“The Legend of Drunken Master 2” making its way onto Favorite Fights may be a little confusing to anyone who has been following my blog for the past two weeks. After all, this is the antithesis of everything I have been praising with my previous entries. This is a highly choreographed and stylized battle that throws wind to the idea of brevity, gloating the whole time while banking on the prospect of how intensely satisfying it is to watch two masters of martial arts do battle for around 10 straight minutes. Yes, this scene does run counter to the very ideology I have been rallying against, but there is a huge difference with this film and this particular fight scene that separates it from the rest of the movies in this category which I despise. Raw talent.
Let’s not beat around the bush, this is Jackie Chan’s finest work. His master piece. This film represents the magnum opus of one of the greatest kung fu geniuses to ever grace theaters. Not only that, but we have Jackie Chan facing off against Ken Lo, an ex-member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team as well as a former body guard to Mr. Chan himself. Prepare to wet your pants in excitement.
Instead of training actors for several months on the basics of ass kickery, we have hardened veterans, people who have devoted their lives to this sort of thing strutting around and flaunting their stuff on the big screen. There is no CG, no wire-fu, nothing but raw talent put to the test. The choreography here comes across as a mere template, a basic instructional guide to set the scene into motion. Unlike other fights in the modern era that rely on tricky camera work or pin point precision and editing to make amateurs seem like pros, we have the real deal. Maybe it’s my imagination, but when watching the fight between Wong Fei Hong and Jon it comes across as a natural organic expression of their mastery over physical combat.
That’s not to say I’m ignorant of imperfection, there are bound to be mistakes here and there in the filming of scenes this complicated but I’m willing to bet that a lot of it is also improvised. When a kick fails to land or an unintentional jab connects, the actors simply make do with what they have and keep on filming. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, and we’ve seen enough blooper reels from Jackie Chan movies to understand this, but there’s no mistake that these two men make even the smallest error seem intentional.
That is the heart of this fight. Their motions are highly tuned but also coordinated in a “motor reflex” sort of way. As a result, the scene does not come off as being too stiff or fake.
Skill aside, the length of the fight must also be recognized. This is a 10 minute sequence that never manages to become boring; it’s constantly shifting fighting techniques, theme, and tempo to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. With each passing second we are treated to a completely new maneuver or joke that hasn’t come into play yet and keeps this stamina the entire duration. Without trying to speak in any sort of hyperbole, I dare say that this is perhaps the only movie I am aware of that has ever managed to pull off such a feat.
Defense is also an important element in the Drunken Master battle. Unlike some of the previous fights I have discussed on my blog, this is a fight that’s not afraid to play the protection card. Rather than going back and forth with offensive one sided beat downs, a large portion of the fight deals with blocks and evasive maneuvers. This helps prevent the action from slowing down and is a fair trade off that allows a fight to go on for as long as this one without drying up or going stale.
Of course there is also Jackie, the man for whom this movie would be nothing without. Sweet lovable Jackie. The man who is actually willing to crab walk across actual burning coals for our entertainment. A heartwarming goofball that always plays himself up for laughs. There’s no exception here to that fundamental Jackie Chan rule of physical comedy. After all, this is the Legend of DRUNKEN Master, and when the magical spinach that saves Wong Fei Hong’s life is industrial grade alcohol for machinery, you know hilarity will ensue.
So there you have it, this fight is just insane. When your jaw isn’t touching the floor from sheer awe, it will be pulled tightly back up to your face as you giggle at all the silly antics of a stumbling drunk laying waste to his opponents. Jackie Chan is so very committed to this performance that it’s impossible to ignore. Easily one of his best fights ever, and that’s saying a lot for the guy who is a living legend of Hong Kong Theater.
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