Lin Chung (Tony Ka Fai Leung) is a benevolent soldier and Kung Fu expert. His beautiful wife (Joey Wang) catches the eye of a sleazy lowlife who also happens to be the pampered son of a high ranking general. Meanwhile, Lin Chung befriends an obnoxious but knowledgeable Kung Fu monk named Ru (Elvis Tsui) and the pair becomes inseparable. After Chung is framed for an attempted assassination, he is punished and sent to the front line of battle. While he is away, his wife is killed by her stalker. Naturally, Chung and Ru go out for revenge.
Based on the Chinese classic, The Water Margin (which had been filmed many times before), this ‘90s version of the historical Kung Fu epic has a little something for everybody. There’s romance, comedy, drama, and of course, lots of action. The various sword fights and Kung Fu battles are handled with a lot of pizzazz and feature some impressive and frenetic wirework. We even get a couple of brief (but choice) gory moments as there is at least one memorable beheading scene and one semi-comic bit in which a guy is cut in half lengthwise.
The dynamic between Ru, Ching, and his wife is what sets All Men are Brothers apart from similar action epics of the era. There's a funny scene where the monk spends the night at our hero’s house and has a quiet Kung Fu duel with his host, so they won’t wake up his wife. Her reactions aren’t too different from a wife who has to put up with her husband and his best drinking buddy. Except instead of pounding cans of Budweiser, these guys just Kung Fu one another at all hours of the night. Tsui gets some solid laughs as Ru and together with Leung, they make an amusing team. Their camaraderie and chemistry helps make this one a real winner.
AKA: The Water Margin: The True Colors of Heroes. AKA: The True Colors of a Hero. AKA: Waterside Story: Heroic Character.
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