Enter the Fat Dragon (2020) - Donnie Yen

[DiP]

This is a LNY movie, they are nothing but entertaining. Every action movie doesn't have to be serious, as long as it's done right. Also, some actors eventually grow out of their comfort zone and expand to keep working on movies. You need variety in show biz if you take acting seriously and wanna go forward. 

That being said, I watched the movie 2 months ago in the Philippines and found it very amusing with great action (mostly gang brawls bar the finale). Overall, it's a decent story but it's the action that is the icing on the cake and among the best from Donnie.

[JackieRome]

19 hours ago, DiP said:

This is a LNY movie, they are nothing but entertaining. Every action movie doesn't have to be serious, as long as it's done right. Also, some actors eventually grow out of their comfort zone and expand to keep working on movies. You need variety in show biz if you take acting seriously and wanna go forward. 

That being said, I watched the movie 2 months ago in the Philippines and found it very amusing with great action (mostly gang brawls bar the finale). Overall, it's a decent story but it's the action that is the icing on the cake and among the best from Donnie.

Yeah, but Chinese irony doesn't drive me crazy. It's not Mel Brooks. The Chinese one is either too demented or elementary (maybe only Stephen Chow amuses me). I could only stand the original with Sammo.  I don't think Donnie's cut out for irony. I'll only see him for the action but if he was more committed here than other films (I'm always talking about action) I'd be disappointed. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by JackieRome

[DiP]

Looks like you can't enjoy Donnie's movies unless they are all serious. Oh well, your own entitled opinion. Just don't expect him to make the kind of movies we all want to see all the time because from time to time he won't always cater to us but also make movies he wants to make as a way of challenge and self-improvement. That's how it works. You either improve and try out while maintaining, or make the same movies and fade away after a while.

For action scenes' argument, I'd still recommend you the movie for the action because it's good.

Edited April 12, 2020 by DiP

[laagi]

I've enjoyed this more than I did IP MAN 4... there I said it! Felt fresh, different or maybe something I haven't seen in a long time. The slapstick and jokes are hit and miss; clearly not targeted at western audiences. The story is simple and quite oddly takes a rather abrupt and silly end. Again this probably fits the overall tone of the movie. But Donnie hasn't looked this good (no pun intended) on screen for a long time. I mean the action, my god it's incredible what the guy does while wearing a fat suit. Everyone seems to have a blast while not taking the whole thing too seriously. The last 10-20 minutes is just bad ass and when he finally uses the nunchucks, it's a wonderful homage not only to Bruce Lee but also Sammo Hung. Loved it, highly recommend!

[JackieRome]

1 hour ago, DiP said:

Looks like you can't enjoy Donnie's movies unless they are all serious. Oh well, your own entitled opinion. Just don't expect him to make the kind of movies we all want to see all the time because from time to time he won't always cater to us but also make movies he wants to make as a way of challenge and self-improvement. That's how it works. You either improve and try out while maintaining, or make the same movies and fade away after a while.

For action scenes' argument, I'd still recommend you the movie for the action because it's good.

I don't think that in order to improve, an actor who doesn't have irony in his strings (Donnie doesn't have the face or the body to make irony, always according to my taste) has to try his hand at that kind of film. It's enough to continue with quality titles like Wu Xia for example. I know very well that he reaches more audiences making this kind of film but he's at the beginning of his career where he can experiment with everything, either he makes serious and violent films (even without martial action) or, if I were his agent, I'd make him commit to one last great action film. Mulan and the tiger and the dragon 2 are still crap for me, and as you can see even when they're not funny they don't meet my appreciation. I liked Ipman 4 for example despite it being a commercial movie and a few too many exaggerations in the characters and themes. But since you're talking about great (I'd like to understand if it was at least better than Special Id) rest assured that I'll see this Fat Dragon anyway. that I prefer serious movies to ironic ones, that's just my personal taste.

[DiP]

I don't think it's a matter of possessing something but about accepting certain actors for what they are willing to do to achieve what they want as overall performers. That's what acting is about. Challenges, passion and commitment. Acting is an art form and isn't restricted to anything particular. Like I said, whether or not movies/roles are good is subjective.

Btw, Donnie started out doing action comedies before making a name doing serious roles so he ain't new to comedy roles.

Edited April 12, 2020 by DiP

[JackieRome]

I've seen it. Okay, I gotta think back, I had a lot of fears it was some crazy bullshit with a few things to say. The funny thing is that I saw him very close from the previous vision of Shinjuku Incident, so I found a whole series of actors playing almost the same roles and the similarity of the main character's partner who is with the boss of the Yakuza group. The film can entertain with sympathy, I expected a lot of moves like Bruce Lee, but fortunately there are few. It's funny how they play on Donnie's previous films and his image as a hardened cop. Basically Donnie's character should be the same as Spl and Flashpoint after several years, and the idea is not bad. The fights are very good; Donnie always has this passion for Parkour, so almost everything is stunt double (even in a lot of evolutions that maybe Donnie couldn't even do at 20) who can do impressive things. I also love this obsession with joint sockets. If they do sequels I'll be happy to see them.

[DiP]

Haha, glad you enjoyed it as whole. 

I think the lack of BL impersonations in the fight scenes works better because the character itself doesn't reveal himself to be a BL freak like Sammo's did. It would've made no sense if he busted those BL moves without a backstory or hints at least.

Parkour/free-running is been a thing for him since his ATV days. He can do some basics but not advanced/demanding maneuvers so he has doubles for that. He was never an advanced acrobat (mid-level at best) to begin with despite being highly trained in taolu wushu.

[DiP]

The movie is getting a Hong Kong bluray release on May 5.

https://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_details.php?ProductID=17391

[sym8]

Loved this,a blast from start to finish.Great action and I thought Donnie played his character well(fat and thin).Comedy was good and the standout fight scene for me was the rooftop exchange,great stuff👍👍👍👍

[D1 Ma]

what was the point of Donnie wearing a fat suit? It had nothing to do with the story, more like another of Wong Jing's quirks

I didn't think the majority of jokes were funny, even by Chinese standards, although I chuckled a couple of times. The parody of SPL's alley fight was great, though. For me, the best bit of the movie

Vehicle action was sup-bar. The first action scene with the minivan was weirdly edited

as far as fights go, most of them were somewhere between OK-ish and good. Most of them are very short exchanges. The best fight, obviously was the last one. Good, but not great. I also liked the brawl involving all those rooftops jumps, very nice use of the environment, I thought the whole scene had a JC feel to it.

Very good stuntwork. All the jumps, falls, etc. were very old-school. I don't know if they were wire-assisted, but they looked good, no complaints there

 The plot was nearly absent. I can't remember another movie that would have such a primitive storyline . Even Tony Jaa's "elephant " movies had meatier stories

 

Overall, an OK time-passer with a very few decent fight sequences, 4- out of 5

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

On 4/12/2020 at 7:19 AM, laagi said:

I've enjoyed this more than I did IP MAN 4... there I said it! Felt fresh, different or maybe something I haven't seen in a long time. The slapstick and jokes are hit and miss; clearly not targeted at western audiences. The story is simple and quite oddly takes a rather abrupt and silly end. Again this probably fits the overall tone of the movie. But Donnie hasn't looked this good (no pun intended) on screen for a long time. I mean the action, my god it's incredible what the guy does while wearing a fat suit. Everyone seems to have a blast while not taking the whole thing too seriously. The last 10-20 minutes is just bad ass and when he finally uses the nunchucks, it's a wonderful homage not only to Bruce Lee but also Sammo Hung. Loved it, highly recommend!

 

 Holy shit!!! More enjoyable than ip 4? Ok, this is going into the queue baby! 

[DiP]

3 hours ago, D1 Ma said:

what was the point of Donnie wearing a fat suit? It had nothing to do with the story, more like another of Wong Jing's quirks

This question should rather be aimed at something like Johnnie To's Running on Karma, which has Andy Lau wearing a "muscular" suit. It all comes down to having a purpose in the story and making it look convincing to viewers AND how to make such a thing integrate a particular story to work out. Donnie's make-up is decent-looking (not 100% convincing-looking but not overly exaggerated either) and the story behind his character's transformation to overweight using this suit and make-up makes sense (albeit in a fashion that only happens in LNY movies). Andy Lau's movie, however, fails on many aspects because they sold on how Andy's character became muscular but just made the suit look really bad. Plus it's a serious movie so the suit makes it confusing for viewers to decide whether or not it's a drama or a comedy whereas Donnie's movie goes straight to the point with its' story (LNY movies don't intend to impress with good stories anyway).

Edited May 5, 2020 by DiP

[D1 Ma]

Yes, I was thinking of ROK while I was watching Enter...

I guess, in both cases the filmmakers did just because they could. Hey, look at us! We can put a guy in a suit!

Theres another Chinese movie about fat guys in Japan,  Fat Buddies. At least in that movie the obesity of the main characters was justified and explained respectfully ( one guy had a head injury that caused hormonal dis-balance leading to obesity and sleepiness )

 In Donnies case it was just a gimmick. I have no grudge against it, I'm all for the use of special make-up and prosthetics , but at least, use it somehow and give it a meaningful reason.

Edited May 5, 2020 by D1 Ma

[DiP]

The whole nature of the story in the movie is nonsensical and amusing. Actually that's how all LNY movies are: No logic/Meaning, Whatever, Just Be Pleased. So the suit and make-up work to Donnie's favor regardless of how you see it. If you should have a meaningful reason, do it like The Nutty Professor.

[Frank Bolte]

Yes ! That was refreshingly good… fight Scenes were quite brutal compared to the tone of the movie being most of the time a comedy… 

and I loved that they didnt try to copy the original enter the fat dragon

although there were a lot of bruce lee things going on..from watchin his movies to several times using the music from bruce lee films to even acting like him a few times when fighting...

 

like someone said before me I also think this is waaaay better than yip man 4

[Drunken Monk]

I loved this movie. Really, REALLY liked it. But we can all agree on one thing right? Ninety percent of the action wasn’t Donnie? He was doubled an incredible amount in this movie.

The fight scenes were phenomenal. I think I preferred them to Ip Man 4. But a little bit of me is annoyed that Donnie didn’t do most of the moves.

[DiP]

Donnie sure was doubled but 90% doubled? I don't buy that, I'd say 30-35% doubled. Donnie shared a video on his IG with him performing punches, kicks and movements with the suit on. I can imagine telegraphing the same moves on many takes with the suit on being very exhausting though. In fact, I can see Donnie being doubled in his action scenes on the same percentage in The Monkey King for the same reason.

[Drunken Monk]

14 minutes ago, DiP said:

Donnie sure was doubled but 90% doubled? I don't buy that, I'd say 30-35% doubled. Donnie shared a video on his IG with him performing punches, kicks and movements with the suit on. I can imagine telegraphing the same moves on many takes with the suit on being very exhausting though. In fact, I can see Donnie being doubled in his action scenes on the same percentage in The Monkey King for the same reason.

I’ll admit, I exaggerate a lot. Not 90%, no. You’re right there.

I’ll explain: a LOT of the action is shot in beautiful wide angles. I loved how it looked. But it’s shot in a way that could quite easily mask a stunt double. I suppose instead of staying Donnie was doubled so much, I should have asked whether people think he was doubled or whether the wide shots were a choice. Again, the correct choice as the fight scenes looked stunning.

There’s a lot of parkour style action and I understand that not being Donnie. I just hoped the rest was him.

I was a bit brash on my previous post. I just want to believe that it was him...even in those wide shots, you know?

[DiP]

Can see where you're coming from. But again, who knows. Maybe Donnie wanted to implements such shots for viewers to appreciate the techniques more instead of being shot medium to close-range with intricate editing. I think full-body shots are more appealing but are at the same time stereotypical in that they easily fall victim for MA action movie fans' suspicion of performers being doubled because of this. You have a good point because some full body shots are obvious of performers being doubled and others not at all or is hard to make out.

Donnie is an exceptionally great martial arts actor but he's no stuntman and has been known to be doubled for falls, certain acrobatic maneuvers (he's from a strong taolu wushu background but was never an advanced acrobat), and most of the parkour he likes to show (could probably bust out the simplest physical techniques but never above that level). But in usual cases of MA actors (which goes for EVERYONE) being doubled, I believe the sole reason is because of time constraints, budget, decision-making etc.

Edited July 19, 2020 by DiP

[paimeifist]

Watched it this evening with my wife.

 

We both enjoyed it quite a bit, decent plot, very fast paced, and the action was good. Car and foot chases, fights, all in all pretty good. Comedy was mostly funny, although it wasn’t hilarious or anything.

 

My only gripe is that some fights are too cut up, but thats the exception not the rule, most of it was great.
 

As to Donnie being doubled, I could care less if the movie is good and the action is solid! Not to mention Isn’t dude like 55? I know he’s been essentially carrying HK-MA cinema on his shoulders for the last two decades, and looking good doing it, but we gotta keep in mind he’s been around the block!

[One Armed Boxer]

A little late to the party on this one (HK only resumed shipping to Australia via airmail last month, having stopped since March due to COVID-19), and it was definitely more entertaining than 'Special ID', although, what isn't? I gave it the full review treatment over at COF - 

https://cityonfire.com/enter-the-fat-dragon-2020-review-donnie-yen/

[DiP]

6/10 would be reasonable for a movie of this caliber. I would rate it a solid 9/10 for the action alone.

Edited October 18, 2020 by DiP

[One Armed Boxer]

On 10/18/2020 at 11:01 AM, DiP said:

I would rate it a solid 9/10 for the action alone.

I think this is the lowest score you’ve ever given a Donnie Yen movie @DiP!

[DiP]

Actually I would rate either Iron Monkey 2 or the Iceman movies the lowest 

There are other Donnie movies that are worse as well. This is a masterpiece in comparison. 

Edited October 19, 2020 by DiP