Comedies out of Hong Kong are usually pretty hit-and-miss, and The Spiritual Boxer's brand of humour never quite worked for me, but... Lau Kar-leaungs specific brand of martial arts choreography and directing are so entertaining that I really don't think much about the jokes when I watch it. You can also see that this is the first time he's directing the whole thing, not just the martial arts, but as first efforts go... this is quite decent. The story is simple but works, the martial arts are excellent, and Wong Yu is both good and likeable as the main protagonist. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for people that want to get into Lau Kar-leung, but somewhere in that journey, it should make an appearance.