Sleeping Fist Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Wake That Hand Up.

This classic style Kung Fu action comedy from the late seventies is a bit of an odd one. Starring the ever entertaining Leung Kar Yan, and featuring another memorable performance from regular Martial Arts “old beggar” Yuen Siu Tien, the plot follows an injured plainclothes policeman who is helped by a young orphan after he has been wounded. They are both taught a new style of fighting by an old man to defeat a gang of local thugs.

Some of the fight choreography is quite good, but other parts are below standard, with the final fight played with the tongue too far in cheek for my tastes. In the finale Leung Kar Yan comes across more effeminate and camp than someone using a “sleeping fist” style of fighting. That said, on the whole this is entertaining enough, even if it is just not that memorable.