He steals from the rich and gives to the poor! Like Robin Hood, the title hero of The Lizard is a philanthropic thief, except the Lizard makes his rounds in 1930s Shanghai. Corrupt police chief Chen Can (Law Lit) is assigned to bring down the Lizard to appease the sinister Japanese forces, but the Lizard constantly eludes his grasp. Little does Chen Can know that the wily thief actually works for him! The Lizard's true identity is the mousy Cheng Long (Ngok Wah), who dons a mask and takes to the streets to spread his righteous message.
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"The Lizard" is the nickname of a modern day Robin Hood who robs the rich to give to the poor. I've never been a fan of kung-fu comedies and much prefer the tone of the more stoic Cheh Chang films of this era. The fights are okay, but are nothing more than passable. The only thing that seems to set them apart is that there there is a fair amount of gunplay compared to most Shaw Brothers' films. Overall, this film seemed slow, tedious, and didn't really have any great fight scene payoff. Meh.
It goes without saying (though I'll say it, anyway) that Chu Yuan was one of the classiest of the Shaw Brothers directors and his movies were more often than not GRANDIOSE in many respects- sets, costumes, intricate narratives, leisurely pace, etc. THE LIZARD showcases Yueh Hua as the stuttering "Cheng." Called "Brother Dumb" by his friends, he's really the black-masked Robin Hood known to authorities as "The Lizard," who robs from the rich to give to the poor. When he gets fingered by crooked cop Lo Lieh as The Lizard, it's up to his friends to figure out a way to get him off the proverbial hook. (This they do by having ANOTHER Lizard make a very public assault on The Upper Class.) The reprieve is short-lived, however, and... Well, you'll just have to see for yourself. There's not a LOT of noteworthy action in THE LIZARD, but for fans of characters like Robin Hood and The Green Hornet (both regarded by "the Authorities" as Bad Guys), THE LIZARD's worth a look.
It starts with the lizard on a night burglary at the home of a naked white chick with way too much mascara for even the 1960's let alone 1972. I have searched and cannot find her name. It's been over 40 years so I certainly don't care to see what she looks like today either. This movie is a marker in history. First there is Connie Chan Po-Chu, 254 movies, the movie princess of Hong Kong in the 1960's, and this is her last movie. During the 1960's she made scores of martial arts movies, many with the great Sek Kin. I have a few dozen on DVD, some on old VCDs, but alas – no English subtitles. I will continue to buy all I can find because they are becoming extinct. I trust to future technology to translate so I can understand the dialog. Right now Google translate only gets a few words here and there. I dream of the day I can watch all her movies with proper subtitles. Next there is the great Lo Lieh. He is on training wheels here for his role as the villain. Up until now he has been a hero, and what a hero! "King Boxer", enough said. He will play an even more memorable villain in his films to come. Next there is Yuen Woo-Ping as action director. This movie has a lot of comedy in it but the comedy is strictly standard, i.e. double takes, kicks to the butt, and such. Yuen Woo-Ping will move on to places no man has gone before in action comedy.
Sometimes them Shaw Brothers are better at making large sets than kung fu movies, as THE LIZARD reminded memore than once. If you think seeing a fat lady go cross-eyed is state-of-the-art comedy (even for 1972), or if you haven't seen enough crooked casinos get exposed, then THE LIZARD is your cup of tea.Granted, THE LIZARD is offbeat and the inventiveness of our heroes has its moments. But the title hero is Yue Hua, and the main villain is Lo Lieh. So you can imagine how bad the martial arts are! The hidden trampolines, reverse-film jumps, occasional bloodshed and martial arts direction by Yuen Cheung Yan and Yuen Wo Ping at least make the battles entertaining. On the whole, THE LIZARD is slow-paced and pointless enough that it won't make converts out of non-fans. But if you're a die-hard kung fu completist who can't get enough of the classy Shaw Brothers chop-sockeys of the 1970s and want to see a movie which avoids much of the genres' more typical clichés, then maybe you can buy this DVD from me before I list it on Ebay. Actually, nevermind; I just now sold it for a buck.SPOILER WARNING: I don't actually know what a spoiler is, so there's the risk that I might give something away in this synopsis: The setting appears to be 1930s Shanghai, and Yuen Wah plays a 'Chinese Robinhood' called The Lizard, who steals from the rich (which includes rich foreigners like the Caucasian couple having sex at the beginning) and gives to the poor. This black-hooded vigilante rigs up explosions to cover his tracks while being pursued by corrupt cop Lo Lieh, who would rather run fixed casinos and sell women into prostitution. Fortunately, Yueh Hua and girlfriend Connie Chan (her last film before retirement) take on and defeat Lo Lieh and his helpers, despite the latters' use of knives and guns.