The first entry in the Taiwanese Peach Kid trilogy, “Child of Peach” is directed by Chen Chun-liang and Chao Chung-hsing. The film is a loose adaptation of the Japanese story of Momotaro, a popular hero of folklore who was born from a giant peach and triumphed over demons alongside animal comrades. Unapologetically whacky, energetic, and colourful, the movie is a delight to behold, with even its shortcomings adding to its charm.
During an attack on their home by the evil King Devil (Huang Chung-yu), desperate parents stash their son Tao Tai-lang (Lin Hsiao-lao) inside a giant peach that carries him away to safety. It's not long before the peach and its cargo are discovered by an elderly couple who have been praying for a child. They name the boy Peach Kid and oversee his rapid growth as he begins to display superhuman abilities. However, when King Devil raises an army using the power of the Sword of Sun, Peach Kid must band together with new allies to hunt him down and restore peace.
After an opening that has shades of Richard Donner's “Superman”, “Child of Peach” settles into a predominantly comedic tone. The film makes great use of slapstick humour, with heroes and villains alike being flung around on wires and slipping all over the place. Peach Kid's foster mother being dragged along by his giant peach cradle so quickly that she's set on fire is a particular highlight. Such silliness is balanced nicely with some very humorous dialogue, in which characters frequently engage in witty back and forths. These instances are at their best when involving Peach Kid's elderly foster parents, who you feel are only moments away from killing each other when not lauding over their new-found son.
The movie is a proper adventure story in every sense, complete with a cross country journey, a dastardly antagonist, a damsel in distress, and even friendly animals. Peach Kid isn't the most charismatic hero, nor is he particularly the most interesting. He is, however, kind-hearted and strong, and for the purposes of the story, these are the only boxes that need ticking. He and his companions make for a likeable band of heroes, especially the cocksure Knight Melon, who is about as competent as his name suggests. All roads lead our champions to a bonkers finale that still offers up some wonderful surprises, despite all the insanity that has come before.
The bare-bones plot moves along at a blistering pace, with there hardly a moment to breathe between each eccentric gag or zany fight sequence. While this leaves little room for any meaningful character development, it does allow the story to retain greater focus as we're treated to increasingly entertaining action sequences. There's nothing jaw-dropping about the fights here, but there's a frantic energy to them that keeps them consistently engaging.
A large part of what makes “Child of Peach” such a joy to watch is the large ensemble of likeable characters. Chin Tu and Yau Mei-fong are the clear standouts as Peach Kid's foster parents, with their fantastic chemistry and humorous demeanours providing many of the film's early laughs. Even the more villainous characters, such as Lin Kuang-yung's Wu Po, are filled with charm, as the actors ham it up gloriously to deliver quite enrapturing performances. Lin Hsiao-lao puts in a solid showing as the heroic Peach Kid, though it is odd to hear the teenaged actress repeatedly referred to as a ‘young gentleman' despite her clearly feminine features.
As many might expect from a production of this era, the movie is filled with a number of eye-popping special effects that are akin in execution to those seen in say “Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain”. What is surprising, though, is just how well many of these visual effects hold up. An incendiary raid on a village is one such example, as are flying swords and seamless animal-to-human transformations. Other VFX are delightfully dated, such as the appearance of ghostly figures, but even they have a certain allure to them that matches with the project's unique visuals.
A final aesthetic aspect of the film that makes it so appealing is the large sets the actors inhabit and the colourful costumes they don whilst on them. The eventually snowy peach garden in the opening is a wonderfully realised setting that allows for some picturesque shots early on. Even King Devil's rather generic looking lair still has a certain atmosphere about it that plays into the feature's adventurous feel. As for Yang Yu-hua and Huang Yung's costuming, characters wear flamboyant, colourful wigs, ridiculously large helmets, brightly coloured robes, and occasionally nothing at all, as their appearance is tailored to their personality.
Though not that ambitious in terms of narrative, “Child of Peach” more than makes up for it by doubling down on its more outlandish elements and ends up being a fiercely entertaining adventure film. Memorable and humorous performances, as well as spates of light-hearted action, make this a piece of Taiwanese cinema worth tracking down. At the very least, it's all but guaranteed to be your favourite flick in which a child emerges from a giant sentient peach.
