There are few martial arts action stars that have not only had the longevity but also the variety like Donnie Yen. Fresh off his final outing as the iconic Grandmaster in Ip Man 4: The Finale he is taking his next role in a comedic direction with Enter The Fat Dragon. Here Yen is reteaming with his Chasing the Dragon director Jing Wong, but could this action comedy offer up that action fans clamor for from Donnie Yen or will its weight keep it down?

 

Enter The Fat Dragon follows Officer Zhu who is excited to have the chance to requalify for full time duty as a police officer while in Japan on a routine police escort,. However, after a series of mishaps, the mission goes terribly wrong and the suspect Officer Zhu is escorting suffers a mysterious death. Zhu enlists the help of wok-wielding restaurant owner and a former undercover inspector to solve this murder mystery in the new best action comedy movie from martial arts superstar Donnie Yen.

 

For the old school fans, yes there is another film of the same name in 1978 starring Sammo Hung which I originally thought this might be a remake of, but it clearly is not and just shares the same title. Both are a homage to the famed Bruce Lee film that does play a part of this story. I expected Yen’s character to be more of a fighting buffoon, but to my pleasantly surprise he is still the actin star we are used to just packing on more weight and prosthetics than usual. I have to say that the make-up is a bit off putting at first, but as the film progresses it just adds to the comedy side and offers up some great expressions.

 

The film starts off with the Yen we are all used to and gives a story to why he puts on the weight which makes total sense and is actually a fun montage. There are