For people who don't yet know about the martial arts prowess of Yuen Biao, a man who was occasionally a very worth "third musketeer" alongside Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, I highly recommend diving into his filmography. And, for all I know, there may be better places to start, but Dreadnaught is a hell of a good time.
Biao plays Mousy, a cowardly young man who is rarely able to collect the laundry money that he is sent out to collect on behalf of his sister (played by Lily Li). That makes his fate seem inevitable when he becomes the target of a crazed killer known as White Tiger (Yuen Shun-yee). Or maybe not, considering that Mousy has the chance to learn from both Leung Foon (Bryan Leung) and the legendary Wong Fei-hung (Kwan Tak-hing).
Directed by Yuen Woo-ping (arguably best-known to modern movie viewers for his work on THAT big sci-fi action movie from 1999), Dreadnaught is a hugely entertaining mix of thrills, slight chills, and the expected underdog-to-top dog character arc. Writer Wong Jing has time for supporting characters, and some humour that doesn't work, but never takes too long to move the focus back to our hero, who still shows his athleticism even when trying to avoid a fight.
The cast work well, overall, with Biao easily proving himself as a likeable leading man. He has presence, he can play up his inability to fight for comedic effect, and he's definitely got the moves when the time comes for him to show what he can actually do. Shun-yee, on the other hand, is made to look memorable most of the time, thanks to the facial make up used, but his performance is just a constant stream of bared teeth and gurning expressions. The other good guys, however, more than make up for the overworking villain, with Leung doing good work and Tak-hing almost stealing the entire movie with his portrayal of Fei-hung (especially great in a couple of fight sequences that have people pretending that they’re not fighting).
Highlights include a frankly amazing dragon dance/ritual sequence, a tailor attacking his customer while the customer deftly defends himself, and a finale that features some surprisingly eerie imagery in just before the expected face off between the lead and the rage-filled villain.
It may not be the absolute best film with Biao in a starring role (almost everyone who knows the man tells me that The Prodigal Son is THE one to watch), but this is a great introduction to his work, and an easy one to recommend to fans of martial arts cinema . . . or anyone who enjoyed the laundry scene in Batman Forever (which was lifted from this).
8/10
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