Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

Plot summary (story synopsis): Hahou Mo (Donnie Yen) is in jail for manslaughter, with 2 years of a 5 year sentence left to serve. He had accidentally killed another kung fu expert in a duel, while trying to find out who was the better fighter.

Fung Yu-Sau (Baoqiang Wang) now seems to be following in his footsteps, fighting kung fu masters, but deliberately killing them. Hahou Mo knows that he can stop Fung Yu-Sau and makes a deal with lead detective Luk Yuen-Sum (Charlie Yeung, who is a woman despite her name). Luk Yuen-Sum reluctantly agrees to release Hahou Mo from prison into her custody.

Hahou Mo has figured out Fung Yu-Sau's plan. He is following a kung fu poem and targeting kung fu masters in boxing, kicking, grappling (Chin Na), weapons, and internal styles - in that order.

Hahou Mo leads detective Luk Yuen-Sum to Fung Yu-Sau's next target, but then runs away to Foshan to protect his sweetheart Sinn Ying (Bing Bai) from Fung Yu-Sau.

***

Kung Fu Jungle is an above-average kung fu movie. The fights are decent and not too long. The story and characters are engaging. Locations are interesting - old-world Foshan, a river village.

The idea of Fung Yu-Sau as a master of different styles of kung fu, fighting different masters in their own style, is a good one. It allows the movie to showcase different styles without resorting to the old cliche of a martial arts tournament.

Unfortunately for kung fu fans (who are obviously the movie's target audience) not enough is made of the opportunity. The first few fights come off nicely enough. They aren't generic fights. They actually follow the declared styles - boxing, kicking, grappling, weapons.

But instead of building towards a climax with the showdown between Fung Yu-Sau and Hahou Mo, the fight between the two, degenerates into the generic punch, kick, block fighting seen in too many Hong Kong movies.

According to the poem sequence Fung Yu-Sau was following, Hahou Mo should have been a master of an internal style (Hsing Yi, Ba Gua or Tai Chi). However all the clues point to him being a Wing Chun guy. Foshan was an early center of Wing Chun, and is where Hahou Mo learned his kung fu.

Hahou Mo also fights with a pole, one of the classic Wing Chun weapons (six and a half point pole). Yet, his kung fu style is not Wing Chun (and not an internal style either). Not just his unarmed technique. His pole technique is all wrong. He swings it like a club instead of thrusting it like a spear.

So it's a head-scratcher. Why imply that Hahou Mo is a Wing Chun guy, then not have him use Wing Chun?

Another wasted opportunity is Fung Yu-Sau's belief that "kung fu is for killing". It could have been developed as a comparison between "fighting" kung fu and "tournament" kung fu. Instead, good guy Hahou Mo repudiates the idea entirely. Which doesn't ring true, considering kung fu's main function.

The acting is passable. You don't watch kung fu movies for their acting. Donnie Yen's acting range is limited to one "concerned face" and that's about it. The police-investigation plot is believable and is enough to drive the story from one fight to another, which is all that matters. 

Kung Fu Jungle is a good kung fu movie. It could have been great.