Fearless
Reviewed by YTSL
Once upon a time (and not so long ago), Hong Kong
movie viewers could look forward to checking out two distinct kinds of movies
over the Chinese New Year holiday period. One of these was an invariably
star-studded and often nonsensical comedy; examples of which include “The
Eagle Shooting Heroes”, “All’s Well, Ends Well”, “A Chinese Odyssey 2002”,
“Fantasia” and this year’s “Shopaholics”. The other would be the Jackie
Chan action vehicle – a category of film which hasn’t appeared to grace the
festive scene in recent years.
In the latter’s absence, the 21st century action alternatives offered until
now have tended to comprise lighter – and lesser – fare like “Tokyo Raiders”,
“Seoul Raiders” and Michelle Yeoh’s shambolic “Silver Hawk”. However,
in 2006, has come the hard-kicking FEARLESS: A bona fide martial arts offering
cum admittedly imagined material-infused historical bio-pic directed by Ronny
Yu, and starring no less than Jet Li, which not only ups the action quotient
to new heights but also takes a surprisingly serious and didactic, even if
arguably ultimately uplifting, tone for a beginning-of-the-year release.
Huo Yuanjia (AKA Fok Yuen-gap when pronounced the Cantonese way) was a real
life martial artist who lived from 1868 to 1910. One of China’s most
celebrated kung fu exponents, he thus far has been best known to Hong Kong
movie audiences as the respected master of the vengeful hero portrayed by
Bruce Lee in “Fist of Fury” and, a couple of decades later, by Jet Li in
“Fist of Legend”. Alternatively put: in two major Hong Kong films,
it was not so much the life of the legendary founder of the Jing Wu Men School
of martial arts which was celebrated but more so that the notorious circumstances
of his premature death were highlighted and identified as a catalyst for
action by another (i.e., Chen Zhen, the heroic disciple whose fame – at least
for contemporary movie audiences – thus eclipsed his master’s).
In contrast, FEARLESS seeks to imbue a super-heroic sheen on to Huo Yuanjia
by emphasizing his bravura fighting skills but also his admirable defence
of Chinese honor in the face of foreign belittlement and cultural colonialism
along with his imbibing and espousing of the true spirit of martial arts.
And all these elements come together in impressively choreographed (by master
Yuen Woo-Ping) plus expertly enacted contests against foreign opponents (most
notably the ones essayed by the charismatic Nakamura Shidou and the man-mountain
that’s Nathan Jones) which bookmark the film and display Huo’s (and Jet Li’s)
prowess in the use of a traditional Chinese sword, spear and three-section-staff
as well as with “empty hands”.
At the same time though, those who worry that FEARLESS is an overly jingoistic
effort can rest assured that Huo Yuanjia – the son of a powerful kungfu master
who, this fact notwithstanding, was not taught kungfu in his youth, and was
asthmatic to boot -- also had his share of Chinese foes and opponents.
Also, as his wise woman of a mother perennially sought to point out, and
he, who initially perfected his martial artistic skills at the expense of
training his mind and cultivating a moral outlook, would eventually and dramatically
realize, his biggest and main enemy actually would come from within.
What all this translates into in cinematic terms is a mature celluloid offering
with plenty of kick-ass fight action (that’s splendidly shot by Poon Hang
Sang) but also an instructive life-story and quite a bit of soul. Jet
Li fans will also be undoubtedly thrilled to learn that if FEARLESS truly
is, as the man has himself sadly hinted, Jet Li’s last martial arts movie,
than it is a thoroughly fitting cap on that section of his film career; and
not just because, as they watch it, they will see scenes that should bring
to mind certain other Jet Li movie highlights like “Fong Sai Yuk”, “Swordsman
II”, “Tai Chi Master”, “Once Upon a Time in China” and “Fist of Legend” but,
also, because this sterling Mainland China-Hong Kong co-production is a masterwork
which would sit comfortably among that exalted company.
My rating for this film: 9.
Pictures from mov3.com
Other "View from the Brooklyn Bridge" Film Raters:
Brian: 8.0
Steve: 8.0
Sarah: 8.5