Part kick-’em-up revenge tale and part sappy love story (guess which part I didn’t care for?), Fists of Fury director Lo Wei’s To Kill with Intrigue begins with Cao Lei (a long-haired Jackie Chan) ruining his father’s 60th birthday celebration by breaking the news that the evil Killer Bee Gang is on its way to kill them all, presumably with intrigue. Bummer.
Things get weird when a phalange-challenged magic ghost shows up first, bemoaning, “Return my hand! Return my hand!” before jumping from here to there in split-second timing, through the high-tech filmmaking miracle technique known as “frame removal.” Then things get bloody when the aforementioned Bees buzz in and kill everyone, with intrigue, except for Cao Lei.
Prior to the attack, Cao Lei feigns disinterest in his pregnant girlfriend so she’ll skip town and, thus, be safe. But she runs into the arms of a not-so-nice guy who, it is revealed with no surprise, is a rival clan leader. So Cao Lei must save her, but first he is nearly killed (with intrigue) and then brought back to his vital self by his enemy, a scar-faced woman who then scars him, making his face look like he has an expired Steak-umm glued to one side.
Only then does Cao Lei fight the bad guy. Initially, his blows land to no avail, but soon he finds the man’s weak point and kills him. With intrigue? You betcha. —Rod Lott