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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
Focusing on modern history rather than ancient myth, Jet Li’s “Fearless” is that rare martial arts flick that unapologetically taps into Chinese nationalism and pride. In the process, it also offers some heart to go with that kick.
It tells the story of martial arts master Huo Yuanjia, founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation, which today has branches all over the world. What begins as another epic battle by one fighter for ego, revenge and championship status evolves into a struggle for a country’s national psyche under the boot of the British empire.
It all makes for an absorbing tale, which gets the kind of production treatment usually reserved for Chinese films of the art house variety. Bill Kong, responsible for the look and feel of 2002’s stunning “Hero” is the producer here. Combine this kind of quality with characters that aren’t
cardboard cut-outs of good versus evil and add Jet’s Li’s kick-ass fight sequences and you have a martial arts rarity indeed—for mass American audiences anyway. You also have a high-powered action flick which, unlike, say, “Crank,” breaks out of the confines of being a guy flick and actually qualifies as a date movie.
The setting is Tianjin, where the young Huo is growing up as the son of a known fighter. But because Yuanjia is somewhat sickly with asthma, his father does not want him to learn to fight. But the boy is insistent and, after his father’s death, takes up fight training with relish, eventually becoming the best fighter in his region.
The fight sequences, during Huo’s rise to prominence, throughout his tenure as a cocky martial arts master and during his years as a figure of national pride, are quick-paced and furious. Choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, (too many to mention—“The Matrix,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Iron Monkey,” “Unleashed”…), many scenes take place at various elevations that require fighters to stay sure-footed or fall to injury or death. Yuen’s signature choreography makes ample use of this added element of danger, staging kicks and spins that sometimes defy gravity but always add to the intensity of the moment.
The historical element adds more meaning to the fight sequences. (Though they are, in throwback mode, void of women.) One open-air match, when Huo invites all of his challengers to fight him at once, reminds me vaguely of the final scene in “The One,” when Jet Li fends off a bunch of hooligans. But while the scene in “The One” was stiff and almost comedic, the scene in “Fearless” feels at least plausible, as does a later scene when Huo takes on a European fighter who has vowed to beat all Chinese men, who he calls the “weak men of the East.”
The production notes for this film describe “Fearless” as Jet Li’s final martial arts masterpiece. It certainly has that feel, with Li, depicting Huo’s later years, appearing with silver hair in the long braid that hangs down his back. It seems fitting that Li’s finale centers on a story that touches not only on real Chinese history but also on the physical and spiritual foundations of the art he practices. Weak man indeed!
Iverem's most recent book is Living in Babylon and a collection of her reviews, essays and interviews on Black film, We Gotta Have It, is forthcoming.
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