review for Drunken Tai-Chi on AllMovie

A fairly silly comic film from early on in director and fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping's career, Drunken Tai Chi nonetheless bears certain trademarks of his style, including an emphasis on slapstick and improbable, yet comprehensible, fight scenes. Notable chiefly as the film debut of Donnie Yen, Drunken Tai Chi wanders along for a bit in search of a plot, until Chin Do (Yen), a consummate troublemaker, sufficiently annoys a wealthy neighbor to the point that the neighbor has Chin Do's family killed by assassin Killer Bird (Yuen Shun-Yee). What follows is a series of loosely strung fight scenes wherein Chin Do gets his butt kicked, takes up with an ancient street puppeteer (Yuen Cheung-Yan, the director's brother) and his wife (Lydia Sum), and proceeds to wreak vengeance. This fairly pedestrian plot -- what there is of it -- is lifted out of the realm of the ordinary by Yuen's inspired comedic touches, and Yen's winning performance, comic timing, and impressive martial arts skills. Not recommended, exactly, but fun in its own way, and not bad entertainment on a popcorn level.