Ninja in the Dragon's Den

A martial arts film set in China. A Japanese ninja comes to China. His purpose is to avenge his father and the man he is after is a Chinese martial arts master. Jerry is that master's son. He takes nobody seriously, jokes constantly, and neglects what his father taught him. The two meet. They fight and neither wins. Then something becomes clear. The real object of the revenge is someone else and the two young men have attacked the wrong person. From there the film puts them on the same side. A journey, a temple, a trap and a series of fights. The film's real subject is two styles meeting. Japanese ninja technique and Chinese kung fu are deliberately set side by side and the difference is shown in every fight. The ninja sections are detailed. Smoke, climbing, fog, concealment and setting traps; the narrative gives each its own time. The kung fu side is similar. Staff, spear, rope and empty hand; each section is built around a weapon. What the narrative is interested in is not revenge but mastery: the plot is a pretext and the film gives all its running time to showing technique. There is humour. The rivalry between the two runs as comedy and some sections are entirely jokes. The fights work on wires but the exaggeration is low. The choreography is built on speed and contact. This is Corey Yuen's first film as director; he had worked as a stunt performer before. Hiroyuki Sanada is very young here and this is among his first works known outside Japan. Conan Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada and Hwang Jang-lee are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1980s Hong Kong martial arts films and technical choreography. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a story; the plot is thin and the characters are one-dimensional.