The Emperor and His Brother (1981)

Pass the Tylenol...

The Emperor and His Brother starring Ti Lung had an over-stuffed story and cast making the plot almost impossible to follow. It's been a long time since a kung fu movie gave me a headache trying to make sense of a convoluted plot. Even a strong cast could not save this movie from sinking.

I'm acquainted with how historical movies and dramas begin with a brief history recap. For those of us not as familiar with Chinese history, I actually appreciate them. This film took the summary to new extremes. For over three minutes characters raced through the film's backstory at a rapid-fire pace. I actually paused the film to see if this was a sequel to another movie. No, Chor Yuen and writer Ni Kuang just crammed as much as they could into a small amount of time. I didn't even try to keep up.

Wen Tai Lai was wanted by the Emperor because he knew the Emperor's secret. He was a Han and not a Ching! Ku Feng took Wen in but the fugitives were betrayed by a child offered a telescope by the Emperor's man Chang Chao Chung. Ti Lung appeared as the new clan chief and began working to devise a plan to help Wen escape. Eventually, Ti discovered that he was the Emperor's brother! With this bloated cast there were numerous breakout attempts leading up to a battle royale in the Imperial Garden.

The film had an unnecessarily convoluted plot that had me rolling my eyes when it wandered away from the main story. Side stories were started and then dropped, including ill-fated romances! For that matter, the movie ended without tying up the main story in a satisfactory manner. Guess they ran out of film.

What the film did do well was evidenced in the final fight. The baddies led by Lo Lieh's Chang used Tiger, Eagle's Claw, and Iron Fist styles to combat the good guys. For once, the good guys were a stronger match than their opponents. Usually by the end of these films, most of the good guys are dead with three or four survivors ganging up on the Big Bad to take him down. Ti Lung's Blossom Fist and Peacock maneuver were invincible. The final escape by the good guys was ludicrously bad though. Aside from Ti Lung and Lo Lieh, the film had numerous recognizable fighters and stunt men. Scorpion Venom Sun Chien was the strategist for the good guys. Kent Cheng had a small comic relief role as well. Ku Feng came through in the most emotional segment of the film as a father who had to make the ultimate sacrifice for honor and his clan.

The Emperor and His Brother with its bloated cast and story had too much going on to focus on the story. Every time it launched into another long complicated way to overstate the plot, I lost interest and started looking for the Tylenol. If they'd cut the cast and streamlined the story it might have been far more enjoyable. Strictly for hard core fans and Shaw Brother completionists.

8/25/23

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