Those accustomed to Jackie Chan in his early Hong Kong films are probably aware that the popular actor followed the same path as most other major stars. He had to work his way up to leading roles by playing second fiddle or characters that could hardly be associated with his current screen charisma. One such interesting case is The Killer Meteors, a 1976 kung fu film directed by Lo Wei.
The hero of this film is Mi Wey (played by Jimmy Wang Wu), a martial arts expert equipped with a secret and deadly weapon called “killer meteors”. His reputation is such that any other martial arts expert or thug in the neighbourhood has to pay him an annual tribute just to stay alive. Mi Wey’s deadly reputation is matched only by that of the “Immortal” Wa Wu Bin (played by Jackie Chan), another “killer meteor” who seeks his help. When the two “killer meteors” meet, Wa Wu Bin is but a shadow of his former self, having been poisoned by his treacherous wife, Madam Tempest, who gives him the antidote only to keep him alive. Mi Wey is asked to steal the well-guarded antidote, and he accepts, entering a deadly web of intrigue, treachery and shifting loyalties.
The fight scenes in The Killer Meteors are shorter and less spectacular than in an average kung fu film. But this is probably a good thing, since longer scenes would stand in the way of the plot, which is incredibly complex for a simple genre movie. There are numerous characters with hidden personal agendas and even more twists—enough to fill an entire season of a soap opera—but screenwriter Ku Lung somehow manages to squeeze it all into a feature‑film format. The resulting confusion should be attributed mostly to poor dubbing and bad editing. Lo Wei’s direction is hardly stellar, and some of the special effects are truly laughable. On the other hand, they give The Killer Meteors a certain trashy quality, together with some unintentionally funny lines spoken by the characters. This film is still very entertaining, but probably less so to those who take kung fu films more seriously. For those without prejudice, it could provide a good guilty pleasure.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on January 14th 2000)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/46111-feng-yu-shuang-liu-xing Critic: AA
