• Movies

by TheDCD on 05.22.11

It’s kind of weird how Donnie Yen is following in the footsteps of Jet Li and Bruce Lee when it comes to playing the legendary role of Chen Zhen.  Lee played the role in the 1972 epic Fist of Fury, and Li followed up with it later in the immensely satisfying Fist of Legend.  Now we have Legend of the Fist, with Yen giving his all as the World War I hero who makes a name for himself in Shanghai, befriending a local mafia boss by day and donning a mysterious warrior get-up by night to battle a corrupt Colonel and his murderous army.

No, the story isn’t important here.  Andrew Lau does try to build character through Zhen’s brothers, who fought alongside him in Europe (or rather, watched him do all sorts of derring-do while providing secondary support), but by the end, most of it crumbles thanks to a somewhat jumbled tone.  Shu Qi also makes an appearance as a lounge singer who isn’t quite what she seems, but just when her relationship with Chen Zhen (well, his alter ego anyway) begins to blossom, it just as quickly falls apart.

But you don’t go to a Donnie Yen film hoping to get fulfillment of story – you go to see him kick ass.  And while there’s a slight lull of action sequences in the middle of the movie, there are still enough to go around.  The opening European battle is dazzling to watch, as Yen darts around bullets and single-handedly takes out a fleet of soldiers using his speed and agility.  He’s still a pleasure to watch, just as he’s been all these years.  And his final battle, culminating against the Colonel and his devoted students, is a sight to behold.  He clearly channels Lee as he swings around nunchucks and cuts a group of bamboo stick-holding warriors down to size, while nary breaking a sweat.

Andrew Lau’s action directing takes some getting used to, as he prefers the “quick cut” style of editing that a lot of Hollywood actors have gotten used to.  Still, he’s got a brilliant production team, who recreate the old showtime mood of Shanghai almost perfectly, as well as the gritty village connected to it.  It should also be noted that some of the actors are fun to watch as well.  Shu Qi is still easy on the eyes as always, and the dude playing the police inspector gets his chance to shine as well – despite being paired with a sometimes brash English actor.

But it’s Yen’s show here.  His presence is second to none, and he manages to capture every bit of essence in Chen Zhen, just as well as his predecessors did.  His fight scenes are awesome for the most part, and his attitude throughout shows that he’s definitely game.  If anyone deserves to have the same stature as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, it’s this guy.  After the Ip Man films and this, I can definitely see his career starting to blossom.  About damn time, too.

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen isn’t quite everything it should’ve been.  It could’ve used a better story and some improved fleshing out of characters.  But when it comes to kicking butt Donnie Yen style, it gets the job done.  And for most of us, that’ll be sufficient enough.