[Kung Fu] His Name Is Nobody (1979) - DVD/Rmvb torrent

Premise: Lau Kar Wing is an orphan with no name or identity who grows up on the streets, stealing and conning for a living until his new master is killed. Teaming up with a comical thief played by Dean Shek Tin, Lau seeks to avenge his master's death.

Review: Director Karl Maka's slapstick mayhem reigns in this somewhat entertaining kung fu flick filled with genre veterans.

The prolific star, director and action director, Lau Kar Wing stars as the naive Nobody who ends up encountering an odd assortment of villains, teachers, and misfits as he tries to make a living as a petty thief. In this world, even thieves must know kung fu as Lau soon learns, the hard way. Lau meets Dean Shek Tin who trains the young man in the basics of conning money out of people. Dean takes a break from his more common villainous roles to play a comical mentor, which suits his gangly physique. The key to this film's success are the supporting characters. Lau, whose more famous brother is Lau Kar Leung is a bit miscast in this role. His kung fu, which is quite good takes a back seat to the film's antics and his character is probably the least interesting part about the film. Leung Kar Yan, another terrific martial arts star, turns up later as Lau's second teacher. Usually seen in no-nonsense roles, Leung gets to have some fun as he also attempts to instruct Lau in the ways of stealing. Karl Maka, the director appears in a small role only to be killed off.

The humor is very much in the vain of Sammo Hung's or even Yuen Wo Ping's films, minus the high level of quality martial arts choreography. In fact, kung fu in this film really only refers to the thieving abilities of our heroes. Most of the action looks like a free-for-all. The jokes are low brow and move quickly. Some of it doesn't translate well to Western culture, but it should keep genre fans smiling. The story itself is run-of-the-mill with the revenge plot and lots of situational fluff.

If there was more of a compelling plot besides the tiresome revenge schtick or more creative action choreography, His Name is Nobody would be much better. As is, the film has an uneven mix of slapstick and black humor that manages to actually be funny at times and Dean Shek Tin adds his fair share, plus a bit of humanity.


- Mark Pollard