Primitive kung fu, the sort of mangled narrative and small budget slapdashery you would expect from a film of a different era. A crucial government paper, a revenge motive, a beggar with expert kung fu skills, a group of orphans and a Japanese villain. It hardly screams originality, but there is something reassuring about the marvelous physicality of wushu wunderkind Sik Siu-lung, even if the story reeks. We’re left puzzled as to why an army of Second World War ninja want a secret letter so much that they decide to terrorise a poor close-knit circle of patriots to get it, or why Sik Siu-lung needs to learn kung fu from streetwise alcoholic Chin Kar-lok when his martial arts skills appear to be perfectly fine already. There is plenty of filler here, but Yuen Woo-ping‘s neat choreography is always special even if it is presented on a much smaller scale.

AKA: Chinese Husband; Dragon Hero