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As I embark again in the realm of “Bruceploitation,” I grapple with this somewhat thorny question. In which of Bruce Lee’s films can we confidently say were produced well in the traditional sense? More often than not, we are left with rather mediocre productions after removing his charisma as well as his mind-blowing fight scenes. Frankly speaking, even some of the most iconic roles he played were parts in exploitation films. In all intents and purposes, even “Enter the Dragon” can be referenced as an exploitation feature. With that said, I’m respectfully disagreeing with the legend, with all due respect to one of the greats in cinema, it’s just putting an open mind to the movies produced after his death. The world of “Bruceploitation” is almost always unjustly criticized and most of the time, this happens without reason. Still, the feeling is rather similar to those more exploitation rich features, because truth is, they are all pretty much extracted out of his precise film touch.
Bruce Wong (Bruce Le) arrives in Hong Kong looking for something Bruce Lee’s “finger kung fu book.” But he is not the only one in the chase; a criminal master (Lo Lieh) is crazed after the item and has his underlings capture Bruce Wong’s sister and ex girlfriend (Nora Miao). In the first encounter, Bruce Wong is defeated and has to ally himself with an Interpol agent (Chan Wai-man) to locate the book and save his family.
This movement begins with scenes from Bruce Lee’s movies. He was an accomplished actor and martial artist. To an extent, these were fictionalized fiction, but they did serve the purpose of conveying a lot. That’s how capable Bruce was. It is a common trope in this category of narrative as most of the time that genre would revolve around his death and then seeking revenge. It is similar to the cliche in Hollywood “based on true events” this phrase tends to be regarded with an element of doubt.
Bruce Le attempts to recreate Bruce’s personality traits but, as is the case with all the other clones, is limited in his ability to impersonate a role within a role. He’s a bit excessive with the finger flicking and the nose tick, and it pulls him into looking like an addict. He is actually looking the part but unfortunately, the fight scenes look fake again as it is being acted out. This draws more comparisons than allows the performance to stand out.
For once, Chan Wai-man is playing the hero instead of the gangster and is actually trying to copy Bruce Lee’s appearance. Lo Lieh worked for Shaw Brothers, but, as his career path took flight, his steely looks transformed him into a pretty decent villain. He always has been good to watch and indeed, he is menacing when he wants to be. Like Bolo Yeung, Nora Miao provides a link to the real Bruce Lee film in several other commercial films.
The dubbing is beyond terrible, however. The phrase, “All you think of is finger kung fu,” belongs to a different genre altogether from the 70s. The editing could be improved. The opening fight picked at random seems to have no ending at all. The film makers include the usual crash zooms and extreme close ups shot for some reason accompanied by an irritating soundtrack. I have always been against drinking but I have to admit this is the one movie I could use as a trigger for a drinking game. After the first twenty minutes, it became impossible to keep track of how many times the term “kung fu finger book” is thrown around. Such words have to be tried for a good portion of the film, although I wouldn’t bet on getting very far.
Most of the fight choreography seems quite rudimentary.
At times, it attempted to project a more classic look, but it lacks the strength of structure that someone like Lau Kar Leung would achieve. In the finale, Bruce Le puts on yellow trousers that style his character in “Game of Death,” which is the best and most varied of the countless fight scenes. This one includes stick fighting, which is virtually nonexistent in this genre. The usual tomfoolery with the nunchuks is present, although it is not Bruce Le that demonstrates the most proficiency with them in the final reel. Bruce Wong’s henchmen enable it to lose some of its imitation and gain a bit more energy before the final conflict and reversion to form.
There are some over the top stereotypical depictions, Bruce Wong for instance comes off as an absolute moron with a nasty temper and a fetish for Finger Kung Fu. He truly embodies the phrase there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. A sympathetic character is nonexistent in this story and one very much hopes that Chan Wai-man’s Interpol agent comes through with an ounce of scruples. Besides, they strengthen the notion that martial arts are for self-defense and well-being. Instead, Bruce Wong has low self-esteem just like the villains do. Thank heavens the masters are more worldly. Bruce Lee’s main features encompass this paradox, Masayuki’s as well as Chan’s. The notion of kung hu being regarded as greater than everything else Chinese. Never forgetting that the antagonist of “Bruce’s Deadly Fingers” is a karate practitioner. This subverts the situation further.
Crazy fun, and sometimes for all the wrong reasons. With english dubbing that makes no sense and one of the worst lead performances I have ever witnessed, it falls under the ‘so bad, it’s good’ category. This is a great jubilation in Bruceploitation cinema. Despite the fact that italain cinema is compared to wooden furniture because of the lack of great performances, I still managed to enjoy the last reel of action. It certainly poses the question if bruceploitation is best served with a standard martial arts wax-on, wax-off feature plot. But the answer is simple. The perverse joy created by the bruceploitation subplots and absurd tactics is unmatched. This is more fun to mock than enjoy but it is still quite fun.
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