Reviewed by:
pollypolly Kung Fu Mama and her group of martial students come to Shanghai to find her missing son and daughter and also to set up their business of performing street arts with Kung Fu. Mr Lu (
Lui Ming), the boss of the French sector, suspects that the Kung Fu Mama could potentially stir up trouble and uncover the truth about what happened to her son (
Jimmy Wang Yu in a blink-and-miss it cameo), so he sends his goons to intercept her and the students at the train station. The students (who include the delightful
Cheung Ching Ching and
Hong Hoi) make short work of Mr Lu's men which, naturally, he doesn't take very kindly to. Kung Fu Mama (or 'Ma' as she is called in the film) is advised to give Mr Lu a visit to pay her respects being new in town and also to try to alleviate the current situation. However, this advice is not heeded and it isn't soon before wave after wave of hatchet wielding thugs are sent to the inn, in order to drive Kung Fu Mama out of town. Ma decides to seek refuge in the opposing British territory run by Chiu Chin Hua - but Mr Lu turns the tables and hatches a plan to potentially kill two birds with one stone....
What we have here is an absolute treat for both punch and block and cult B-movie fans. The one and only
Tse Gam Guk (the Granny of steel from 'Knight Errant') is surely a wonderful selling point for any film, but where the director/producer could have used the novelty of an almost invincible old lady as an opportunity for some banal comedy, here this is not the case as the revenge themed story is allowed to rattle along at a very brisk pace with very little time for any on screen gags or gimmicks. The last 30 minutes of the film is non stop wall-to-wall fights - some being fairly bloody and with a great feeling of desperation about them.
Cheung Ching Ching (Evil Karate) was impressive as a vivacious and loyal student of Ma. She displayed a decent amount of agility in what was clearly a very physical role for her. Also a nice touch was that her character used the plaits in her hair to whip her foes to death!.
Sit Hon shows up as one of the specially selected skilled fighters that Mr Lu despatches to stop Ma. He has an entertaning fight with her towards the end - first smirking at the sight of the old lady but when she launches at him with a flurry of blows the look on his face and how it changes is classic stuff!.
Lung Fei ends up being the main adversary for the finale and after an extremely chaotic precursor, the film rounds things off with a superb one on one fight with Lung Fei and the Tse Gam Guk where she gets to exercise that steel stomach of hers once again as an old cart is wheeled repeatedly over her body.
'Kung Fu Mama' is utterly essential viewing for punch and block fans - boasting a solid and charismatic cast and absolutely non stop fighting. The story is wholly unoriginal but then I doubt that is what most people are going to view this hard to find little gem for. Put simply - it's a must see basher.
