Remembering Corey Yuen #1 – Ninja in the Dragon’s Den 龍之忍者 (1982) Review
Corey Yuen, one of the most recognisable Hong Kong directors of the ’80s and ’90s era, reportedly died of COVID-19 in 2022. But the news of his death wasn’t made public at his family’s request until Jackie Chan posted on Weibo regarding his tribute to the late director on August 12 this year. Actor Tin Kai-Man then confirmed the news and till now, it’s hard to believe about Corey Yuen’s passing.
Growing up watching his movies since the ’90s, Yuen has directed some of my favourite Hong Kong action movies including Yes, Madam! (released in 1985), She Shoots Straight (1990) and of course, the Fong Sai Yuk duology in 1993. As part of the members of the famous Seven Little Fortunes, three of which included Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao during their childhood, Yuen was also prominent in both action and martial arts direction in his adult years. He even made his name crossing the stateside with his notable works in directing the action and martial arts sequences for Hollywood movies like Lethal Weapon 4, X-Men and The Transporter.
Corey Yuen got his start in the Hong Kong film industry as an extra and appeared in small roles in the late ’60s before working his way up to handling different behind-the-scenes-works in the ’70s, beginning with his martial arts direction in Duel of the Dragons in 1973. He finally landed a chance to make his directorial debut in 1982 for visionary producer Ng See-Yuen of the Seasonal Film Corporation titled Ninja in the Dragon’s Den.
Written by Ng See-Yuen and Corey Yuen, the story is a typical martial arts comedy mould reminiscent of Jackie Chan’s Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master in the late ’70s. The movie even goes as far as introducing then-newcomer Conan Lee, a Hong Kong-born American actor whom Ng See-Yuen first discovered and wanted to groom as the next Jackie Chan. This explains why Conan Lee’s role of Sun Jing, a young martial artist who loves to show off his kung fu skills and often fools around echoes Jackie Chan’s acting style. However, unlike the latter, I always find Conan Lee’s acting wooden and certainly lacks the playful charisma that Jackie Chan had during his heydays.
Still, Conan Lee proves to be agile in his martial arts and acrobatic moves, evidently during the earlier scenes where he engages in a fight while walking on stilts. Back to the story, Ng See-Yuen and Corey Yuen’s screenplay lingers around with one comedy hijinks after another with some of them tending to be cheesy or trying too hard to be funny. But around the half-hour mark, the story finally gets underway introducing a ninja played by Hiroyuki Sanada as Jen Moo seeking vengeance against a retired former ninja, Uncle Foo (Hiroshi Tanaka) for his father’s death. The latter has been laying low making mirrors and his protégé happens to be Sun Jing. But his past eventually catches up with him, forcing Uncle Foo to face Jen Moo while Sun Jing is caught in the middle of their conflict.
Despite this being Corey Yuen’s first feature, he knows how to put together some of the best action sequences ever staged in his career. Working with Mang Hoi in the martial arts direction, one particular scene that quickly comes to mind is the elaborate fight between Sun Jing and Jen Moo in the former’s family temple filled with booby traps. The scene itself not only showcases their respective martial arts skills but also the way Sun Jing and Jen Moo try to outsmart each other with their nifty tricks. At one point, we see Sun Jing forces to improvise fighting in the dark by tossing the silver dust in the air and later, a subsequent counter-attack strategy revolving around the ingenious and deceptive use of dummies. No doubt the mix of Chinese kung fu and Japanese ninja succeeds as the main selling point of this movie.
Ninja in the Dragon’s Den also benefits from Conan Lee and Hiroyuki Sanada’s chemistry as two rivals who don’t see eye to eye while supporting roles, namely Tai Bo displays decent comic relief as Sun Jing’s servant, Chee. The movie culminates in an action-packed, yet hilarious showdown against a kung fu master who possesses spiritual magic and martial arts skills played by Hwang Jang-Lee and his disciples.
