Heart of Dragon (1985) ★★★
Some films age very well, others don't. Unfortunately for Heart of Dragon, it fits into the latter category. When you have the director/one of the lead actors playing a developmentally disabled 30 year old who is referred to as "retarded", you need a degree of sensitivity in the screenplay to play it as a drama.
Because of the characters, you have one of the 'three brothers' who is renowned for his kung fu ability playing someone who doesn't know kung fu and is barely involved in the fight sequences. Similarly, Jackie Chan has much more of a dramatic role than most of the action-comedy films he made in the 1980s and it's a role where he never seemed to be fully at ease.
For this to be a film which was an accomplished drama, it was essential for Sammo Hung's character, Dodo, to be played with nuance and be treated with sensitivity. Sadly, he isn't. From his haircut and wardrobe (he looks like a man-sized baby) to the scenes where his mental disability is played for laughs such as trying to teach his toy to swim in the bath or trying to convince a friend's head teacher (all his friends are young children) he's receiving appropriate education at home, this made me feel uneasy and frequently cringed at some of the dialogue and physical humour involving Dodo.
This is a very unusual Sammo Hung film, featuring very little in the way of martial arts, only including two of the 'three brothers' on-screen (Yuen Biao was involved in choreographing the action sequences), and almost no comedy which I found funny. It's definitely one of the lesser 'three brothers' films and, apart from checking out the other cuts and language tracks on this release, not a film I'll be in a rush to rewatch.
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