To Kill With Intrigue (1980)

In To Kill With Intrigue , Jackie Chan plays a character named Siao Le, son of a wealthy and important leader. His life is about to change drastically, however, because a rival gang called the Killer Bees seeks revenge against his father. Le's father killed many of the Killer Bees fifteen years earlier, including both of gang leader Ding's parents. She returns for vengeance and slaughters everyone that opposes her, although spares Le's life because she loves him. Le is in love with another girl, however.

Le's girlfriend is pregnant with his son, so he instructed his supposedly trustworthy friend to take care of her until he returns to find her. Le's friend is not as trustworthy as he had imagined, however, and Le must perfect his fighting skills to prepare for a final showdown with his traitorous friend. Ding agrees to help him hone his abilities, although in the process she injures him whenever he fails to defeat her. Finally, he becomes a true warrior and faces off against his friend in a climactic showdown, but not before several startling revelations.

To Kill With Intrigue is essentially a revenge story like many of the earlier Jackie Chan movies, which commonly focus on avenging the death of a master. Nevertheless, the movie boasts a stronger plot than many of his earlier efforts. Unfortunately, the fighting is not as impressive as similar movies from around the same time, such as Dragon Fist (1979) and The Young Master (1980). Almost all of the fights are well executed and enjoyable, but they are not amazing or groundbreaking. The characters make good use of weapons in about half of the fights, such as spears and swords in addition to some more obscure objects.

There is a heavy emphasis placed on amazing jumps and summersaults in the air, although the moves are overdone. Some of the acrobatics are impressive, even though they are unrealistic, but the effect is used too much. In the final battle, for instance, Le flips backwards more than five times, each time being kicked in the face and flipping backwards once more. The effect is tiresome when used too commonly, although there are instances where it works extremely well and ads to the action.

There are numerous scenes in To Kill With Intrigue that make it more appropriate for slightly older audiences. For instance, there is more blood in the movie than most of Jackie Chan's other movies, which are relatively tame and can be enjoyed by most age groups. Ding scars Le's face with hot metal after he fails to defeat her in combat. In another instance, he swallows a burning rock, but apparently is relatively unharmed. There are several other examples, but explaining them would spoil some of the movie's surprises.

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