includes a boyfriend and girlfriend who are both capable fighters in their own right; however, it is the government agent (and the ostensible protagonist) who proves a lovable rogue that clashes with his uptight colleagues over his tendency to get drunk more for the hell of it than in service to his highly skilled style of drunken boxing.
Credit where credit's due, the plot for The Kid with the Golden Arm is simple without being trite and has enough twists and turns to not get boring over the course of an incredibly brief running time. The performers on display are decent enough actors - more importantly, they make for capable martial artists. The action does seem a little too obvious in its choreography to truly engage, but I'm prepared to forgive it simply because fanciful artifice is half the reason why anyone would watch a Shaw Brothers movie. Films like this are tantamount to ballet with their obvious sets and artfully constructed fight sequences - what it lacks in rawness and believability, it makes up for in panache and fluidity. I'm just glad that the characterisation is decent enough to not annoy me - part of that has to do with not playing up the lead character's drunken antics for excessively broad comedy and actually making him a considerable threat right from the get-go. There are nice details to the characters here and there. Of particular note is one character who is fatally poisoned and thus prepares to die a violent and honourable death only to be cured...which leads him to resent his saviour for denying him the chance to die with honour. The humour may not be laugh-out-loud but the balance is handled in just the right way to add some much-needed character to a film that could have just as easily been another sterile (if technically decent) old-school kung-fu movie.
Chang Cheh, 1979
A warrior clan is tasked with transporting a shipment of gold by the government, which is then targeted by a gang of evil martial arts masters.
Chang Cheh's follow-up to 1978's Five Deadly Venoms reuses many of the same performers in telling an even more simple story than that particular film. Though the focus is once again based around whether or not the good guys or the bad guys will acquire a significant treasure, here the convoluted mystery-drama of Venoms is dropped completely. The government orders a reputable warrior clan to transport gold to a famine-stricken area of the country, assigning one of their agents to supervise the job. However, it's not long before a gang of martial artists with metal-based names openly declare their intention to steal the gold for themselves, prompting the clan to improve their guard. This includes a boyfriend and girlfriend who are both capable fighters in their own right; however, it is the government agent (and the ostensible protagonist) who proves a lovable rogue that clashes with his uptight colleagues over his tendency to get drunk more for the hell of it than in service to his highly skilled style of drunken boxing.
Credit where credit's due, the plot for The Kid with the Golden Arm is simple without being trite and has enough twists and turns to not get boring over the course of an incredibly brief running time. The performers on display are decent enough actors - more importantly, they make for capable martial artists. The action does seem a little too obvious in its choreography to truly engage, but I'm prepared to forgive it simply because fanciful artifice is half the reason why anyone would watch a Shaw Brothers movie. Films like this are tantamount to ballet with their obvious sets and artfully constructed fight sequences - what it lacks in rawness and believability, it makes up for in panache and fluidity. I'm just glad that the characterisation is decent enough to not annoy me - part of that has to do with not playing up the lead character's drunken antics for excessively broad comedy and actually making him a considerable threat right from the get-go. There are nice details to the characters here and there. Of particular note is one character who is fatally poisoned and thus prepares to die a violent and honourable death only to be cured...which leads him to resent his saviour for denying him the chance to die with honour. The humour may not be laugh-out-loud but the balance is handled in just the right way to add some much-needed character to a film that could have just as easily been another sterile (if technically decent) old-school kung-fu movie.