Na Zha
1974 / 90m - Hong Kong
Action, Fantasy
2.5*/5.0*
Na Cha the Great poster

Watches

May 05, 2021

2.5*/5.0*

With all the Ne Zha hype going on in China these days, I was a little surprised to learn there was already a Shaw Brow adaptation of the story (or at least, a story featuring the Ne Zha character. It's a bit weird they didn't get Yuen Chor for the job, I guess Cheh Chang just wanted to try a little fantasy martial arts for a change.

Ne Zha is a brat with his heart in the right place. Though he teases his teachers and angers his parents, he cannot stand injustice. It's a trait that will land him in a lot of trouble. When he kills one of the dragon people (who was harassing an innocent passerby), he is forced to take responsibility and end his own life.

Ne Zha is fantasy-based martial arts, clearly not Chang's strong point. The dragons look iffy, the effects in general aren't all that great and the cinematography can't quite cover it up. The rest of the film is pretty fun though. Decently paced, some nice fights and a handful of memorable scenes, the early Eric Tsang cameo is just the icing on the cake. Amusing Shaw Bros production, but far from Chang's best work.