Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Leofwine_draca THE BARE-FOOTED KID is a 1990s remake of the old 1970s Chang Cheh Shaw Brothers film DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN. Aaron Kwok takes the titular role, one which was played by Alexander Fu Sheng in the original, and the film was directed by Johnnie To, right around the time he was making the HEROIC TRIO movies. Like many 1990s Hong Kong movies, this film's all about wire work and outlandish martial arts.The plot is a simple one with similarities to YOJIMBO. The main character is a pauper who arrives at a dyeing workshop and soon finds himself involved with the people who run it. Unfortunately for him, a rival business owner is desperate for the workshop's secrets, and violence soon erupts between the two companies with the bare-footed kid right at the heart of it.This is a fun, light, and rather insubstantial film. For the first hour it plays out exactly as you would expect, with lots of cheesy music and romantic scenes and earnest acting from the main cast members. There's plenty of action here, all of it defying the laws of gravity in the best '90s Hong Kong tradition. I used to hate this wire work stuff for its lack of realism, but it has grown on me over the years and I can appreciate the visual artistry nowadays.Aaron Kwok is merely adequate as the titular character. He's handsome enough but he doesn't have much charisma, although I suppose his talents would grow with experience over the years. The supporting cast is much more interesting, featuring as it does Shaw Brothers legend Ti Lung in a strong role as a steadfast ally. It's a little like Lung's part in DRUNKEN MASTER II, although Lung has less acting to do here and more fighting. He does get at least one fantastic scene to himself. Maggie Cheung plays it subdued and is far less annoying than usual, and Kenneth Tsang is reliable as ever as the baddie of the piece. The film really hits hard for the insanely dramatic climax, the one part of the movie that successfully recaptures the old Shaw Brothers spirit.

Chung Mo Johnny To has recently become the critic's HK director to tout. He certainly has a stylistic flair for gangster movies but I am not familiar with his martial art films so this was a treat.In terms of story, the movie is certainly a throwback to the HK films of the seventies. An illiterate young man travels to a town to find the best friend of his recently deceased father. He wants to retrieve a prized possession of his father's that the friend is holding on to. He finds the man (Ti Lung) working at a cloth factory that's being harassed by the local crime boss. We meet the owner of the factory, a beautiful widow. The young man also meets a beautiful young woman who's a teacher so he decides to have her teach him how to spell his name. Of course the young man is thrust into the middle of a conflict.The story is played with a comic touch that carries the film for most of the way until the end which is quite serious. For me, what didn't work is how the exaggerated, wide angle, cartoony film technique was really unsuited for the end of the film. The action is very sped up during some tragic scenes. I started watching HK kung fu films during the end of the Shaw era and I've never warmed up to the kung fu film style of the 1990's. Too many cuts (move, move, cut, move, cut, punch, punch, cut) and too many sloppily composed action scenes. It seems every film had to have a scene with the hero running on the heads and shoulders of a crowd. IN Johnny To's defense, he seems to do an average of 4 films a year and that's not enough time to really make a great fight scene.If you like 90's style HK action, this is a good film. For aficionado's of classic Shaw, this might not be that exciting.

Brucev-3 Aaron Kwok is great as the Barefooted Kid. He is a great martial artist, but doesn't know the rules of life. This he will learn from his uncle and a very kind woman who gives him shelter. This uncle is played by Ti Lung, who is even a greater martial artist and has some great scenes where he shows his talents. The story is very melodramatic, which doesn't have to be annoying. I personally like melodrama at some occassions. But if you don't like melodrama you can skip to the action sequences because that is why this movie is made in the first place. The action sequences are divine to watch. They are far superior to the scenes shown in the Matrix. Which prooves, that digital effects are not needed to create explosive wireworks! If there is one typical HK martial arts movie you have to watch then it's this one.

Matti-12 Brilliant kung-fu scenes, loads of melodrama, peculiar footwear symbolism and an unhappy (?) end makes Barefoot Kid an unforgettable film.One of the silliest subtitles I've seen...