Review: Way of the Dragon (AKA Return of the Dragon)


Bruce Lee travels to Rome to help out a cousin (Nora Miao) whose restaurant is currently being harassed by the local mafia (led by Jon T. Benn) who want them to sell. After Lee manages to take down Benn’s two henchmen (martial artists Robert Wall and Hwang Ing-shik), an American fighter (Chuck Norris!) is called in to take Lee out. Ping Ou Wei plays Mr. Ho, the slimy interpreter for mafia don Benn.

 

I guess Bruce Lee figured he could direct just as well as Lo Wei, but this 1972 martial arts film from the actor-writer-director-arse-kicker isn’t up to the standard of his two efforts with Lo Wei, “The Big Boss” and (his best film) “Fist of Fury”. This one is a bit better than the silly “Enter the Dragon” (directed by Robert Clouse), but really only comes alive in the action scenes. Silly sound FX or not, you really can’t get much better than Bruce Lee taking out practically a dozen guys with a pair of nunchuks. Nunchuks, people! So it’s not really a good movie, but it’s got some iconic action. The practically non-stop action finale is particularly landmark for its time, and not just because it features the Roman Coliseum. It still holds up well today, the film itself perhaps not so much. I’m not sure why the fuck there’s all that zooming in and out on a kitten, but the sight of Chuck Norris playing the Robin Williams of martial arts fighters is really something. Dude is mucho hairy. It’s also one of the few times you’ll see Mr. Norris being made humbled and vulnerable and playing a villain, so enjoy!

 

Great fights, OK movie as director Lee fails to really distinguish himself much as a director, and it looks a bit cheap and tacky. There’s some awkward comedy at the outset that just stretches things out too much, and seems more Jackie Chan’s game than Mr. Lee’s, though he plays it relatively well. In fact, aside from technical cheapness, the film’s biggest flaw is its glacial pacing. It takes forever to get off the ground, though interpreter Mr. Ho sure is the swishiest henchman I ever did see (It’s a poor stereotype, but too silly to really be offensive), providing occasional non-PC amusement. Meanwhile, why are there so many non-Italians in 1970s Rome? I’m pretty sure one of the henchman is Bob Seger, for cryin’ out loud. But when the film is in action mode, there are no complaints. Lee is quite clearly in a class of his own in this regard, I’ve always preferred him to the more clownish Jackie Chan. I can never really get invested in Chan’s fights because they’re all feats of acrobatics and stunt work for the sake of spectacle and comedy. Lee is bad freaking arse, and means business. His fights seem brutal and impactful. At one point he appears to snap a guy’s neck using only his goddamn feet. Daaaaamn! As an actor, he’s more of an icon and physical presence, but what physical presence! He may not be my favourite martial arts star, but there’d be no Van Damme, Seagal, Adkins, or Michael Jai White without Master Lee leading the way. Leading lady Nora Miao is a cutie too and a pretty decent actress. Mr. Norris is thankfully kept silent, which is for the best really. Terrific music score by Joseph Koo (apparently cribbing from Ennio Morricone’s score from “Once Upon a Time in the West” occasionally) adds to the fun.

 

OK, so Lee’s not a great director and only slightly better as a screenwriter, but when this film is in action mode it delivers. It’s just a shame that those moments are only very occasionally forthcoming, though the Rome locales look spectacular. The all-action finale is particularly special, and if you’re a fan you clearly don’t need any incentive, you already own the film. For me, I prefer “Fist of Fury”, or non-Lee martial arts films like “Eight Diagram Pole Fighter”, “One-Armed Boxer vs. Flying Guillotine”, and “Riki-Oh”. But Lee made so few films that I really do think even his lesser ones are worth remembering for their good moments. Beware: No animals were harmed in the making of this motion picture, but some leather couches got the holy fuck beaten out of them. I mean, daaaaammmn!.

 

Rating: C+

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