OxfordPress.com

Grade: B

Verdict: Jackie Chan in top form.

Details: Starring Jackie Chan. Rated R for violent content. One hour, 40 minutes.

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Review: He crab-crawls through a trough of hot coals, fends off ax-waving goons using only a bamboo cane, and the more he drinks the faster he fights.

Wouldn't the world's megaplexes be a whole lot duller without Jackie Chan?

While we wait for Hollywood to come through with the Hong Kong star's next vehicle, Dimension Films has dusted off and dubbed a 1994 flick. Though "The Legend of Drunken Master" isn't new, fans of Chan's amazing fighting, stunt work and goofy charm should be grateful. (Die-hard fans may have already seen it under the title "Drunken Fist II" or "Drunken Master II.")

Chan plays Fei Hung, trickster son of a turn-of-the-century Chinese doctor (Ti Lung), who accidentally swaps a package containing his dad's stash of medicinal ginseng with a priceless jade seal once used by the emperor.

The seal is only one of countless antiquities being smuggled out of the country by the British ambassador (boo, hiss). So in no time, Fei Hung is getting attacked by various well-groomed thugs who practice kung fu without ruining their Western-style suits and vests. (Fine tailoring and British accents are an immediate sign of villainy here.)

There's a slim national-pride message in "Master," concerning the need to keep China from losing its cultural heritage. But really, like most Chan movies, the plot is just an excuse to string together some outrageously entertaining, eye-popping fight scenes. Instead of fanciful set pieces and elaborate stunts, the focus here is on the action star holding his own in intense one-on-one (and sometimes, one-on-dozens) confrontations.

His secret weapon? A style of fighting called Drunken Master, which lets Chan be both a blurred dervish of deadly arms and legs, and also a little goofy.

The movie throws in plenty of humor, much of it shared between Chan and Anita Mui as his wily young stepmother. Secretly in cahoots with Fei Hung--and a kung fu fighter herself--Mui alternates between cheering the boy on in his battles, then bursting into fake shows of feminine distress whenever the guy's stern father arrives on the scene.

"Drunken Master" is a must-see for anyone who's already tired of seeing fight scenes pumped up with computer effects ("The Matrix," "Romeo Must Die" and the upcoming "Charlie's Angels"). Chan is the real deal, even though some of his moves are just about unbelievable.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service