Mismatched Couples

Today Yuen Wo-Ping is celebrated as the highly respected genius behind the graceful choreography of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix, and Donnie Yen as the embodiment of the poised master Ip Man. But both have a wacky side, which is on full display in the ultra-cheesy gem Mismatched Couples. This rollicking, crude mix of silly romantic comedy, shallow humour, exceedingly absurd breakdancing and every possible 1980s fashion and kung-fu excess recalls Yuen’s comedic roots. With the pair of films Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) and Drunken Master (1978), he established a revolutionary mix of kung-fu slapstick and launched Jackie Chan’s stellar career as the clown of martial arts. Together with his brothers under the Yuen Clan banner, he was present at the inception of the Miracle Fighters series of fantastically bonkers kung-fu farces at the beginning of the 1980s. Mismatched Couples was Yuen’s penultimate comedy project before he made the jump to serious and tough action movies like Tiger Cage. In Mismatched Couples, he takes full advantage of the talent and flexibility of his then new discovery, Donnie Yen, and also gets involved in the action himself in front of the camera as the central comedic character. The way in which he and his brother Brandy Yuen, who handled the choreography, combine breakdancing with kung-fu moves, insipid gags and physical expressiveness is equal parts tremendously goofy and seriously brilliant. The whole film mixes awkwardness, kitsch and affect with remarkable inventiveness and grandiosely flawless choreography. The disjointed breakdance moves make it even more apparent that Yuen bases his comedies on turning human actors into action figures capable of performing exceedingly surreal feats, while also preserving their realistic physical dimension, thanks to which every such feat is simultaneously amusing and amazing. In the notional battle of breakdancing movies, the silly Breakin’: Electric Boogaloo (1984) has a clear advantage in terms of campy wardrobe and settings, but Mismatched Couples comes out ahead with its fantastically absurd moves, obnoxious humour and all manner of physical escapades, such as a tennis match on BMX bikes. (04.10.2021)