MARTIAL ARTS BIOGRAPHY MOVIES part 1

Alright, check this out: You want to watch an interesting and fun triple feature?  Watch, in order:  FEARLESS starring Jet Li, then, FISTS OF FURY (Chinese Connection) with Bruce Lee, followed by FIST OF LEGEND with Jet Li.  These three movies follow the story of the Chin Woo School of Martial Arts… kinda.  Okay, most of us are familiar with FISTS OF FURY’s storyline.  Basically Chen Zen, Bruce Lee, returns from Japan to Shanghai after learning his teacher, Master Huo, was poisoned in a match against a Japanese opponent.  He finds out the Japanese are responsible for his teacher’s death calling the Chinese “Sick Man of Asia”.  Chen Zen exacts revenge against all those responsible, beating the schnuggies out of the Japanese martial artist and a few others.

            FIST OF LEGEND is a re-telling of that story.  This time Jet Li portrays the lead character, Chen Zen, as an ultra- heroic man; different from the revenge obsessed killing machine that Bruce Lee portrayed.  Both movies stand alone on their merits.  Both movies are the writer’s and director’s views of that situation so they tell the story in the way they believe is the most appealing and cinematic.  (One major difference is the portrayal of the Japanese in each movie.  Another difference is that Bruce Lee’s movie takes place about 1908, “Legend” takes place 20 years later, around 1938 or so.) 

            FEARLESS is the “prequel” to both movies, telling the story of Master Huo and what happened before Chen Zen returns to Shanghai.  As good as these movies are, there is a major problem, especially with FEARLESS.  Audiences believe that this is a “Bio Pic” or the true biography of Master Huo Yuan Ji, the founder of the Chin Woo School.  Unfortunately it is not.  Sad to say, but this is a typical martial arts bio-pic, a story based on the truth, based on Master Huo; not his true story.  (I would say it’s a typical Hollywood bio-pic, but it wasn’t a Hollywood production.)   

            Anyone remotely familiar with Master Huo’s life and the Chin Woo School would see the “errors” in the story.  One of the largest, most obvious error in the movie is that he had only one child.  In fact Master Huo had a number of children and grandchildren who survive to this day! 

            Watch the movie as just a movie, do not try to “learn some history” from it.  FEARLESS is a pretty good movie, it has a lot of interesting fight scenes.  As the true story of Master Huo and the Chin Woo school…ah....um….no!

MORE movies next time.....