Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Movie

The idea of a documentary about the historical development of martial arts films sounds wonderful; unfortunately, Andrew Corvey and Andrew Robinson's adaptation of Ric Meyers's popular Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Book is something of a mess. Framed by lame animated sequences involving a Chinese peasant's attempt to seek wisdom and strength at a DVD retail store, the film presents a sloppy, confusing, and snarky overview of the subject. After an introduction with a few bewildering comments (Buster Keaton and Gene Kelly were the inspiration for the genre's heroes?) and some intriguing, albeit brief, clips from unidentified silent Chinese films, Corvey and Robinson hastily serve up erratic helpings of numerous kung fu movies. Background information on production and distribution is either absent or scant, so the viewer never truly understands how this subgroup grew out of Hong Kong's noisy cinema scene to enter global culture. The filmmakers exhibit a tendency to highlight the goriest fight sequences—a plethora of dismemberments, eye gougings, stabbings, and teeth breaking incidents—and many of the excerpts feature similar choreography and production design, adding an element of monotony to the proceedings. The good news is the DVD extra: downloadable chapters from Meyers's book, which help to fill in some considerable blanks. Not recommended. Aud: P. (P. Hall)