The Young Taoism Fighter (1984)

The Young Taoism Fighter is a semi-official entry in the MIRACLE FIGHTERS pseudo-series, which has slightly less in common with the other films in the series than they have with each other - most notably, it was directed by Chen Chi-Hwa rather than one of the Yuen Clan (though they provide the action choreography) and Yuen Cheung-Yan's Granny character is nowhere to be seen.

Other than that it ticks most of the same boxes though - Yuen Yat-Choh is the lead, who is learning Taoist kung fu and generally annoying his seniors. He meets Hilda Liu Hao-Yi on an unauthorised excursion from the temple, and thus gets sucked in to her conflict with an Evil Clan whose leader is learning kung fu magic with an eye to dominating the martial world.

That side of the plot isn't given all that much attention, and probably only exists because it's conventional to have some sort of antagonist and the evil clan trope is as good as any - with the added bonus of a bit of a romance angle. Most of the film just features Yuen Yat-Choh clowning around and being a brat, leading to one misadventure or another until the inevitable showdown with the big bad.

From the title I was expecting this to be a kid's film, but it turns out to be no more so than any of the other Miracle Fighters films... perhaps even marginally less so. It's a bit closer to a normal wuxia film, never quite reaching the surreal heights of Taoism Drunkard and co., though it does have some pretty inventive set pieces. It perhaps shares the middle ground between those feats of lunacy and Taiwanese wuxia such as Thrilling Bloody Sword.

This isn't the sort of film where deep characterisation or profound insights into the human condition were high on the priority list, but rather an excuse to explore creative action design and interesting cinematic tricks, and to generally have a bit of fun. On these criteria, the film is a solid success.