Christos Kim Jong Liao (christos200)
First, if you like Comedy Kung Fu movies and Jackie Chan, then this is a must see for you. Second, if you expect very good acting or a serious plot (By serious I do not mean a Plot that is not a comedy, but a plot that...well is a real plot and makes sense, then this movie is not for you.Now that we said those things, I can start the review of the Young Master. The Young Master is a Kung Fy Comedy, Jackie Can style. It has lot of action and funny moments.The story has to do with Jackie taking part in a lion dance against an other school. The one who was supposed to be the lead, was Jackie's brother (Tiger), but he faked an injury so he could fight for the other school. This leads to Tiger's exile.Tiger meanwhile joins the other schools and helps them free a criminal who is a very good Kung Fu fighter. Tiger freed the criminal using his White Fan.Back in Jackie's school, after a dramatic scene where all students blame Jackie for all the trouble and he thanks his master, his master allows him to search for his brother. Jackie Chan also has a White Fan like his brother, which makes the police think that he is the one who freed the criminal and so Jackie must fight the police and at the same time to try to find his brother................While the first half an hour makes you think that this is a dramatic film and has a good plot, the rest of the movie is a comedy with almost no plot. The plot seems to serve the role of connecting the Action and Comedy scenes. The fights are very well done. The last fight lasts 15 minutes, the longest in any Kung Fu movie and Jackie is beaten again and again. The comedy scenes are awesome and make you laugh hard. The acting is very good (For Kung Fu standards, of course).Hwang In-Sik is awesome as the criminal while Shih Kien is very good at the role of the policeman.Now the rating: Plot: 2/5 Comedy: 5/5 Kung Fu scenes: 4/5 Scenery: 3/5 Acting: 4/5 So this is rated 8/10. It is an awesome movie and everyone should see it.
kneiss1
Recently me and my friends didn't know what to do and decided to watch an old video cassette of mine. The pretty much random choice was Shi di chu ma. A good choice! - Because, my god, we had fun. It's great comedy and great entertainment. Especially the action scenes are so much fun to watch. Impressive, creative choreography – something that is never missing in Jackie Chan movies.If I could rate the comedy and choreography separately, I'd rate this way higher than the movie itself. The movie itself has a lot of flaws. The story isn't great at all. Characters act weird and not convincing. And the worst are the cuts. I kept feeling that something was missing. - I just hope that I did watch a cut German version. If the cuts would have been better, I probably would have given this movie 1 more point. The version I have seen can't be rated higher than 6 points – despite all my love and respect for Jackie.
Chrysanthepop
'Shi Di Chu Ma' is another awesome martial arts comedy from Chan's 'Master' series. It pretty much follows the traditional themes of honour, folklore and reputation as other movies of the series. Yet, the humour works very effectively and the fight sequences are engaging. Here Chan and his cast demonstrate some new kung fu techniques (such as fan-fighting and skirt-fighting). The execution has its flaws (such as problems with continuity). Yet, as mentioned earlier, the comedy and choreography make up for it. Chan also proves to be a competent director for this particular genre. He combines his flair for comedy and martial arts and that's almost always an entertaining treat. Most of the supporting cast have limited screen time but they provide enough support to keep things going. To sum things up, 'Shi Di Chu Ma' is another hilarious film from the Jackie Chan factory.
John Bye
There are a few nice set pieces, including a Chinese lion dance near the start and a fight using a wooden bench of all things, but overall I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest.The story drags a bit in the middle and there isn't the usual quota of physical comedy and crazy stunts you'd expect from a Jackie Chan film to tide things over in the meantime. Also, the cameraman seems to have been on a caffeine rush during the filming of several scenes, as Young Master has the highest number of crash zooms per minute I've ever seen in a movie. There are a couple of scenes where the camera is rapidly zooming in and out almost constantly and seemingly at random, which is kinda distracting.Not a great place to start if you're new to Jackie Chan then, but it's an enjoyable enough way to pass the time if (like me) you're a Chan fan.
AD
