"Jet Li stars as irascible folk legend Fong Sai Yuk in Corey Yuen's period martial arts riot. Li's charisma and agility have never been more perfectly showcased, and Josephine Siao Fong-Fong is equally wonderful as his kung fu fightin' mum, beautifully described by critic Andy Klein as 'imperious and goofy at the same time'.

"The film takes flight with a spectacular brawl for the hand of local beauty Ting Ting (Michelle Reis) in which the simple rule is, don't touch the ground. The defender is said beauty's mother (Sibelle Hu). Cue furious and impossible fighting on towers, poles and the heads of the crowd. Sai Yuk is on the verge of victory when he glimpses a less-than-comely maid he mistakenly presumes to be the bride, and so throws the match. Unable to see the Fong family name dragged through the dust his equally skilled mother cross-dresses as a fake brother 'FongTai Yuk' and goes on to win both the competition and the undying love of the bride's mother. And that's just the first 20 minutes!

"This feisty and funny fight film nimbly spans comedy, action, poetry and tragedy, and is a brilliant intro to the breakneck pacing and whup-ass gender equality of Hong Kong action cinema."—Mark Morrison