Ming Patriots (1976)

Ming Patriots (1976)
aka: Revenge of the Patriots
Chinese Title: 中原鏢局
Translation: Central Plains Escort

Starring: Jimmy Ho Chung-Tao (Bruce Li), Chia Ling (Judy Lee), Chang Yi, Carter Wong, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Cheung Kam, Lung Fong, Gam Tiu, Joh Yim-Yung
Director: Ulysses Au
Action Directors: Lau Kar-Leung, Lau Kar-Wing

Following the passing of Lau Kar-Leung, I've decided to do a two-part review session, tackling two of his most obscure 70s films, a pair of mercenary jobs he did in Taiwan between '76 and '77. To be honest, he worked on at least three independent films as action director during that period, but one of them is so famous today that there's nothing new I could possibly add to the dozens of reviews floating around on the internet. That film, my friends, is none other than Master of the Flying Guillotine. But since that film gets enough attention as it is, I thought I'd look into two movies he did with prolific kung fu director Ulysses Au.

Ming Patriots is a fairly standard entry in the Ming Patriot (natch) vs. Manchu dogs sub-genre, which had already gotten overstuffed with entries by 1976, despite having really taken off only two years earlier. The movie opens with the Qing Prince (Chang Yi of The Victim) ordering his men to seal off the city so that his forces can capture the last living Ming Princess (Cheung Kam, an adorable actress who showed up in The Snake Woman's Marriage), her father's will, and the crown jewels. The princess is in the custody of her teacher, Wu (Ma Chi), and a loyal general (Big Trouble in Little China's Carter Wong). The three try to escape via disguising themselves as peasants, but the Princess doesn't disguise herself thoroughly enough and the whole ruse is ruined. Cue a big kung fu fight. Exit the General.

Enter Ti Lung (the name of the character, not the actor, who'll be played by Jimmy Ho Chung-Tao, better known by B-movie fans as Bruce Li), a retired escort. Wu and the Princess show up at his house and ask him to accompany them to the west. He's initially reluctant, but decides to go when he remembers that Wu and his late father were close friends. Ti Lung and his partner (Lung Fong of The Rebellious Reign) escort the two, but are quickly cornered by the Qing soldiers. A fight breaks out (of course) and our heroes escape.

Ti Lung figures that the Qing forces are too much for just two men to handle and he's right; Partner Boy is sort of a martial pushover and Ti Lung is bereft of the mad fighting skills that come with being played by a Bruce Lee imitator. Ti decides to to enlist the help of his sister (Judy Lee, one of the original kung fu divas), who's working at a cook at an inn. Unfortunately, the inn is being run by an old romantic and professional rival of Ti Lung's (Michael Chan Wai-Man, a real-life Triad who used to smoke weed with Bruce Lee back in the day). Rival Dude initially thinks that Ti Lung is there to hit on his wife, but quickly figures out that he's carrying some especially valuable cargo. His wife (Joh Yim-Yung, who showed up in films like The Beggar and the Pretty Prostitute) despite having loved Ti Lung at some point, likes the idea of getting rich quick and has no moral objections to joining forces with the Qing in exchange for the jewels. Cue fight scene at the inn. Exit Teacher Wu, who gets beaten to death during the scuffle.

Since both the will and the jewels are of the utmost of value to our heroes, they decide that they need to protect them somehow. In a scene that would make Ruggero Deodato proud, the heroes buy a pig, kill it, gut it (onscreen), and stuff it with the jewels. They then float it downstream and resolve to pick it up at another point along the way. When the bad guys, including Rival and his wife, capture our heroes, the latter simply tell them that they're waiting for their contact, a fellow named Porky. My sides hurt. Anyways, there are several more fights, a few more deaths, and a final showdown between the good guys and the Prince, who's so powerful that four people need to gang up on him in order to kill him.

I'm going to guess that Lau Kar-Leung was hired to direct the action and not much else. That would technically make him the film's choreographer, as opposed to action director. Choreographers simply arrange the fights. Action directors play a more integral role in deciding what direction the film will go in, working closely with the real director and supplying ideas on how to do certain scenes. None of Lau's ideas and cinematic martial philosophies show up in this movie. There is no deconstruction different kung fu styles or meditations on the strengths and weaknesses of each. There's no illuminating moments in which the actors come to the conclusion that killing isn't the ultimate goal of fighting. There's no character development in the form the characters learning to adapt their fighting styles in order to overcome an external obstacle. It's just people killing the Manchus for 90 minutes.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. The problem is that there's nothing to show that Lau Kar-Leung really worked on the choreography. While made a year before Lau would settle into his groove of making a genre masterpiece every two movies, he had made Challenge of the Masters and Master of the Flying Guillotine that same year and those had superior fight scenes, even if the former wasn't that great as a whole. The weapons fights are rather standard and the styles on display aren't all that impressive, save some brief hung gar from Carter Wong and Chang Yi's mantis style, which he has done better in other films. Judy Lee looks great, but she was more impressive in films like Iron Swallow and The Crane Fighters. In fact, Judy's energetic fighting and bad-ass persona are what make the movie watchable during most of its running time. Nonetheless, the fighting here is nothing that the likes of Taiwanese regulars like Chan Siu-Pang or Chan Muk-Chuen could pull off.

What's really strange is just how much of a loss Lau Kar-Leung and his brother, Kar-Wing, are at dealing with Ho Chung-Tao/Bruce Li. Jimmy Ho had lots of training in the wing chun style, plus a few others so that he could kick decently. However, the cheap films he showed up in often had subpar fight choreography and failed to show off his skills adequately. You'd think that Lau Kar-Leung, a master of Southern styles, could milk Ho's skills for all they were worth and come out with something impressive. Unfortunately, that's not the case and Ho's fighting is the most bland on display in the film. He uses no definitive styles and doesn't show off any impressive moves. Viewers should check out Dynamo and the kung fu-slasher film The Black Dragon Strikes Again for better showcases from Jimmy Ho.

The only moments of creativity in the action come in the form of a drunken master, two years before Jackie Chan and the Yuens made those characters famous; and the fact that the villain is a snuff addict, which the heroes end up using to their advantage during the final fight. Everything else is pretty paint-by-numbers and when all is said and done, Ming Patriots is one of the least impressive films on Lau Kar-Leung's résumé, especially by the standards of 1976.