Magnificent Butcher (1979)

Impressively goofy yet equally dark

A spiritual successor to Yuen Woo-ping's earlier triumph, Drunken Master, The Magnificent Butcher does take a while to get going but once it does, it doesn't let up. Its action is consistently wonderful, often the result of a misunderstanding due to Sammo Hung's character being too impatient to hear the whole story leading to a series of unfortunate events throughout. The combination of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao is always a treat and here it's no different, but as a comedy film first, the tone is right down the middle, featuring everything from fart jokes and the Popeye theme to an incestuous rape which drastically changes the direction of its story, if a little clumsily. Regardless, what The Magnificent Butcher does offer is Woo-ping patterned precision and creativity when conducting a fight scene with the two different tones of the movie offering such visceral moments of martial arts excellence.

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