Chaplin
Better off silent
You must be registered for see images attach
Fist of Legend
Directed by Gordon Chan
Cast:
Jet Li - Chen Zhen
Critic's Review:
Considered by connoisseurs of the genre one of the finest martial arts films ever made, this remake of Bruce Lee's classic Fist of Fury is a star vehicle through and through. With his intense glower and purposeful cool, Jet Li is a commanding presence; his charisma almost eclipses the movie's standard-issue plot and perfunctory direction. As with most martial arts films, the highlight is the action, and there's a lot of it. Boasting a style that's closer to sinuous than acrobatic (though he's that too), Li breaks bones and flips bodies with stylish aplomb. The climactic fight scene alone, a lengthy, spectacularly choreographed tour de force, is worth the price of admission. Though it was co-directed by Hong Kong wire-fighting master Yuen Woo-ping, who has since gained U.S. acclaim with his fight choreography for The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the movie doesn't spend a lot of time in the air. With a minimum of wire work, the movie leaves the rules of gravity alone for the most part, giving audiences the chance to see Jet Li in his purest fighting form. Packed with awesome fight scenes and some of Li's coolest moves, the movie is as good as martial arts movies get. ~ Elbert Ventura, Rovi
My Review:
IMO the best Chinese martial arts film of all time. Box office-wise, Jackie Chan's comedic films are the unmatched winners of the money battle, but there is no equal to Jet Li's skill and knowledge of how to present cinematic martial arts battles. Only Tony Jaa appears to be a match skill-wise, but frankly, Jaa has zero charisma, while Jet Li has it in spades.
This remake, IMO, is actually better than the film that inspired it, Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury. The great thing about the film, aside from the fighting itself, is the total immersion in a time and place. A lot of Hong Kong action films concentrate on the fighting, and the story and/or production design is simply window dressing. Not so here. The conflict of China vs. Japan takes center stage, from the first frame on. It deals with some heady issues, mainly race relations and the way a conquered people should deal with their conquerors. Surprisingly enough, the Japanese are not cookie cutter bad guys. Sure, most of them are considered cruel dictators over a Chinese population, but adding in the sympathetic Judo champion and the love Jet Li's character feels for a Japanese girl make the story much more potent than your usual Hong Kong action fare.
The fighting itself is very good. Yuen Woo-Ping does another stellar job with choreography, but credit has to be given to Jet Li, who makes what he does look flawless and hardly difficult. And unlike most Hong Kong action movies, this one doesn't rely on wires to produce balletic action sequences. It gives it a real-world feel that totally benefits the story.
The only thing that really doesn't work in the movie actually has nothing to do with the film itself. If you are unfortunate enough to find the DVD with dubbing instead of subtitles, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. As expected, the dubbed version is far inferior to the original Cantonese audio.
Trivia:
Jet Li plays Chen Zhen in this movie, a student of master Huo Yuanjia. Jet Li will then go on to play Master Huo Yuanjia in Fearless in 2006.
