Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 7, 2017

Well Go USA might want to bolster its Blu-ray bulwarks, at least if the press release accompanying two linked HBO releases is any indication. While it might not be immediately apparent based solely on the releases themselves, HBO Asia has partnered with China Central Television to offer what HBO is calling “HBO Asia’s very first Chinese language productions and their first approach to the martial arts genre”. That may be perceived as a warning shot over the bow of other production entities (including Well Go USA) who have long focused on such genre offerings, but here’s the really interesting part: while this subtext is (again) probably not immediately apparent on the surface of things, these first two offerings from HBO Asia are only two stories based on the so-called “Ten Tigers of Canton”, a group of martial arts fighters who lived during the 19th and 20th centuries in the Guangdong Province, at least partially during the Qing Dynasty. That might suggest that HBO Asia has more than simply two offerings in the pipeline, and this could be a new franchise of sorts. The fact that HBO is venturing into a genre fairly far removed from some of its other, ostensibly more highbrow, offerings is at least one indication that the Asian market, whether for film or television properties, has become so huge that it simply can’t be ignored anymore. That is also an indication that either of these first two made for television offerings may be too geared toward Asian audiences to fully resonate with us adrenaline junkies on this side of whatever pond separates us from Asia. Both films have a melodramatic quality that I would liken to whatever the Asian equivalent of a telenovela might be, and neither seems particularly concerned with rendering an accurate historical perspective on their characters. That said, the films have sporadically energetic fight choreography (both are executive produced by Corey Yuen), and occasionally compelling plot points that at least partially overcome some pretty clunky writing and at times overwrought performance styles.

As I mentioned in the Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray review, that made for television film’s very title seemed intentionally designed to evoke memories of Jackie Chan’s memorable The Legend of Drunken Master , even though that film’s central character, Wong Fei-Hung, was not one of the so-called Ten Tigers of Canton. Those wanting to catch a few glimpses of Wong Fei-hung can do so in Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying, though it should be noted that Wong Fei-Hung probably shouldn’t be that inebriated in this particular outing given the fact that he’s still a little boy. Wong Kei-Ying was in fact Wong Fei-Hung’s father, and the makers of this film have woven Wong Fei-Hung into the story, however tangentially.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying posits its title character (played by Sun Hao-Ran) as a seemingly mild mannered and stoic physician whose inherent moral code has kept him out of some of the simmering politics in an era rife with both imperial ambition as well as lots of outside interference from foreign entities. This television film has a somewhat more squalid ethical ambience than Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, and as such it actually may feel more contemporary in a way than that film, especially since one of its central plot points is an opium crisis which sounds awfully like our current opioid crisis.

The chief villain in this piece is General Wei (Chen Zhi Hui), the new territorial governor who ostensibly enlists Wong Kei-Ying to aid in this crisis, but who instead has more venal motives up his ornately monogrammed sleeve. The film actually has what would seem to be a more melodramatic narrative than Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, with Wong Kei-Ying’s efforts to deal with a number of people addicted to opium ultimately leading to him being addicted to opium, but perhaps surprisingly, this piece is played in a somewhat less florid style than the other film, and as a result probably ends up having at least a little more emotional resonance.

While Tsui Hark’s film is actually about “fils” instead of “pere”, Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying may remind some of Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China, especially with regard to foreign interlopers if not necessarily with regard to some shared characters. However, as with Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, this film’s fight scenes often seem disconnected from the main narrative, and in fact the first one which features Wong Kei-Ying’s mentor Lok (Yu Yan-Kei) pretty much just erupts out of nowhere, with absolutely no context or explanation, something that continues to a kind of bizarre chase scene featuring a damsel in distress. Later action set pieces are more artfully woven into the storytelling, and are at least somewhat more regularly placed than in Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So. Where Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying is arguably at least a bit superior to its simultaneously released sibling is in its consistency of tone. This film has little of the cartoonish elements that Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So starts out with, and then quickly abandons, and as such it feels more of a piece and less tonally fragmented. The cast also tends to underplay at least some of the material (the subplot involving a female fighter lapses into something approaching hysteria a time or two for no apparent reason), a smart choice that keeps some of the lurid plot details concerning the opium addicts at least relatively realistic seeming.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This presentation is very much in keeping with many of the aspects I discussed in the Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So Blu-ray review, with a digitally captured image that is generally very sharp and well detailed. That said, this presentation has perhaps an even more generally blanched palette than the other HBO Asia offering, with pretty pale skin tones and only occasionally really vivid pops of color. While brightness is more consistent than in the other film, there are still some anomalies that lead to brief moments where whites get close to blooming territory (see screenshot 6). There are quite a few dimly lit interior and actual nighttime sequences on display, and shadow detail is generally pretty good throughout, perhaps aided by a semi-sepia tone grading that attends some of these moments.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Again as with Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks in Mandarin and English. Also as with the other offering, I personally found the English voice acting to be less natural sounding than the original language track, though the English track does sound slightly more energetic, with fuller amplitude, than the Mandarin track. Dialogue and effects are all rendered very cleanly, and with decent if not overwhelming separation.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, this release is bare bones, with no supplements whatsoever. The Main Menu doesn't even offer a Scenes Selection option, as can be seen in screenshot 20 accompanying this review.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

These first two offerings from HBO Asia are frankly a mixed bag, and if the series is to continue I'd personally argue that a more rigorous historical approach toward these important real life personages would do the franchise a lot of good. Both films tend to play out in fits of silliness, with some overheated dialogue, though Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying is definitely the more restrained in that particular regard. There are already a number of films that at least feature this character, if not as the focal element than as the venerated father of Wong Fei-Hung, and I'm not sure if this made for television enterprise offers anything of substance that would make it the "must see" choice. That said, for those intrigued by this new cross cultural co-production effort, I'd go with this film first rather than Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.