"Fist of Unicorn" is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It was actually more or less adequately enjoyable. However, it’s very much in that grouping of mediocre Kung Fu movies. If this kind of movie was the standard it’s easy to see why stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan have stood out as much as they have. Their chop socky flicks are the best.

Speaking of Bruce, he was involved with "Fist of Unicorn," but don’t be fooled into thinking he’s the star. The movie stars Unicorn Chan, Bruce’s friend since childhood. Bruce helped him get the movie off the ground, and the execs (reportedly with some involvement by Chan as well) exploited that by making Bruce out to be a much bigger part of the picture than he really was. What’s sad is if they had worked harder at getting the movie to stand on its own merits it might have been really good.

The story revolves around Lung (meaning "Dragon," a popular name in these old Kung Fu flicks). He has virtually no background though we know he has some history with the villain (in true movie fashion) which is touched on briefly. The International version of the movie does include a little bit of Lung’s training (which is where they worked in Bruce Lee, more on that later), but even that doesn’t reveal much in the way of a backstory. But whatever his abilities and history he's now evidently homeless. While sleeping under a bridge he runs into a boy who out of the blue convinces his mother to give Lung a job. Since there is not a man around the house they need some help fixing roofs and such which they figure an able-bodied fellow like Lung can do.

Meanwhile a family known for illegal deeds and pushing people around attacks a group of performers. Lung happens across the scene of the crime and discovers that the beautiful young girl of the group (because all such groups must have one beautiful girl) is alive though badly injured. He helps her which puts him and the family he lives with in the crosshairs of the villains.

With a mixture of a desire to protect the innocent people from further harm and a desire to extract revenge for the evil already done by the villains, Lung uses his extraordinary skills to put a stop to their evil one way or another with something of an old West cowboy hero feel to it.

The story is nothing spectacular though not bad either once you get past the lack of solid backstory and some inexplicable actions. It’s the characters that really help; they’re just so darned likable. Lung struggles with using his skills to harm people, even to the point of allowing himself to be humiliated, but ultimately feels the call to become the avenging angel. He even gives the villains a chance to change their ways before killing them. He doesn’t rush right into battle but uses trickery as a way to avoid unnecessary combat if he can or to lure a villain into a trap.

The girls are gorgeous yet tough. The heroine, I’m not sure what her name is, really kicks a lot of butt. It’s Lung who is the big hero, of course, but the girl is no helpless damsel which makes her fun to watch. The kid is overconfident and even bratty at times, but I can’t help but like his enthusiasm and his change of heart when he realizes he’s done wrong.

The villains are flat. They are just evil drug lords leading to the assumption that greed and lust have corrupted everyone from the father to the kids. There’s really not much style or tact to their actions. They want something, they take it, and if refused they’ll take it with violence. It’s an uncomplicated way of getting to a plethora of action scenes.

Speaking of action it is not particularly impressive, but it is entertaining. Unicorn has arguably the best moves in the movie with some of Bruce Lee’s style showing through, but Unicorn doesn’t have the presence that Bruce, Jackie, and other mega-stars like them do. While nobody else stands out all that much the fights can still be fun to watch which is why Kung Fu flicks and Old West gunslingers are made in the first place.

Bruce Lee’s appearance depends on the version you see. They added him to the international version in a bid to up the movie's marketability. It amounts to a few moments of extremely poorly edited video with dialogue that clearly isn’t being actually spoken (it’s overdubbed with quick edits to try to mask the fact that the characters are obviously not speaking). Still images of Bruce pop up every now and then. All total you probably see him for about 30 seconds and for half or more of that he’s not actually moving. I thought we would actually see him working with Unicorn a little but not so. If you watch this to see Bruce you will be disappointed.