The Master

In "The Master", one of his earliest and relatively little-seen flicks, Jet Li is basically placed in a fish-out-of-water situation: he comes from Hong Kong to America (knowing only a few words of English) to visit his old kung fu teacher, is followed everywhere by three Mexican small-time crooks who want him to teach them the martial arts, and tries to protect his teacher's shop from a gang led by a rival kung fu master. The main problem with the film is that it lacks urgency: much like the bad guy in Jackie Chan's "Thunderbolt", the villain has no real motive for his actions apart from wanting to prove that he is "the best". To put it in his own words: "When I finish with you, I'll go to China and beat all the kung fu teachers there!". But it has some pretty funny moments (watch Jet describing his experiences on his first day in America), great (if sometimes brief) fight sequences, and even a warm message about interracial friendship and acceptance: those Mexicans may seem like silly stereotypes at first, but if you think about it, the movie shows how people can overcome the barriers of their different races and languages to work together and help each other. (**1/2)

this is tsui hark's tribute to the 'golden age' of hong Kong chop-socky kung-fu films. although set in los Angeles, tsui makes sure he has most of the better known clichés at work here - the 'school-against-school' clash, the reluctant fighter who wants to avoid violence, the training sequence, questions of loyalty between masters and students, etc.

the film, to be properly appreciated, has to be seen in this light. it is not intended to be a typical jet Li film or typical tsui hark film; it's intended to be a Bruce-lee-clone-film of the later '70s.

in fact in some ways this reminds one of 'Ta e kou' aka 'the godfather from hong Kong' aka 'the godfather squad' starring Bruce Liang, a little known - but surprisingly effective - chop-socky effort to cash in on lee's 'return of the dragon'.

given that, the Li-tsui movie has to be given credit as both amusing and entertaining for fight fans - the kung-fu here is really top-notch.

one word of caution - the violence here goes over the top once or twice, and the film really needs to be seen by mature audiences, especially those familiar with the genre it pays tribute to.

I checked this out because I wanted to see Jet Li and Jerry Trimble go at it. And for the first hour of the movie, I was disappointed with a slow-moving, mediocre action film. But, man, was I in for a treat that last half hour or so - specifically the final fight scene (where Li and Trimble REALLY square off) which delivered all the goods I was expecting, and then more. Viewed on one of the old "Jet Li Collection" DVDs that Dimension released in the early 2000s, so poor video quality and an awful dub were expected and didn't detract from, what turned out to be, an overall above average martial-arts films, solidified by the engaging final act and a powerhouse fight scene.

Also, Trimble's mullet must be noted. That thing was mighty.

While "The Master" (aka "Lung hang tin haa") is not the best of all the Jet Li movies, then it is a fairly entertaining movie in itself. The mixture of Asian and Western film-making isn't something that speaks to just everyone. I wonder if Jackie Chan took influence from this movie for the 1995 "Rumble in the Bronx" movie as there are so many similarities.

Personally, I found "The Master" to have a bit too much comedy, as it is not something that is usually associated with Jet Li movies. And the dialogue was also quite bad at times.

The action and martial arts was well-choreographed and executed, which was as expected. And this is what keeps the movie interesting.

If you enjoy Jet Li movies then there are far better movies available. But at least it should be seen once if you enjoy his movies and martial arts skills.

"The Master" is entertaining enough for what it is, but don't expect anything extraordinary.

I noticed there wasn't a lot of information on this movie, along with some low rating and negative reviews. Nonetheless, I vowed to own every Jet Li movie, so I had to buy this and watch it. And I must say, I was positively surprised!

Jet Li plays the student of Uncle Tak (Yuen Wah), who is a kung fu master and has established a shop for traditional Chinese medical treatment in America. Meanwhile there is an "evil" martial arts club that causes trouble, challenging and beating up kung fu masters all over town. Only with the help of Jet can these hooligans be stopped.

You can't enjoy this movie if you over-analyze every detail and point out the goofs, which are rather numerous. "The Master" is probably one of Jet's goofier movies, with a lot of miscommunication jokes and silly sidekicks. If this isn't your deal, try focusing on the great non-wired action scenes with Jet Li and Yuen Wah, who are both excellent fighters. All in all, this movie isn't for everyone, and it's definitely not Jet Li's best by far. HOWEVER, if you consider yourself a true Jet Li fan and can withstand some silly humor, then you should definitely see this movie. The fights were surprisingly good, which made me enjoy "The Master".