Tiger & Dragon Reloaded - DVD

Movie: Shy office boy Cheung (You-Nam Wong) is supposed to be just preparing for a house clearance, but upon arriving in the small village he is already drawn into a feud between Master Pong (Wai-Man Chan), the boss of the local fitness center, and two old men called Tiger (Siu-Lung Leung) and Dragon (Kuan Tai Chen). It turns out that the two are disciples of Grandmaster Law (Teddy Robin), who has been in a coma for three decades. Shortly after Cheung's arrival, Master Law awakens and mistakes him, of all people, for his former student. Not wanting to completely confuse the old man, Tiger and Dragon urge Cheung to play along. So they want him to train to compete in a crucial martial arts tournament at Master Pong's gym. But can the lanky Cheung actually become a brave fighter who can defend the honor of Master Law and his old students?

Directed by cult director Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs), Tiger & Dragon Reloaded is not, as the title suggests, a sequel or remake of Ang Lee's masterpiece Tiger & Dragon. Except for the kinship in the title, the two films have very little in common. Because the collaboration of the two filmmakers Clement Sze-Kit Cheng and Derek Kwok is quite unlike Ang Lee's drama a completely wacky comedy, which knows how to entertain with amusing martial arts interludes and some absurd ideas. The fact that some of the great old stars from the golden era of Kung Fu films do the honors and show the newcomers that they are far from being old hat, makes the special charm of this comedy.

However, it was obviously important to the makers, who also include the producers of works like Red Cliff or Ang Lee's Danger and Desire, not just to string together as many gags as possible. Sure, the story isn't really substantial and when the narrator admits at the end that he didn't really understand the finale himself, there can't really be any talk of a profound script. Still, they've clearly made an effort to spice up the comedic aspects of the story with some believable drama and some genuinely original ideas.

But the film is carried by veteran stars Siu-Lung Leung, Kuan Tai Chen and Teddy Robin, with the latter providing some of the comedy's funniest moments as Master Ben Law. While the Grand Master is revered by all, he's not really sublime, as he should be after thirty years in deep sleep. He has a rude mouth, is as sharp as the neighbour's Lumpy, has an extremely big mouth and treats his students - or those he considers to be students - with extreme harshness. And that just makes for many a delicious moment.

Tiger & Dragon Reloaded is a charming homage to the martial arts cinema of the 70s, an amusing comedy that can score with quirky wit and kung fu interludes worth seeing. If you can get along with the partly overdone humor and appreciate Chinese entertainment cinema, you should definitely take a look at this movie. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: On the technical side, the comedy can convince without a doubt. The picture is very clean, the color scheme is coherent and also the image sharpness is at an absolutely satisfactory level. On the audio side, it's particularly noticeable that the numerous combat interludes are provided with nice sound effects, which come off particularly well in the German DTS mix. The dialogue, on the other hand, is mixed a bit too front-heavy and therefore doesn't sound quite as harmonious in the dubbed version as it does in the Chinese language version. Overall, for the technical aspects of the DVD conversion, there is a satisfied: good!

Extras: Except for the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Tiger & Dragon Reloaded is a completely over-the-top martial arts comedy, which can score especially with the cast composed of veteran masters of the Kung Fu genre and the amusing fight interludes. The DVD conversion is technically on a good level, only the lack of bonus material disappoints a little. For lovers of comedically presented martial arts from the Far East quite recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp