Bullet Points: Prince of the Sun (1990)
A few weeks back I was perusing the latest uploads to the Wu Tang Collection on YouTube, and that’s when I spotted a thumbnail for 1990’s Prince of the Sun featuring the Lady Dragon herself, Cynthia Rothrock!
Any chance I get to watch some classic Rothrock for the first time, I am going to take it… little did I know I was about to watch the Hong Kong version of The Golden Child…
- Monk Madness: The movie begins with Shaolin Monk Khenlun (Lam Ching-Ying, The Big Boss) being summoned to see the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple. The Abbot is nearing the end of his time on this world, but he tells Khenlun that while his life is ending, his soul will reincarnate into a young child’s body and that child will become The Living Buddha, bringing peace and harmony to the world. Unfortunately, we learn that their are members of the Shaolin Temple that would rather see evil prevail… these rogue monks are led by Khentse. Moments after the Abbot’s death, Khentse and his men strike! When Khenlun manages to escape, they paint him as a murderer and thief… but Khenlun’s pupil, Bencheuk (Cynthia Rothrock, Righting Wrongs) isn’t buying it.
- Five Years Later: We are introduced to some would be thieves, Tiger (Conan Lee, Ninja in the Dragon’s Den) and Fu, who are planning on sneaking into Hong Kong to do some stealing. While Fu is going over the game plan, Tiger can’t help but notice Khenlun (with the Living Buddha on his back) leap over the train station fence in a single bound! Moments later, three monks (aka The Lamas) do the same! This encourages Tiger to try to leap over the fence too, with much less success. Khenlun knows he can’t run from Khentse’s three monks forever… Khenlun shares an invisibility spell with the Living Buddha and then runs off, to draw the monks away from Living Buddha. When the monks catch up to Khenlun, they demand he hand over the Living Buddha… but Khenlun refuses to do that, which leads to Khenlun being struck down after an entertaining train yard fight. Khenlun then goes into Obi-Wan Kenobi mode, telepathically communicating with Living Buddha and telling him to hop on the train to Hong Kong and seek shelter. Khenlun promises to send help Living Buddha’s way, just as he leaves this mortal coil.
- Boxcar Buddha: The Living Buddha ends up in the same boxcar that Tiger has stowed away in, creating an unlikely pairing… Cut back to the Shaolin Temple where Khenlun appears to Bencheuk, tasking her to go to Hong Kong and rescue The Living Buddha. She accepts the mission and then has to fight her way out of the Temple! …Back in the boxcar that is now nearing Hong Kong, Tiger finds out Living Buddha is an orphan and has no family, so he tells him that he can stay with him at Fu’s cousin’s house… although nobody told Fu’s cousin, May Wan!
- Nobody’s Home, Nobody’s Home: When Tiger and Living Buddha arrive at May’s place, there’s no answer… one of the neighbors mentions that May is at work across the street, she’s a kindergarten teacher and degenerate gambler. Well she WAS a kindergarten teacher, until some of her unorthodox “teaching methods” and “disciplinary tactics” came back to bite her in the ass… something Living Buddha is more than happy to point out. This sets off May Wan and she gets busted by the Principal… Later, May Wan returns home still steaming about that “little bastard” that got her fired, only to see Living Buddha in her apartment… May Wan once again goes on the attack, but Tiger steps in, freaking out May Wan even more! Tiger tells May that her cousin Fu told him to wait for him at her place, so he’s not going anywhere no matter how much May protests and thus begins the dysfunctional relationship between Tiger and May, which often ends up with May being defenestrated. If you thought Tiger was a horrible human being, May puts him to shame.
- Guardian Angel: Bencheuk shows up in Hong Kong just in the nick of time… thanks to her gambling debts, some goons are after May, which also puts Tiger and Living Buddha in harm’s way too, but they don’t stand a chance against Bencheuk! …We get to see Bencheuk against the Lamas, while Living Buddha has a fun day out with May and Tiger… Once Bencheuk finally makes contact with the Living Buddha at May’s place, business really picks up! Bencheuk tests the Living Buddha and then its bad guys galore invading May’s apartment… Bencheuk sees an opening to slip away, and with the Living Buddha on her back, she makes a run for it, but the Lamas are hot on their trail! Unfortunately for our heroes, the evil Khentse shows up and nabs the Living Buddha and takes him back to the temple to keep him out of the sunlight, and prevent the Living Buddha from fulfilling his destiny!
- Redemption: The action continues, when Bencheuk, Tiger and May make their way to the temple in attempt to save the Living Buddha and stop Khentse’s dark rule… the trio is assisted by the powerful spirit of Khenlun, which takes the battle to supernatural heights! …Not only is the temple finale action packed, it also gives Tiger and May a chance to redeem themselves… and they definitely needed the redeeming.
Clocking in at 84 minutes, you wouldn’t think Prince of the Sun would drag as much as it does in the middle. It’s where the comedy overtakes the action, and the movie worked best when it was a blend of both. Definitely something of an oddity in the career of Cynthia Rothrock, although it seemed par for the course with Conan Lee, whose entire career was an oddity. Prince of the Sun is worth watching… although re-watching is less likely.
Allow me to bring peace and harmony to this review with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Conan Lee eat canned dog food, then Prince of the Sun is the movie for you.
- Out of Context Quote: “Not my face! You can do my ass!” – May Wan
- Bastard Count: There were a total of five “bastards” in Prince of the Sun.
- Sorry, Not Sorry Quote: “Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t call that bitch a bitch” – Khenlun
- Missed Opportunity: How was Chuck Jeffreys not involved in this movie inspired by an Eddie Murphy movie?!
