Uriah43 "Kung Wei" (Jet Li) is a Chinese undercover cop who has an adoring son named "Ku Kung" (Mo Tse) and a very ill wife but rather than being able to take care of her he is sent against his wishes to Hong Kong to infiltrate a gang of smugglers led by a notorious criminal by the name of "Po Kwang" (Rongguang Yu). Naturally, in order to join the gang he has to convince everyone that he is a criminal and even his son and wife cannot know the truth. Neither can the police in Hong Kong who have assigned a female detective named "Inspector Fong" (Anita Mui) to apprehend him. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this film contains quite a bit of action, drama and comedy. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of these three elements caused the movie to seem quite uneven. Throw in an overabundance of martial arts and the accompanying preposterous stunts and the result is a movie lacking coherence and realism. No doubt some viewers will really like this movie simply for the action it provides and quite frankly it wasn't that bad. However, all things considered I can only rate it as about average. No more and no less.

Comeuppance Reviews Kung Wei (Li) is a loving husband and father, but has to spend a lot of time away from his family because he "has a rapport with these underworld types" and is now deep, deep undercover in an attempt to stop the gang of Po Kwong (Yu), a criminal mastermind with an army of thugs. Wei has an especially strong bond with his young son Johnny (Tse), who, like a pint-sized version of his father, is a Martial Arts expert. When Wei's wife becomes sick, the pressure on him becomes even greater while he's away from his family, and Johnny strikes up a friendship with a female cop named Fong (Mui). While Wei is undercover in Hong Kong, Fong and Johnny follow him there from mainland China. Then the stage is set for the ultimate confrontation: who will be victorious? Find out today...Moodily directed by Corey Yuen, a man whose career as an actor, director and stuntman is simply amazing, and who has been kicking all our butts since Above the Law (1986), he seems to be going for more of a balance between emotional drama and action. While nothing seems out of place, as might be expected the highlights of this movie are the fight/action scenes. There are some really impressive moments, and when the energy is there, it's amazing to watch, but there are certainly some peaks and valleys we as viewers must go through. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, in fact it may make the action scenes stand out all the more.Thankfully, this movie does have a blonde meathead screaming while shooting a machine gun. So yes, it is truly a work of dramatic art. You know Po Kwong is a villain because he wears his sunglasses at night (and at all other times too), and he and his gang of baddies really put the tot Johnny through hell. Johnny has to go through all manner of trials and tribulations, perhaps even more so than his father does. Many of those things wouldn't fly in America, even in a movie they'd be considered politically-incorrect child abuse. There's even a scene of Johnny being bullied at school: apparently Johnny is a big ant aficionado, and can even train his ants to spell words like "mom"! When some bullies try to break up his ant party, he stops them in the only way that works: fight back! So there are some good lessons here too.The Dragon Dynasty DVD is typically excellent, with many features and a crisp, clear transfer. One of Wei's underworld contacts is subtitled as "G-Dawg", so perhaps there were some concessions to the American market (???) - but at least there aren't any misplaced musical cues like in the U.S. DVD version of the Jet Li outing Contract Killer (1998). In the end, fans should appreciate the killer fight scenes, action moments, and stunt work, while non-action buffs may appreciate the dramatic content. So the appeal here is pretty wide.

david-sarkies This movie is a little slow in parts but the fight scenes make it one of the most extraordinary movies that I have seen. This is one of the reasons that I generally like Hong Kong movies - not only do they have great fight scenes, but they also like to delve into human struggles, which is what American movies rarely do (at least on more than a superficial level).The focus of this movie is a deep undercover cop in China. He has a family and he tries to be a good father, but his work forces him to be very secretive. At first we think that he is a criminal, but the back cover of the video tells us that he is not. We soon learn that he is a Chinese cop, but nobody else really knows that.The problem arises when his wife dies of some disease and his son must go to Hong Kong with a Hong Kong police officer to try and find him. As such his son, who happens to be a martial arts expert, must brave the underlife of Hong Kong, and the police, to find his father. Not only that, but back at home he has to handle to taunts of his peers who all believe his father to be a criminal.The child is the real star of this movie as it focuses on his struggles in not only finding out the truth about his father, but also trying to find him. He is lost in a world were strangers claim to be relatives and where his father at times must deny him to protect himself. Yet deep down the child knows that his father loves him, and the struggle to show his love to his child is one of the most tortuous parts of this movie.There are two great fight scenes in this movie. The first is the shootup in the restaurant. I will not go into deep detail, without saying that it is phenomenal, and is what one should expect from the action capital of the world. If there is one thing the Chinese know how to do, that is to make a really good action movie that leaves its Hollywood counterparts for dead.The second cool action sequence is the end sequence where the father uses his kid as a weapon against the bad guys. We have seen previously how this kid is a really good martial artist, but we also know that together both of them make an almost unbeatable team. In fact, not only is the kid good at martial arts, be is also very cunning.I guess the title tells us everything - the kid learns that his father is a hero. This is not clear at the beginning, and everything seems to tell us that his father is a crook. The truth is that he is not. His father is out there to destroy the power of the cartels and he is willing to put himself into danger to stop the criminals.It is surprising that so much comes out of this movie, where as a typical Jackie Chan movie is generally quite shallow. But then we really don't watch a Jackie Chan movie for in-depth character development - we watch them to see Jackie Chan do absolutely stupid stunts so that he can maintain his fan base. Hey, he enjoys it so who am I to critise him.

hayabusa-1 Spoilers contained herein; my reviews are meant for connoisseurs of Jet Li films. Jet Li's `Enforcer' is a average film in every aspect of the word. Jet Li plays Kung Wei, an uncover cop sent to infiltrate a triad gang. Herein lies the problem, weather it is the fault of the script, the fault of the dubbing, or the fault of Jet Li's acting, his character is SO far undercover the viewer forgets that he is a cop. The plot is not set up very well, we're not told WHY his cover has to be kept to such a high and extreme level. Wei's contact in the Triad gang, MR. G (I forget the character's real name) is also a mystery. I have seen this film three times and I still have yet to determine if Mr. G was also an undercover cop, or just a well intentioned thug in the gang. The plot has more holes than swiss cheese, especially early on which makes it hard to follow important key concepts such as the ones mentioned above.The movie is not without its charm however. While Wei is infiltrating the triad in Hong Kong, his wife back on the mainland dies, leaving his son an orphan for all intents and purposes. Anita Mui, who you may remember from Jackie Chan films such as `Rumble in the Bronx' and `Legend of Drunken Master' plays Hong Kong Police Detective Anna Fong. She's hot on Wei's trail for his criminal acts unknowing committed undercover back in Hong Kong. While tracking Wei she goes to his home in the mainland, and befriends Wei's wife and son, more or less adopting the son after the mother's death. The two end up tracking Wei back to Hong Kong, and discovering the truth about his undercover status.The Kung Fu scenes in this movie are nothing spectacular. The most impressive kung fu is demonstrated by Wei's son when his must defend the reputation of his father against a school full of bullies. He also demonstrates some good fundamentals in the Wushu demonstration scene. As for Jet Li, he's capable of much more artful and complex kung fu than he displays in this movie. The head triad villain is the stereotypical Chinese 1990s bad guy. If you've seen `Legend of Drunken Master' or similar films you know what I'm talking about, the buzz cut, sunglasses, the Armani suit, the white magician looking gloves, and an aura of evil about him. His goal as a villain in this movie is to hijack an auction taking place on a boat and make off with the goods and the customer's money. The fight scene at the end is anti-climatic. This evil badass who tears through people throughout the movie hardly puts up much if any of a fight at the end. Sure there's some good improvisation of the Kung Fu Rope technique, but that's what keeps this film on its average level, and keeps it from sinking to the depths of a bad film.If you're looking for a typical hong Kong action genre film along the lines of Hard Boiled killers, you might like this film. If you're looking for Jet Li's mastery of the martial arts, this film will disappoint you. As an action film, and a film itself, it rates very bland and average 4/9 stars.