Dragon Lee Vs. the Five Brothers

Co-directors Kim Si-hyeon and Liu Yueh-lin have made a delirious diversion that has nothing to do with its B-movie headliner or his hairweave and old-fashioned braid. The real stars of Dragon Lee vs. the Five Brothers are the mysterious woman in the veiled hat (Qiu Yuen) and the malicious man with the iron hand (Choi Min-kyu). The former is a sometime ally of Lee; she's a better fighter too — able to springboard off walls and run across the tops of trees — and wields her hat like a deadly boomerang equipped with spring-activated knives. Dragon's primary foe is the other draw of this kung fu caper. His ability to pummel opponents with his prosthetic paw is equaled by his mastery of misleading mustaches and beards. (His old man disguise is a wonder to behold!)

Our heroine wants to free her imprisoned brother. Our villain wants to get a list of the rebels. What does Dragon want? I'm afraid his needs aren't as clearly articulated. We know he wants to get a bracelet from his uncle to go with the decoder ring he already possesses but what the ultimate goal is of these two objects somehow got lost in the shuffle for me. When the body count starts to rise, jewelry becomes so much less important. It's a semi-precious movie. But it shines, man, it shines.