Fearless Hyena (1979) – Review

This is Jackie Chan’s first film as director after he returned to Lo Wei from Seasonal films after success with Drunken Master and Snake in the eagles shadow and it is a brilliant film.

Chan plays the character of Shing Lung,who is the grandson of James Tien known as a fighter and a master of the Hsing Yi technique. Shing Lung with his skills takes on a job as a kung fu instructor in a small gym but when people see what he can do, the fearless and ruthless general yen played by Yen Shi Kwan hears about this and realises he is the student of James Tien who turns out to be the master of an old gang or something equally obscure follows Lung home and kills his master.

Lung, desperate for revenge is fortunately stopped by a old mysterious clan elder “the eight legged unicorn” who then teaches Lung the rare iron wire form, a form that combats the human emotions of crying, joy, anger and laughter. After a serious amount a tough training, lung is ready for a showdown with the general, well him and his three spearmen. The end sequence is fantastic with chan showing some incredible timing, showing us all why he is the king of kung fu movies.

The fights are all very well choreographed, Most of it is open hand combat but there also some brilliant weapons fights, one that pops to mind is the fight with the three spearmen. To me the fight is brilliant, chan delievering great kicks, flips and what he does best, comedy.

Maybe not up there with Drunken Master and Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow, but make no mistake it does deliever some great fight scenes from Chan, great comedy also from the master of Hong Kong cinema.