Of Cooks and Kung Fu [DVD]

“Where is the King of Chefs?” – the major question in this absolute masterpiece in martial arts films!!!
I know, I know…when you see the title of this movie Of Cooks & Kung Fu, one would wonder what one would have to do with the other. But this film builds a strong case for the meshing of the two concepts. This is directed by Ting Chung, the same man behind the films such as 7 Steps of Kung Fu, Mars Villa & 2 Assassins of the Darkness. This movie is about a deadly killer (Chang Shan) searching for a former emperor’s main chef & willing to kill anyone who stands in his way. Meanwhile an old man (Chai Kai) who is an expert in a cooking-style kung fu tries to live quietly, but his grandson (Jacky Chen) seems to always find himself in skirmishes & trouble. When a major problem reaches his doorstep, the old man is forced to reveal himself which leads him to action. It also forces himself to tell his grandson what happened to his parents & then now we have a vengeance subplot to deal with as well.Jacky Chen (not to be confused with Jackie Chan) hasn’t had many star turns prior to this, but he handles himself very well in this film. Although the formula of a bumbling & troublesome kid learning to become a full fledged kung fu expert is an overused plot device, it seems to work in this instance especially with the uniqueness of the storyline. Chai Kai is as good as you will see him as the elder to Jacky Chen while teaching the importance of practicing your martial arts craft. Now as for Chang Shan, it is such a pity he has such a small catalog of films because he’s about as badass as they come! I know Hwang Jang Lee is quite known as one of the or if not as the baddest villains to hit the screen, but this dude right here would give him a run for his money. And his assistants aren’t too bad either…their names alone should scare their opponents, the Chief of the Underground & the Devil’s Disciple. Also in this is Wu Ma who does no kung fu, Lee Kwan who’s one of the better character actors in martial arts films & Yu Hsiung Chao who has been in what seems like thousands of films as the uncle of Jacky Chen.Overall, when you guys see the film title & want to bypass this DON’T YOU DARE!!! You will be sorry you missed this kung fu showcase!

AWSOME KUNG FU MOVIE!
I really like Martial Arts movies, but this is one of my favorites. A young kid and his Grandfather living together and the Grandfather teaches him this strange kind of Kung Fu. Really, I mean Cooking Kung Fu and it is just that effective to beat other styles of Kung Fu? (Steaming Bread, Flying Chopsticks, Chinese Fried Rice, ect.)? The Grandfather may have been the “King of Chefs” in the palace with the Queen, but after leaving he had Wisdom like no other person you would ever guess. I like in the end where the grandson finally got revenge for the man who had not only killed his parents, but recently now killed his Grandfather as well. Great Kung Fu Movie.

Chop Chop
Even with dubbed audio it was pretty good, very good kung fu in my opinion

Just bad
Very very bad. It would be nice if there was a version that wasn’t dubbed over in English. Lots of random fighting. Punching sounds when anyone would kick or punch even if they were just punching air. If you like revenge stories that feel rushed then you might like this movie.

Has the potential of being a classic if handled better instead of the run-of the mill kungfu classic chop socky and over-used device of bumbling fool becomes a cooking kungfu master who at the end fights better than he can cook. Action choreography is pretty good and Jacky Chen handles the action as well as the action maestros ( Lau Ga Leung, Jacky Chan Samo Hung Jet Lee Donnie Yen, Beardy etc) Story had great potential – ex-Shaolin rebels hiding in the Royal Kitchens is believable and may have happened. Many real martial artists from China did become cooks (eg Grandmaster Lok Ah Choy), perking opera performers (eg Grandmaster Hong Hei Koon, Wong Wah Bo) , hotel bell hops/police officer ( Grandmaster Ip Man), herbalists and doctors (Grandmaster Leung Jan, Wong Kei Ying and Chee Kim Thong) during troubled times of upheaval and unrest – however due probably to a very low-budget, the film makers chose to mimick Snake and Eagle Shadow ( Grandmaster in hiding finally tracked down and killed by a deadly enemy and student takes revenge with lots of action and silly slap stick cum mind numbing not so very funny comedy) One star off for rubbish screen play and another star off for the poor quality Dragon dvd release. Overall this should have only gotten 2 stars max but 3 stars awarded simply because I am a sucker for above average kung fu action!

Decent Kung fu flick. Worth it if you do not have to pay too much. I would highly recommend at a decent price.