Bullet Points: Knockabout
Sammo Hung has had an incredible journey over the course of his show biz career… a career that started when Sammo was just a child.
In addition to his nearly 200 acting credits, Sammo Hung has served as an action/fight coordinator on dozens of films. Hung has also produced and directed films.
Considered a master of the action comedy genre, some of Sammo Hung’s early directorial efforts included Enter the Fat Dragon, Warriors Two and 1979’s Knockabout…
- You Reap What You Sow: Yipao (Yuen Biao) and Taipao (Leung Ka-Yan) are two brothers/confidence men who survive by taking advantage of unsuspecting rubes. But after squabbling over their most recent score, Yipao and Taipao find themselves robbed by a beggar (played by Sammo Hung, who also directed the film). Things get even worse for the brothers when they try to run another scam at a restaurant… but they end up picking the wrong guy to mess with.
- The Silver Fox: The old timer that Yipao and Taipao targeted, ended up outsmarting the brothers. This prompted the brothers to track down the man known as the Silver Fox after he left the restaurant. But the brothers soon find out there is more to the Silver Fox than meets the eye when a confrontation ensues and the Silver Fox easily kicks their asses. To their credit, Yipao and Taipao recognize that the Silver Fox is a superior fighter, so they offer their services to him if he’ll become their master and teach them his fighting techniques. After some ass kissing and displays of loyalty… Silver Fox agrees to teach the brothers.
- No Ordinary Men: Teaching Yipao and Taipao pays immediate dividends for Silver Fox, when two men (who were anything but ordinary) come looking for the Fox… the brothers fight side by side with their new master and the trio dish out some lumps (literally) and are victorious. Silver Fox tells the brothers that they’ll celebrate the win by going out to dinner… Yipao and Taipao go ahead and get a table, while they are waiting for Silver Fox to show up, they are approached by a police officer named Tiger (Mars, Wheels on Meals)… Tiger is looking for Silver Fox. The brothers innocently tell Tiger where Fox lives.
- Guess Who’s Not Coming to Dinner: The movie, which up to this point had been a straight action comedy with plenty of lighthearted moments, takes a dark turn. Yipao leaves the restaurant to check on Silver Fox since he still had not shown up for their celebratory dinner. When he gets back to Fox’s house, Yipao witnesses Silver Fox in a fight to the death with Tiger and when it is all said and done realizes that Silver Fox is a stone cold murderer. But Silver Fox doesn’t know that Yipao saw any of it… until Taipao shows up looking for his younger brother. This leads to a rematch from earlier in the film with the brothers taking on Silver Fox and Taipao making the ultimate sacrifice so Yipao can escape.
- Funky Like a Monkey: As we enter the third act of the film, we learn that Silver Fox was not the only one hiding his true identity. Sammo Hung’s Blinking Beggar character from earlier in the film was not who he said he was… but in this instance it is a pleasant surprise. The Blinking Beggar becomes Yipao’s new master, which opens the door for a lengthy training montage before Yipao and his new master go and get funky like a monkey on the Silver Fox’s ass!
There is absolutely nothing I can knock about Knockabout. The martial arts action, the comedy, the characters and the plot twists were all Grade A.
Here are some Grade A Bonus Bullet Points to wrap this review up…
- Prime Cut: Based on the Knockabout poster above, specifically the upper half of the poster, I am of the belief that the version of Knockabout that I watched on Prime Video deleted at least one scene.
- Out of Context Quote: “Thank you for cracking my nuts for me.”
- AKA: When Knockabout was released theatrically in the United States it was called The Jade Warriors.
- Familiar Face: I couldn’t help but recognize Tu Chia-Cheng as an employee at the casino that Yipao and Taipao are kicked out of earlly in the movie. Tu Chia-Cheng played the uncle in the Bruce Lee classic, The Big Boss.
