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Of Kids and Kung Fu

by Minute Fong on December 31, 2009 · 2 comments

By and large, I get on alright with Hollywood. You tend to get a reasonable run of new releases among all the dross and weak sequels, and, of course, you get to choose what you want to watch. No problem so far. But the one major beef I have is with kids’ movies. As all parents reading this will know; when the school holidays arrive so do the latest cinema releases for children – and this leads to a problem: you must acccompany your kids to the film. Of course any time with the kids is a blessing, but from a value for money perspective it’s all wrong. Unlike with regular movies the adult has no choice but to pay for their own full-price ticket, even dreading that they will detest the movie, or if they are lucky fall asleep. And this, of course, sneakily inflates the box office takings for kids films – they get an extra 33%-100% on top *simply because the parents had to pay too*. In turn this makes the movie moguls rush release any rubbish featuring a gang of talking animals screaming ‘whoooahhh!!!’ very two minutes, with the occasional wisecrack about what ‘their therapist’ has advised in a feeble attempt to amuse the adults (who by this stage are fast asleep). Of course, not all are bad – most of Pixar, maybe 1/3 of the Dreamworks output are worth the admission…but it does make you consider other, cheaper, less painful ways to bring films to the kids and keep yourself entertained at the same time.

Enter Kung Fu. It’s well worth rifling through your collection and seeing what is suitable for the kids. The classic Kung Fu theme of an underdog, initially beaten and helpless, overcoming his fear through hard training to dish out revenge is a powerful motif for any child. And of course all parents promote hard work and practice to achieve goals! So with this in mind I’ve been showing my son (9) some classics. It helps that we are both martial arts students, so straight away he knows not to mimic that Casanova Wong kick over our kitchen table, beat up his sister or do pressups on his thumbs. Of course some plots can be difficult to follow for young (and old) minds, losing a lot in the translation or editing: for example, I wouldn’t have realized there was a Cotton Mill strike going on if it hadn’t been explained on the back of the Showdown at the Cotton Mill DVD.

Now I’m no big-city film censor – you know your child best – but it’s worth being aware of:

Language: mentions of rape and vicious threats to women can casually appear (e.g. in the otherwise comical Millionaires Express, to Cynthia Rothrock), even if the rest of the film is pretty tame.
Violence: the more the better! But of course you may want to be aware of some of the more bloodthirsty moments, especially movies set in 70′s Hong Kong. And kids may be upset by casual violence against animals in traditional Kung Fu (although that’s probably been censored already in UK releases).
Godfrey Ho: his editing is so confusing it is illegal in some countries.

So, now to some recommendations!

Kung Fu Panda
A great place to start. And engaging for adults too.

The Forbidden Kingdom
Not bad, and a bit sweary at the start. But you’re better off showing the Monkey TV series if you have it.

The Young Master
Easy to follow and with excellent pacing. The superb fights are interspersed with comic sequences and the film never seems to lag. Great variety of fighting, too, with Jackie doing great work with Yuen Biao, Lily Li and of course Hwang in Shik. Fung Fung says ‘shit’ in the end fight. Which is fair enough given the beating Jackie is getting. I may have said it myself, come to think of it.

Dragon Lord
Possibly even better for kids given the berserk ‘get the ball in the bag’ game at the beginning and the shuttlecock football match. The mischievous leads dodge their studies and get up to silly hi jinks, making for great juvenile fun. Relatively low on the violence, the end fight is terrific and a lesson in bravery and perseverance. Watch out for the phrase ‘bloody bitches’ during the hapless courting scene, and be prepared to explain that he is are referring to female dogs who are just out of shot.

Return to the 36th Chamber
Possibly the best one for kids, due to the clever training scenes and Gordon’s comically workshy attitude.

Knockabout
The double-bluff plot was a bit confusing for my son but Yuen’s legwork coupled with Beardy’s shapes make for terrific fights. In fact, pretty much anything involving Yuen Biao is worth showing to the young fan!

Ong Bak/Tom Yun Goong
Tony Jaa’s incredible acrobatics are too good to keep locked away, but for both of these I only show parts of the bone-crunching fight scenes rather than the whole films. Although to be fair, in both cases the plots may in fact have been written by children (“Dude, where’s my statue/elephant?”).

Project-A
Jackie, Yuen, Harold Lloyd style-chases: ’nuff said. Slightly protracted plot for younger minds though…

Bruce Lee:
Probably just Game of Death (the 40-minute Hong Kong Legends cut) for now since the others are a bit too bloodthirsty/saucy for the half-pints.

…and the list can go on and on please add recommendations in the comments below! And remember: Kung Fu parents, it’s your duty to educate the next generation of fans

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Kyle Sharma December 31, 2009: Nice recommendations. My nephew enjoys the Jackie Chan movies that were mentioned. I might recommend Robin B Hood.

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2 SMK January 2, 2010: Good recommendation Kyle, thanks for commenting.

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