Birth of the Dragon

Like many famous people, the experiences of martial arts icon Bruce Lee before he became famous are not well-known, but are crucial to understanding the person he became. The man the world came to know as Bruce Lee was born Lee Jun-fat in San Francisco on November 27, 1940, in the Chinese "Year of the Dragon". His father was a Chinese opera star who was touring the U.S. at the time, but took his family back to their native Hong Kong shortly before Japan invaded. After World War II ended, Lee's father resumed his earlier film career and Bruce began appearing on screen as a child actor. As he continued making movies, Bruce also began learning Chinese martial arts, first from his father and then from the famous Wing Chun master teacher Yip Man. Bruce was getting into a lot of street fights, which he usually won, but when he was 18, amid rumored threats to his life, his parents sent him to live with his older sister in San Francisco. Just months later, Lee moved to Seattle where he finished high school, went to college and began teaching martial arts, eventually opening his own studio. When he was 23, he moved to Oakland, California to live with locally famous martial artist James Yimm Lee, with whom he opened his second studio. Bruce himself became well-known throughout the Bay Area and beyond. He sought ways to increase the momentum of his martial arts career and to translate that into a show business career. He also began to evolve as a martial artist. This is the period of Bruce Lee's life that is chronicled (and fictionalized) in the 2017 martial arts action movie "Birth of the Dragon" (PG-13, 1:43).

In 1964, Bruce Lee (Philip Ng) is a skilled and cocky master teacher running his own Bay Area martial arts studio. He also has some of his students appear in crude Kung Fu movies which Lee produces, directs, writes and stars in. Lee is a controversial figure, both in central California and even back in Asia for his teaching emphasis on "kicking ass" over spirituality, for turning Kung Fu into mass entertainment and (especially) for teaching Caucasians. One of those students is Steve McKee (Billy Magnussen, playing a fictionalized version of actor Steve McQueen, a real-life student of Lee's). Steve is a promising student, but increasingly has doubts about Lee's philosophy and whether Lee can help him reach his potential.

And then Lee learns that a famous Chinese martial artist Wong Jack Man (Yu Xia) is coming to San Francisco, but isn't sure why. He thinks it's because Wong wants to spy on him. Or maybe Wong wants to punish Lee for teaching Kung Fu to whites. Either way, Lee is unswayed and unafraid. Steve's attitude is different, however. He is intrigued by the new arrival and eventually gravitates to Wong and his more spiritual approach to life – and Kung Fu – and tries to persuade the master to take him on as a student. Meanwhile, Steve becomes an intermediary between Lee and Wong, delivering messages between the two rivals as they challenge each other and then negotiate the terms of one decisive, high-stakes fight.

This is where the veracity of the film's story gets even murkier. The set-up for this battle royale involves a fictional young Chinese woman named Xiulan (Jingjing Qu). She, as many others like her, was brought to the U.S. by a Chinese crime lord called Auntie Blossom (Jin Xing) who forces these girls into servitude – sometimes of the domestic variety – and sometimes in one of her "houses". Steve falls in love with Xiulan and wants to free her from her virtual slavery. Xiulan's fate becomes part of the motivation for the Lee-Wong match. Such a fight between the two men did actually take place, but it happened indoors, it was not filmed and there were relatively few witnesses. Consequently, reports of the fight – from how long it lasted to who won – have varied widely from the very beginning and remain a source of controversy to this day. The movie's portrayal of the fight is very entertaining and it does take sides in how it shows the fight playing out, but the actual fight sequence and its aftermath in the film's story can only be viewed from the perspective of significant creative license. However, one aspect of the fight's result does stand on its own merits. That being the significant impact the fight had on Lee's continuing rise to fame and on his style as a martial artist. No spoilers here, but you can read all about it online.

"Birth of the Dragon" is an entertaining piece of biopic fiction. But Movie Fans' reactions will depend on how they view the large amount of fictionalization in the story (including forcing that story into a recognizable Hollywood formula) – and what they think of how the climactic fight is portrayed. Based on Michael Dorgan's article, "Bruce Lee's Toughest Fight", screen writing partners (and Oscar nominees) Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson ("Nixon", "Ali", "Pawn Sacrifice") and director George Nolfi ("The Adjustment Bureau") give us an interesting version of actual events. Action movie and martial arts fans will likely be entertained, while dedicated Bruce Lee fans will probably be intrigued, if nothing else. (Although some will find the emphasis on Steve McKee's character unnecessarily distracting). Through the pleasing efforts of the filmmakers, the serviceable acting of the supporting cast and the fairly strong performances of Phillip Ng, Yu Xia and Billy Rasmussen, Movie Fans get an unspectacular, but enjoyable story which reveals at least some truths about the rise of one of the greatest and most influential martial artists of all time. "B+"

That this movie is being released now just proves that people are still completely ignorant and easily fooled. And will buy anything with the name Bruce Lee attached.

"Based on a true story" except all the "facts" are completely made up. Let's make Wong a Shaolin monk. The fact he had nothing to do with the Shaolin temple and wasn't a monk doesn't really matter. Let's put him in some monk robes because, you know, that's cool....

Let's completely avoid the real reasons why the fight happened. Let's avoid what really happened in the fight.

Let's go back to the story about "teaching whites" that Linda Lee made up and has been debunked for YEARS. The already established teachers in California were already teaching non-Chinese. Wong himself taught non-Chinese.

Let's pretend a demonstration that wasn't well received was a real fight that impressed everyone immediately.

Honestly, not sure who should be more ashamed, the people who buy this schlock or the people who had the nerve to make it

I it nice to watch a movie that you are curious about, without any expectations, and then be very pleasantly surprised. I have to thank all the haters out there for making this experience even better than it would have been. Without elaborating to much, this is a really nice, fun movie with a good solid cast and some great moments on the screen. By writing this review I wanted to restore a little balance into the mix, considering the bad reviews this movie has been getting. By just looking at this low rating I can tell a lot of people have missed the point of this movie, at least what I think the point was. By elaborating a little bit more, what happened here was a case of taking a past unrecorded event and making a movie around it by making assumptions and filling in the blanks and thus creating something new. All I can say is that the crew make this process work pretty good. This movie doesn't give you a very accurate history lesson but it has a purpose non the less. A part of that purpose was to give us a little bit of a different version of Bruce Lee and his story. This movie didn't idealize him which in my opinion was a great move because it made Bruce Lee seem like a more relatable person, flawed and a little immature at the time. This movies statement was that he was a genius, talented, charismatic, but also probably a little cocky, arrogant and immature in his beginnings as a teacher. I'm not making assumptions on the authenticity of his character but I like that this wasn't a typical hero that wins the day story. Just at the very end it turns it around to give us the moral of the story which is in my opinion the best part of the movie. When you think you know everything, life tells you otherwise. In summation I would definitely recommend this movie because it has a lot going for it. If nothing else, there is some nice philosophy, plus some good martial art fights. Most importantly, Bruce Lee remains a very cool guy thanks to a great cast. A nice surprise.

This movie is a disgrace to the memory of Bruce Lee. Making him a secondary character in a movie supposedly about him. I think its an utter disgrace of a modern day legend. I can't wait for the new movie coming out about Bruce produced by Shannon Lee and some Asian media companies "Little Dragon" I believe its called. It's about the early years of Bruce's life in Hong Kong. I'M a true follower of Bruce's work and can't wait for Shannon to get this film under way. I'll be in the front row with a tub of popcorn and dressed in the yellow and black jump suit with my nun-chucks tucked in my belt. Shannon you're the princess of Jeet Kune Do. It's up to you where to go with "Little Dragon" but wherever it is i'll follow... by the way I saw some of the reviews and I got to say its not about whether the main focus is on a white guy or a black guy or Asian guy or even a Latino. its the fact that the focus isn't where it should be. Remember Bruce didn't care about ethnicity he taught everyone equally. his wife Linda is white his kids are part white. the way some of you criticize this movie sounds kind of like you're discriminating against the fact the Steve McKee character is white. When the its not about color it's about the fact this is a crap movie. It's not accurate and its a just a sh*t movie, that's it!

I was at first put off by the trailers of the film because the street alley scene and certain dialogue lines seemed cheesy without context, however in the progression of the full film they play their part just fine.

In the idea that the "birth of the dragon" was the transition from Bruce Lee's generic focus of Kung Fu and other martial arts into the consolidated uniform art of Jeet Kune Do, this movie highlighted the event that sparked that transition in an entertaining way. Combining some historical information with an enticing cinematic focus, intertwined with some fictional inclusions of characters and story for the sake of making it an entertainment film rather than direct informational documentary, I was satisfied overall with the viewing and find that it paid decent homage to the memory of Bruce Lee by showing a human element of imperfection during the beginning of his career.

Allowing us to see into the information of his time before becoming a cultural icon was refreshing, and influenced me to read into Lee's history during those years and before. Again, the film does include uses of fictional elements in order to help propel the story in a standard acceptable for entertaining viewership, and as such does not convey an entirely truthful set of events, only a summary with cinematic filler.

I recommend seeing this film to see what you think of it, and afterwards reading about the events around the conflict between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man yourself, as there are some interesting details to be found.