Magnificent Butcher

A nice kung fu movie starring Sammo Hung. There's a story, but that's not the important part.

Maria Sharapova just won a point on a running left-handed forehand lob deep from the baseline. She's right handed. Yo.

The "story" is just an excuse for a series of very entertaining kung fu battles. Magnificent Butcher was made in 1979, a year after the original Drunken Master with Jackie Chan. Yuen Woo-Ping is the director/choreographer for both. The fighting is totally unrealistic, but that's hardly the point. It's rhythmic and fun, in and out, up and down. A few props get used to good effect. Two battles I enjoyed most didn't involve the main stars at all. One with "Monkey on a Stick" technique I thought was particularly good. Some of it influenced by Hung's time spent growing up in the Peking Opera. If you don't know who he is, he's the fat Chinese guy from "Martial Law".

Some of the fights involve techniques and styles that border on the ridiculous. While it's still fun to watch, there's also the voice in the back of your head that wants to yell at the guys, "Hey, quit playing patty-cake and hit the guy! He's right in front of you! Don't worry about that fancy stuff and punch him in the face!" And in case you're ever involved in a scuffle, don't try any of this stuff. Eventually you realize that the only way all of this works is if each fighter knows what's coming all the time. And you know what? They do. That's why it's called fight choreography. I'd love to try "Monkey on a Stick" style against some bruiser, but while I'm hopping around on one leg, he's going to put one fist through my teeth and another through my spleen.