Magic Warriors (1989)

Magic Warriors (1989)
aka Child of Peach 3, Prince of Phoenix
Chinese Title: 鳳凰王子
Translation: Prince of Phoenix

 

Starring: Lin Hsiao-Lan, Chen Shan, Alexander Lo Rei, Lee Hoi-Hing
Director: Lee Tso-Nam, Chuang Yan-Chien
Action Director: Alexander Lo Rei, Lee Hoi-Hing

Although one of this film's alternate titles suggests a second sequel to the 1987 "kiddie" fantasy Child of Peach, it's not quite that. It's more of a spiritual successor. The impishly-cute Lin Hsiao-Lan is back in a male role as a supernaturally-powered kung fu fighting boy, but this time goes by the moniker of Xiao Fei Long, or Little Flying Dragon. Her (his) outfit is still the same, and Lin still wields a katana as her (his) principle weapon, but Peach Boy's animal sidekicks are gone, as is the giant magical peach that helps him from time to time.

The story is alternately simple and complex, very reminiscent of Kung Fu Cult Master. Years ago, there was a huge war between the forces of Heaven and the forces of the Devil (who'll eventually be played by Lee Hoi-Hing, who did the action choreography for Iron Monkey 2). During the war, a swordsman fighting for heaven, Wu Cham (Alexander Lo Rei of Shaolin Temple Against Lama), deserted his side to marry an evil witch from the side of the Devil. They went into hiding, where they had a blond-haired Chinese child. Both Heaven and Hell spent so much time looking for the forbidden couple that they eventually forgot about the war, and peace was established. However, as is par for the course in these things, the child of this union could tip the balance in the war between good and evil.

Fast-forward ten years, where Little Flying Dragon is gallavanting around doing nothing of importance. He saves some women from a killer gill man, who turns out to be Evil Witch in disguise. Evil Witch needs some mortal energy to cure her sick son, and takes Little Flying Dragon home to help. Unbeknownst to them, they are being followed by the Snail Spirit, who works for Devil King and his son, Kid of the Worst (Chen Shan in a turquoise wig). Snail Spirit reports back to his master, who gathers his other Spirit underlings (including a female fly spirit and a guy in a red wig) to launch an attack on the home of Wu Cham and his wife.

A huge fight breaks out and Wu Cham is badly wounded. Little Flying Dragon is left to care for the little boy after his parents are whisked away to the Devil King's castle. Wu Cham is unceremoniously dipped in a vat of acid and reduced to a skeleton, while the Fly Spirit uses mind control powers to find out where the two are going. Little Flying Dragon prepares a Lone Wolf-esque baby cart for the boy and they arrive in a city, where a rich noble transforms them into gorillas with the intent of killing them and serving them to his guests. And that my friends, marks the first 35 minutes of so of this insane little project.

So a lot goes on in this movie, with the forces of Heaven and Hell constantly trying to kidnap the little boy (only in an Oriental film could the forces of Heaven be construed as secondary antagonists). Near the last act, the duo finds Wu Cham's older brother (also played by Alexander Lo Rei), and some more hijinks ensues before they finally storm the Devil's castle and administer the kung fu justice.

Fight-wise, this film has more and better martial arts than the previous two movies, which I imagine could be expected from Alexander Lo Rei and Lee Hoi-Hing, each of whom has a pretty petigree in that area. Yes, there is a lot of wirework and over-the-top fu, but as a children's fantasy, it's pretty excusable. Lo Rei gets to perform some nice bootwork, especially in his role as Wu Cham's brother. Chen Shan also gets to fight quite a bit, although his moves are little more muted. His signature weapon in this movie is a whip. Lin Hsiao-Lan fights with a pair of axes in the finale, which makes for a nice change of pace from the katana she wields earlier (and the other films). There are also lots of bombs and explosions used in the fights as well. It feels like a 90s Ching Siu-Tung film made two years earlier on smaller budget and written by a 10-year-old kid running his own D&D campaign.

When the characters aren't fighting, they're engaging in vulgar comedy (pee drinking, a naked kid's bum shooting liquid poo into a character's face, the like) and all sorts of supérnatural shenanigans. There are teleportation spells, lots of spirits (in addition to the ones I mentioned, there's a Mushroom Spirit and an Evergreen Spirit on the side of Heaven), magic potions that transform people into gorillas, kung fu used to heal people, Lin Hsiao-Lan vomiting a fountain of blood as part of the healing process ("It's only a kid's film"), and more. It's just that insane and for that, I recommend this to anyone interested in the most bizarre films that cinema has to offer.