Heroes Among Heroes 蘇乞兒

Underrated Yuen Woo Ping action, just as good as Iron Monky, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Master

Directed by Yuen Woo Ping

Starring: Donnie Yen, Wong Yuk, Ng Man Tat, Fennie Yuen Kit Ying, Sheila Chan Suk Lan, Xiong Xin Xin

1993

I am huge fan of Yuen Woo Ping and Woo Ping’s 80’s and 90’s output has always been top quality. 1993 Heroes Among Heroes is another top offering but sadly usually under appreciated.

Hero Among Hereos sees Donnie Yen play So Chan, the son of an affluent business man. He is well respected for his kung fu skills and possess a care free manner. So’s town has been riddled with opium supplied by the evil foreigners and Wong Fei Hung (Wong Yuk) along with the local authorities are doing their hardest to clear the drug problem but beknown to them the foreigners are colluding with Prince Barac (Xiong Xin Xin). Prince sees Fei Hung as a threat to his drug business so he tricks So Chan by getting him addicted to opium and taking on Wong Fei Hung. So Chan eventually kicks the addiction and teams with Fei Hung together they take on Prince Barac and the foreigners.

Yuen Woo Ping loves to input comedy into his films but his brand of comedy can be hit or miss the likes of The Miracle Fighters and Mismatched Couple was a tad too much and sadly this film at times can get a bit grating but luckily action does eventually kick in to make you forget about the comedy.

It has the problem that plagued a lot of the early wuxia films where our hero will be fighting and speaking at the same time but their mouths don’t move. It was due to the fact that sound was done in post.

Donnie Yen is rather unlikable in this film he is brass and arrogant and at times stupid to boot easily being manipulated by the villains though he does transition to the hero at the end it doesn’t quite make up for all the stupid at the beginning. Wong Yuk does a decent job as Wong Fei Hung but it is hard to make him stand out after the impression made by Jet Li and Vincent Zhao. There is a subplot about So’s father played by Ng Man Tat who is trying to find a partner for So which is where most of the ire comes from for the comedy can go to absurd territories and become a tad grating. Feanie Yuen is your equivalent of Once Upon a Time in China’s Aunt Thirteen, a foreign educated woman whose strong headed and opinionated.

Being a Yuen Woo Ping film the action is definitely the highlight and by and large they are fantastic similar to that of Iron Monkey, Tai Chi Master or Wing Chun which were his directional films. Donnie Yen is reliable as ever delivering great kicking combinations but its his costar that kind off steals the show. Wong Yuk shows great martial arts abilities, he delivers his moves with great velocity and generates great power, though his Wong Fei Hung pose can be a little stiff. Then we have Xiong Xin Xin aka Hung Yan Yan as the villain and his skills are phenomenal, his moves really give you that feeling of power and threat and it’s a joy seeing Yen and Xiong Xin Xin going toe to toe. There is a good amount of fight scenes laced throughout and each one delivers so if you enjoyed Woo Ping’s other work you will enjoy them here. As per usual with Woo Ping there is a great deal of wire work though not quite to the levels of Tai Chi Master and more in vein of Iron Monkey.

A must for genre fans especially those who love the works of Woo Ping and Donnie Yen.