Return of the Dragon

 A young man from Hong Kong must outwit and take down a crime syndicate threatening his friend's niece who operates a floundering Rome, Italy restaurant. When a special American fighter is called in to take him out, this Hong Kong fighter will have to use all his arsenal in order to protect his friends from the syndicate's numerous henchmen

****

I think it is safe to say that Return of the Dragon (1972) is perhaps most memorable for the climactic duel of legendary martial arts stars Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. The first punch from anyone in the film really isn’t even thrown until about 30 minutes into it. Director Lee (jack of all trades in the film, Bruce also wrote and starred) doesn’t seem too concerned with immediately throwing fights at us, instead gradually following his character into the plot, waiting in the airport, feeling a slight discomfort from the eyes of other tourists, taking in bowls of soup from a restaurant, and finally meeting a rather anxious Chen (Nora Miao). Chen owns the restaurant he’s assigned to protect.

The plot is basic in structure with Lee portraying Tang Lung, arriving from Hong Kong to help his friend’s niece out, protecting her from a crime syndicate eyeing her deceased father’s restaurant in a section of Rome (she inherited it). Norris arrives in the film much later, a hired American karate master (considered America’s Best fighter by the effeminate Ho (Paul Wei), the ringleader for crime syndicate mafia boss (John T Benn)) with a mission to eliminate Tang so Chen and her restaurant would become more vulnerable. Chen has a restaurant staff who fancies themselves as karate fighters with potential, but against the mafia boss’ tall brutes, with weapons and attitude, they’re not much of a threat. Tang added to the mix, however, changes all that. The mafia boss keeps throwing men at Tang, and they continue to fail time and again, embarrassingly. One scene has Tang brutalizing the mafia boys with nunchux so easily. Tang also uses darts cut from wood while sitting in Chen’s living room to subdue men with guns. Lee is no different really than the action stars of yesteryear and today; they all look good on screen while decimating all men who oppose them. Lee’s athletic prowess, superior strength, amazing speed, and incredible physique do provide an authenticity in the choreography. The fact that few of those who came at him have the fighting skill to match him does allow Lee’s lead character to make them look like goofs. Heavies always look like goofs when opposing the lead heroes of action films. Return of the Dragon is no different.

Because of this, Return of the Dragon does grant Norris a rite of passage—through Lee’s classic fight with him in the Rome Coliseum—into action stardom. Early in the battle, Norris gets his share of licks in, dropping Lee to the ground even, eventually succumbing to a barrage of kicks and punches and strikes that are unmatched / unparalleled. Norris’ unwillingness to just stay down, an admirable quality not to surrender if hopeless, useless, and futile to attempt to attack any longer (broken bones and nerve damage paralyze one side of Norris’ body), with Lee cracking his neck in the process, adds to the legend of the battle. To top it all off, Lee doesn’t just leave his carcass there without showing a sign of respect to Norris’ slain body, covering him with his white coat as a type of burial shroud…that is, to me, Lee’s blessing to Norris, telling him he’s a worthy opponent, and deserved of his own stardom. It is kind like the teacher telling his pupil he’s made it.

We are endeared to the restaurant’s hapless, but appealing, staff, taken under Lee’s wing because they need a leader to stand behind and fight alongside. They mean well and are courageous even if the opposition is a bit difficult for them to overcome without Lee by their side. The effort and bravery is there. But Lee is the man here so he gets to wipe out a gaggle of men that easily pummel the restaurant boys, giving their all no matter how inferior they seem to be against the mafia boss’ henchmen. The great heavy Robert Wall has one of his giant fighter parts, getting his ass handed to him by Lee who swarms him with a pattern of blows that devastate him in rather quick order. A couple of the restaurant boys (betrayed by their cook / friend, Uncle Wang (Wang Chung-hsin) later) try to combat Wall and Japanese fighter, Hwang In-Shik, humiliated and beaten badly for their troubles. There’s a surprise betrayal by Uncle Wang who admits after stabbing the boys in the back (literally) that he had been trying to convince Chen to sell her establishment so he could live in luxury back home in Hong Kong with his family! It comes awkwardly at the end—a development that somewhat works despite feeling made up at the last minute—with Lee nearly suffering a similar fate after his battle with Norris. Ultimately, Lee perseveres (no surprise there) and Chen is rescued from the syndicate’s threat. The end.

The action geek in me would have loved to have seen Lee and Norris right in the middle of the Coliseum kicking up dirt and going right at each other, but what we get in Return of the Dragon is good enough, I think. At least we got these two martial arts titans squaring off in a battle to the death with the obvious hero of the film, Lee, persevering. It was cool, though, to see Lee willing to set aside his ego just a little allowing Norris to frustrate him a bit. There is that moment when the two of them are preparing for the battle and the adrenaline starts to pick up a little because you just kind of know something special is about to happen. I think all the comedy and build up for the first thirty minutes offers plenty of pay off because once Lee fights his various foes (even if most of them are no match for him), there’s plenty of unconscious men scattered about, Lee dusting himself off, keeping his outfit unruffled, and maintaining his composure. He makes that “war noise” when hurling bodies and smashing faces, such a memorable part of his fighting scenes. And there’s plenty of zoom lens. Lots of zoom. I particularly love that scene where Lee is “practicing” with his restaurant buddies, kicking a pillow and sending the man holding it backwards a few feet (you can see the dust from the pillow cloud, as if out of a cartoon). Lee even grabs hold to Norris’ chest hair, yanking a patch out, and blowing it from his hand! That was just awesome. Norris sells the pain of that, too. I winced and said to myself, “Ouch.”

Look, action fans want their money’s worth. Even better if the film isn’t solely about the action but has at least something of a story attached to it. Story to me isn’t all that important, but it can give an action film a decided edge if you care about the characters involved in the fights. Those innocents that die, their fates sealed when the much larger, more dominating (or quicker and simply superior) heavies overpower them; if we give a shit about them, the film is a bit better off, isn’t it? That said, I have very little requirements in the action genre, I must admit, compared to horror and science fiction. That may be shunned upon, but I just want action films to exhilarate me and move me out of my seat. Quick blows, athletic bouts where talented, skilled fighters work their magic, and a victor standing tall after vanquishing those who attempt to kill him (her; I like a bad ass chick even more); I typically only need the bare essentials to be satisfied. Fun performers, a decent story, and a good villain, though can a great action movie make. Return of the Dragon fulfilled the requirements.