Ladies, get on board.
Parents start your young kids off early.
Kung Fu movies are cool.
Is Jet Li's Fearless the best Kung-Fu movie ever made?
Yes.
Before we start, let me introduce myself to you guys by telling you the only bit of info that's relevant in this review: My top ten Kung-Fu film list...
1.Iron Monkey (Yuen Woo Ping version not the Chen Kuan Tai one)
2.Blade of Fury
3.Drunken Master 2
4.Heroes of the East/Legendary Weapons of China/Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
5.Fist of Legend
6. Once Upon A Time In China II
7. Tai-Chi Master
8. Fist of Fury (1995 Donnie Yen TV version)
9. Wing Chun
10. Fong Sai Yuk I & II/Fiery Dragon Kid
Honorable Mention? Chinese Super Ninjas & Magnificent Butcher.
Now of course the list could be a little off here or there (and I'd love to see yours -- I might learn of some new title that's been hiding from me) but you get the general idea and you know where I'm coming from.
I just wanted to establish that so that you guys wouldn't mistake me for someone who was amazed or bedazzled by all of the flying around and pretty colors in knock-off Kung-Fu films such as The Promise, House of Flying Daggers, and Hero (with the exception of Jet vs. Donnie Yen at the beginning).
To support the bold statement that I made at the beginning, I want you guys to think for one second: if you had to vote for an actor/director duo that would be responsible for creating a hypothetical best Kung-Fu film of all time, who would get your vote?
I'm sure that somewhere near the top of the list you'd have Jet Li and Yuen Woo Ping. The team responsible for bringing us the magic that is Fearless.
Okay, so you've all heard of Bruce Lee? And perhaps you've seen his film Chinese Connection (Fist of Fury)? "You killed my teacher!!!" Well although the movie was fictional, the character that Bruce Lee's teacher was based upon, Huo Yuanjia (Fok Yuen Gap) was pretty far from make believe.
The movie Fearless is a biopic based upon this great master's life. (Donnie Yen is taking it a step further with the IP MAN series)
But Fearless chronicles the interesting arc of Yuanjia's life from sheltered child to proud streetfighter to real-life hero and Kung Fu master.
As a kid, Yuanjia's father was a top notch master who forbid his son from learning Kung-Fu.
It is never really shown when or where Yuanjia learned to fight, but by the time he reaches adulthood, he's more than capable of kicking the ass of all of the town's masters.
Well except one.
Circumstances force Yuanjia to leave his village in search of something. It is on this quest that many of life's mysteries are unraveled to him.
He returns to his village only to find his country invaded by white foreigners.
And one very unfortunate (or fortunate depending upon what you learn during the film) western wrestler who made the mistake of calling the people of China "Sick Men of Asia".
It's here where Yuanjia realizes the importance of entering into a competition to fight a representative from the invading countries.
And it's here that history is made.
Three things bothered me when I heard they we making this film:
1) I thought Jet Li's act of portraying Bruce Lee's master was some sorta subtle message to us that was supposed to say, "I've superseded Bruce."
2) That all of the fights would be set in the arena. (Boy was I way off-base with these first two. Totally wrong.)
And 3) This was rumored to be Jet Li's last martial arts film. Not as hype or because he was tired but simply because Jet felt like he communicated all that he could about Wushu in this film.
He surely did.
Physically: Fighting with five different types of weapons and going hand to hand and foot to ass.
Wu-Shu in theory: Some of my favorite scenes in the film are non-physical segments. Like when Yuanjia has tea with his Japanese opponent and they discuss the meaning of difference.
Brilliance.
Or any of the tidbits of wisdom that his mom and would-be girlfriend impart upon him.
My favourite is the nugget that his girl gives him about people and their space.
I'm not gonna spoil it for you and break down each of the fights. All I can say is that they are ample, placed well and never forced or given as a token scene.
And although there are nine fight scenes (nine!), the film still manages to come off as a powerful moving drama.
I heard and saw a few pics of a fighting scene that was actually cut. The rumored scene involves Yuanjia kicking the ass of one of those Thai guys.
The scene may have been in response to the Tony Jaa fever. Maybe it was cut because so much of this film is personal and maybe Jet didn't want to offend the Thai people. Or perhaps it got cut for time and tone.
It is rumoured to take place at a point in the movie where they are trying to relax on the asskickin (yes, it's that much action).
Slowing down works so well coupled with the law of diminishing returns (as in if a movie packs fight scene after fight scene the response and impact will diminish as more fight scenes are shown).
I'm assuming that might be a reason they cut it.
There was also supposed to been some Michelle Yeoh scenes that were cut.
Doesn't really matter, the footage that made the final edit is perfect.
Flawless choreography.
Jet Li in top form.
Wide shots of speed matched with grace and intricate moves. No flying around here.
I only wish that Donnie Yen would return to this sort of filmmaking and stop associating his name with sloppiness like Twins Effect II and SPL (yes the overhyped alley scene was sloppy with two guys just moving back and forth wriggling knives and batons at each other).
But back to Fearless. This is the new movie that martial-arts film fans have been waiting to recommend to introduce the genre to their friends with. It's the kind of movie that people will see and ask you, "Well what else do you have like that?"
This flick moves away from being a superior Kung-Fu movie and not only crosses over to being a great stand alone film in any genre but also as an experience that you feel.
I'd like to take this time out to say thank you, Jet. I am very grateful. Please don't let this be your last. We need you out here.
Jet Li. Fearless.
Seek this film out.
Side Note: For those of you that have seen it, did Yuanjia restrain himself as the final lesson or was he incapable? I wasn't sure.
Also, you guys, I've seen the Banelieu (or District) 13 French movie. No, it's not gonna revolutionize martial-arts movies. Yes, it's heavily edited (as in one or a half a move per shot). But it's still action-packed. In fact, I'd say it's classic action for fans of the genre. Solid action. Recommended with foresight. (not foreskin, you perverts!)
[one more note, I've since seen the cut Thai scene on the directors cut DVD]
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