Donnie Yen’s Enter the Fat Dragon Trailer Arrives and It’s Absolutely Insane

A new trailer for Enter the Fat Dragon has been released by Well Go USA. This movie stars martial arts icon Donnie Yen (Ip Man, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and serves as a remake of a 1978 movie of the same name. A lot has changed in the ensuing decades since the original was released, and Yen didn’t undergo a real, dramatic body transformation for the leading role, the way Christian Bale has several times for roles in the past. Instead, he is using makeup, prosthetics and a body-transforming suit to pull off the look, which is certainly a unique choice, to put it lightly.

The trailer showcases Donnie Yen as a cop who is sent on a mission that requires taking out copious amounts of bad guys in various locations. Yen is displaying his usual amount of impressive skill. There is a ton of action, attempted bits of comedy and lots of crazy set-pieces. Overall, it looks like a well-made movie, but one that seems problematic, as presented. The original didn’t feature the lead actor altered with a suit and heavy prosthetics. This version does.

Audiences in China seem to be accepting of this sort of thing, even now. A buddy/cop movie titled Fat Buddies was also released in 2018, for example. This particular movie serves as a parody of Bruce Lee’s 1972 classic Way of the Dragon as well as a reimagining of the martial arts comedy from 1978, which starred Sammo Hung. Enter the Fat Dragon was directed by Kenji Tanigaki (Legend of Seven Monks), with Teresa Mo (Hard Boiled), Niki Chow (Heavenly Mission) and Wong Jing (Kung Fu Mahjong) rounding out the ensemble. Jing Wong (Chasing the Dragon 2: Wild Wild Bunch penned the screenplay.

Enter the Fat Dragon on Fallon Zhu, who was a formerly fit super-cop that has since let himself go. It chronicles the events that transformed him into a glorified records clerk who has “a major snack cake habit.” After receiving a desperate request from an old colleague, Zhu teams up with a wily, wok-wielding restaurateur to solve a mysterious murder, which will give him one last shot at regaining both his old job as well as his fiancee.

For whatever it may be worth, the response so far has been good. It carries a 60 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience rating is quite a bit better, currently sitting at 90 percent. The movie was originally supposed to hit theaters in China back in February. With theaters shut down throughout the country, that became impossible and it was instead released straight to streaming. It was later picked up for distribution in the U.S. Enter the Fat Dragon arrives on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD July 14 from Well Go USA. Feel free to check out the trailer for yourself.

Topics: Enter The Fat Dragon