Prince of the Sun
Director: Wellson Chin
Year: 1990
Rating: 6.0
This was Cynthia Rothrock's
last film made in the Hong Kong film industry. For some reason, I had never
heard of it which is odd because she only made nine films for them before
moving over to Hollywood for good. But Hong Kong made her and her films there
are much better than anything she made in the West even though she would
go on to a successful career and is still going today. I doubt many would
argue otherwise. Sammo Hung brought her over for Yes Madam to team up with
Michelle Yeoh and the film reinvented the Girls with Guns genre. She hung
around for another five years after this. The director of this film, Wellson
Chin, had directed her before in the first of his Inspector Wears Skirts
series of female action films. Add Naughty Boys to his list of female action
films.
This is a strange nonsensical film and I
can understand why I had never heard of it. It certainly doesn't belong in
the same list as her other Hong Kong films. Lots of hocus pocus Buddhist
magic and some fine action scenes. But Rothrock takes a hike after about
ten minutes into the film, not to return till the final 25 minutes. That
time in between her appearances is taken up by a comedic stretch that you
will need a few aspirin for or earmuffs. The version I saw is dubbed into
English (on Youtube) and that probably didn't help but it is totally idiotic
and occasionally funny just because it is so idiotic.
Beginning in a golden Buddhist temple in
Tibet, the head monk is dying and so transfers some powers to a male child
(Cheng Pak-lam), who is now the Living Buddha but still mentally a child
of five. Another monk played by the great Lam Ching-ying is assigned to care
for the boy but an evil demon (Lau Shun - the Eunuch in Swordsman) who can
take on a bat form and fly sends his four Lamas after the boy and they kill
Lam Ching-ying but the boy escapes on a train headed for Hong Kong. Don't
worry, Lam will be back in various states of the dead. On the train the boy
meets a man immigrating illegally from the Mainland. This is Conan Lee.
Being from the Mainland he is portrayed
as not too bright but he has some martial arts skills. They end up crashing
into the apartment of a kindergarten teacher who likes to gamble and hit
children with a hockey stick. She is nuts. And in her hyper way, a delight.
Sheila Chan. One of Hong Kong's more physical female comedians with a face
of rubber. For the next 40 minutes we have to witness the three of them fighting
- she gets thrown out of the second-floor window four times but bounces back
like a ball. But be patient. This too will end. The four Lamas track them
down in Hong Kong but Lam has in his spiritual form sent his protégé
to help them. Rothrock and it finally turns into a decent action for the
final 30 minutes with one fight after another. Among the four Lamas is Jeff
Falcon and Wellson Chin. Tai Bo is in it earlier. The choreography is from
Yuen Tak. It is just kooky as only HK films could be back then.
