It was overall good, the acting was good, the story was good, the characters were interesting and the fight scenes were good. Leung Kar Yan is as usual a pleasure to watch on screen.
His acting often remind of that of another great actor and that particular actor I have in mind is Toshiro Mifune. What Leung and Mifune have in common is they are able to act outrageously but still convincingly. Their energy often comes clearly across the screen. Although I gotta admit Mifune is a far better actor. But the most impressive thing about Leung is he does not have any martial arts background, making the fight scenes more impressive. Sammo Hung, what can I say?
Played Sheriff Butcher Wing in 'Xian yu fan sheng' in 1980. Played Shaolin Abbot in 'Shen bu you ji' in 1980. Played Kong Koon Chat in 'Feng kuang da lao qian' in 1980. Bryan Leung in The Victim (1980) (Full movie) 1/20/2014 10:52:00 AM Bryan Leung Ka Yan, Movies, Sammo Hung, Staff, Three-sectional staff, Weapons, Youtube No comments This movie features Sammo Hung wielding the three-sectional staff and Bryan Leung with the staff.
He is as good as ever. Except I felt his character was a little incoherent. His character was fun but it was a character who seemed to lack direction, like as if the character was thrown in as an afterthought to make the plot more coherent. There was nothing wrong with Hung's acting and he is more than often good at portraying those kind of characters. The character he was portraying just seemed a little unnecessary. The story was good, but what stalled the movie a bit is the incoherent plot. The plotting of 'The Victim' is a little incoherent compared to movies such as 'The Iron Fisted Monk', 'Warriors Two' or 'Knockabout'.
What made it kind of incoherent is its general lack of focus. It jumps from one scene to another with no apparent focus except for going to fight scenes and slapstick comedy. I like both, but what set the Hung movies from the other Kung Fu movies are the focused plots in my opinion.
Well, it is not for story or plot movies like this are made but I often feel a solid plot with good acting and fight scenes combined with sufficient production value are what make a solid kung fu movie. So since 'The Victim' lacks a more coherent plot it is not completely solid but it is not bad either.
Overall I think this movie has re-watch value and should be worthy of being part of a collection. After all it has some pretty good fight scenes, interesting story, good acting and not bad production value.
Don't miss it, any kung fu movie with Leung Kar Yan and Sammo Hung are worth watching.