Summary
Bruce Leerevolutionized action cinema by popularizing martial arts in his movies. People slugging each other with lumbering right hooks couldn’t match up to Lee’s furious fists and swift kicks on screen. Since then, action movies have only gotten more intricate with their stunts and fight choreography, which wouldn’t likely be around today if Lee didn’t head back to Hong Kong to make cinema history.
That said, martial arts movies aren’t just about a wronged hero seeking retribution with their kung fu skills or other serious themes. They can often be funny by following plucky & unlucky protagonists or playing up their own tropes for laughs. It worked for stars like Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow, among many more inthese fantastic martial arts comedy movies.
10The Magnificent Butcher
IMDB Score: 7.2/10
The Magnificent Butcherfollows Lam Sai-Wing, a butcher who became a student of the legendary folk hero Wong Fei-Hung. Like his master, Lam was also a real person withas much folklore as factin his biographies, which can make for some entertaining flicks. Like here, where he ends up caught in a feud between two rival kung fu schools, and accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
It’s also one of the first and best outings for Sammo Hung, one of Hong Kong cinema’s Three Dragons alongside Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan. He carved his niche as a deceptively nimble big guy, which many of his movies would play on (seeEnter the Fat Dragon). However, he also had the acting chops to pull off comedic and dramatic roles in equal measure, whichThe Magnificent Butchershows in spades.
9Big Trouble In Little China
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%
People don’t usually think of John Carpenter when the term ‘kung fu’ gets brought up, yet he always wanted to make a martial arts movie and got his chance in 1986 when he madeBig Trouble in Little China,where bragging truck driver Jack Burton ends up trying to stop the evil sorcerer David Lo Pan from breaking his curse and unleashing his might on the world.
Well, kind of. It’s more so that Jack is along for the ride, providing quips while his friend Wang Chi, lawyer Gracie Law, and friendly sorcerer Egg Shen drive the plot ahead. The movie flopped on release, but became a cult hit on VHS when new audiences appreciated its taunting of macho 80s heroes and martial arts stunts. LikeWheels on Meals, it also inspired a certainlegendary game seriesthat took its dynamic and dialed it up to 11.
8Armor Of God 2: Operation Condor
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
Some people might know this entry from the Angry Video Game Nerd’s Chronological Confusion video as, while it was originally released asArmor of God 2: Operation Condor, it was released in other territories either as its own movie (Operation Condor) or as the prequel to its predecessor, which would get released asOperation Condor 2: Armor of God. It fits all the bills too, as the only key character fromAoGis Jackie Chan’s titular treasure hunter.
It’s basically ChineseIndiana Jones, as he’s tasked by the United Nations with finding a hidden cache of Nazi gold in the Sahara with the help of their geologist, Ada. While it’s not as famous as its prequel/sequel, it’s arguably better, as it has stronger pacing and better jokes, with Chan gelling well with his co-stars in both his dialogue as well as in his fight scenes. Compared to his more famous flicks,OCis a bit of a hidden gem that deserves more recognition.
7Drunken Master
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
TheIp Manfilms make its lead feel more superhuman with each installment, which can feel odd as Ip Manwas a real person, noted for teaching Bruce Lee Wing Chun kung fu. Still, he wouldn’t be the first to inspire a cinematic legacy. The life of Wong Fei-Hung, a physician and Hung-Gar master, is an odd mix of fact and folklore that Chinese cinema has built on in different ways.
For example, Jackie Chan portrayed him as a cocky braggart with a heart of gold inDrunken Master. His father sends him to ‘Beggar’ So-Chan to learn humility via drunken kung fu, which works a treat when he incurs the ire of the killer Yim Tit-San. The movie set Chan on the path to stardom, and stands out next to Chan’s later, more sanitized Western roles.
6Wheels On Meals
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81% (Popcornmeter)
This list can’t fit every martial arts comedy movie, but leavingWheels on Mealsoff it in the first run would be a sin. It’s arguably the best movie featuring the Three Dragons, and is a hot contender for being the best Jackie Chan movie too. It follows two food truck operators in Barcelona, who help their detective friend Moby protect a jewel thief from a gang.
The action scenes are famous for their choreography, from well-timed stunts to some impressive fighting scenes, notably against kickboxer Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez. The comedy is strong too, with Chan teasing Biao for his unrequited crush, and both playing off Hung’s bumbling cop. It became a must-watch for martial arts movie fans, and even made video game history when futureStreet Fightercreator Takashi Nishiyama usedWheels on Meals' characters to makeKung Fu Master, thefirst sidescrolling beat ‘em up.
5Black Dynamite
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
China and East Asia are pretty much the go-to destinations for nearly anything martial arts-related, but some people didn’t get introduced to kung fu cinema by Lee, Chan, Li, or others. They might’ve instead seen it in blaxsploitation cinema, which rose to prominence at the same time as kung fu movies to produce some flicks that were rough around the edges but still cool as a cucumber.
Black Dynamitepays homage to that era, as its hero wages a one-man war against the gang that killed his brother, only to come across a mass poisoning conspiracy that threatens black men across the country. It’s a parody of the likes ofBlack Belt JonesandDolemite, but one made with love, as it succeeds in its aim to provide comedy by, according to the director, being “a little too badass.”
4Mr. Vampire
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
This list could easily have been a compilation of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao’s greatest hits, but there are a few martial arts comedies that became smash hits without any of them in front of the camera. For example, Hung only worked as a producer on the stellarMr. Vampire,where Taoist priest Master Kau and his disciples must contend with a jiangshi, a Chinese hopping vampire, as it threatens to kill or turn anyone in its way.
With its mix of comic timing, dramatic turns, and intricate stunts, this movie has a little something for everyone, and does each “something” really well. It has slapstick laughs, verbal barbs, and unfortunate misunderstandings, with some elaborate kung fu fights, genuine scares, and even a little romance as a ghost takes a liking to one of Master Kau’s disciples. Anyone tired of the usual Western bloodsuckers will find something new and intriguing with this take onthe vampire mythos.
3Shaolin Soccer
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
This list also wouldn’t be complete without giving Stephen Chow a nod or two. He’s essentially the kung fu action fan’s director, as his movies are full of references and spoofs on classic tropes from Chinese cinema. Like inShaolin Soccer, where he combines Shaolin-style stunts with sports movie clichés.
It’s got a colorful group of misfits each trying to spread the word of Shaolin kung-fu through their soccer skills against the bluntly named Team Evil. Against overwhelming odds and a crooked referee, the team proves their worth through their surreal moves. It’s a movie that isn’t afraid of going over the top to give viewers a fun thrill ride.
2Kung Fu Hustle
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
If people aren’t keen onShaolin Soccer’s sports spoofing, Chow sticks to kung fu tropes inKung Fu Hustle. Set in the 1940s, gangster wannabe Sing gets more than he bargained for when he tries to extort money in Pig Sty Alley, a rundown part of town that happens to house multiple martial arts masters.
His antics end up attracting a real group of gangsters, the Axe Gang, to the area, leaving Sing stuck in the middle between joining the Axe Gang, or defending the alley against them. LikeShaolin Soccer, it combines ridiculous stunts with some great fight scenes and funny gags that work with misdirection as well as straight parodies, like the unassuming but immensely strong landlady of the alley.
1Police Story
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
IfDrunken Mastermade Chan’s name as a lead actor,Police Storymade him a megastar. His role as an unlucky detective seeking justice over a wrongful murder charge became iconic thanks to the movie’s wildest stunts, all performed by Chan himself, from stopping a bus with a single gunshot to sliding down electric lights in a mall (and mauling his hands in the process, as seen in the end credits bloopers).
The movie also works as an antidote to more typical action movies of the time. In those, the maverick protagonist would avoid getting reprimanded or keep going once fired. InPolice Story, Chan suffers demotion, humiliation, and the desk job from hell for his unconventional methods. However, his struggles make him more endearing, getting the viewers invested as the stakes get higher, and Chan’s detective gets more serious.
