TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A new action-comedy by kung fu superstar Donnie Yen (甄子丹) spoofing Bruce Lee hits theaters across Taiwan on Thursday (Jan. 23).
The slapstick kung fu flick “Enter the Fat Dragon” (肥龍過江) loosely inspired by a 1978 film starring Sammo Hung (洪金寶), which was a play on the title "Enter the Dragon" and spoofed Bruce Lee's film "Way of the Dragon." Sky Films denies, however, that the film, which is directed by Yen's student, Kenji Tanigaki (谷垣健治), is a remake of the Sammo Hung classic.
As "Ip Man 4: The Finale," the final installment of the "Ip Man" film series, marked the 56-year-old actor's last kung fu film, the action star is following through on his pledge to explore new film genres and create fresh characters to keep his fans engaged. Unlike Hung's film, which tells the tale of a pig farmer who becomes a waiter in a restaurant, Yen in the new film plays a Hong Kong cop who gains an enormous amount of weight after being jilted by his fiancée, played by Niki Chow (周勵淇).
Despite his corpulent appearance, the cop has not lost a step with his kung fu skills, fly-kicking criminals into submission. Yen's extra weight in the film was achieved through makeup, which took three to four hours to apply, and a fat suit weighing 30 to 40 kilograms, reported the newpaper.
Ironically, Yen actually lost weight while shooting the film because of all the action sequences done in the heavy, hot suit. Yen described sweating "buckets" after a day of shooting in the suit, "But the more I was in that suit, I think I became slimmer and fitter as I had to exert a lot of force to fight throughout the movie," Yen told the newpaper.
“Enter the Fat Dragon” will premiere in Taiwan on Jan. 23. For further information, visit the Sky Films Facebook page.
