Legend of the Wolf
Director: Donnie Yen
Year: 1997
Rating: 5.0
Near the end of
the film someone says to Fung Man-hin played by Donnie Yen "You are a man
of ego" and I thought you got that right. By 1997 Yen had established himself
as one of the more skillful martial artists in Hong Kong action films though
he had come at it from a unique direction - from Massachusetts USA where
his mother had taught martial arts at her dojo. Arriving back in Hong Kong
in the early 1980's he first was in a couple of goofy action comedies - then
some solid but low budget action films - but then beginning in 1992 he made
it into some of the premier films - Dragon Inn, Once Upon a Time in China
II, Iron Monkey and Wing Chun. But he was rarely the top star and fans just
didn't seem to like him all that much - mainly because he just had mastered
one expression really and always looked blank faced with zero personality
behind it.
So no doubt he thought it was time to produce,
direct and star in his own film where he could call all the shots. Well,
the shots were called and Yen comes across in this film with that same expression
and it just feels like an ego project - ego-plasma covers the screen in layers
of self-love and constantly being bare-chested. Now when he is not staring
into the distance or uttering profound banalities - there are some interesting
action scenes. Pretty much the final 20 minutes of the film is one big action
extravaganza with enough dead bodies to make a line from Kowloon to Wanchai.
In that sense it feels like a Japanese
samurai film from the 1970's in how quick, copious and bloody it is. Zatoichi
x 5. Too quick in fact. Yen films the action scenes in a really peculiar
manner - cranked up to 100 and with astonishingly fast edits so that much
of the action is a blur of swinging arms, swords and gushing blood. From
one perspective it looks rather cool; from another it is frustrating because
it feels so unreal. Finally though Yen has two fights - one on one - against
a monkey style fighter (Mak Wai-cheung) and one against the bandit leader
(Ben Lam) and they are good - and you wish more of the film had been like
that.
In terms of plot - well - pretty basic
when you get right down to it and throw out the mystical sword nonsense.
It is framed around someone tracking down the Wolf - a legend as a killer
- on the computer and setting up a meeting with him to either kill him or
have him kill someone. This is modern day Hong Kong and Fung is an old man
as is his long time friend and follower (Dayo Wong). Between the two of them
they tell this man the Legend of the Wolf in flashbacks - that at one point
also have flashbacks. Fung shows up at a small village not knowing who he
is anymore. There he meets Dayo and also the girl he left behind years ago
and can't remember - the lovely Carman Lee in a thankless role as the girl
who has waited all this time. There are also like a zillion bandits who want
to kill him for something he doesn't remember. And that is about it.
Yen was to direct the equally off-beat
action film The Ballistic Kiss the following year in which as a professional
killer he woo's Annie Wu with "I won’t kill you. But I can break your legs
or your arms or ruin your face. Shhh - just watch the sunset". I have been
meaning to use that pick up line for years now but it never felt quite the
right time.