Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Imagine that an amateur screenwriter shat out a vomit draft and said, "That's Oscar-worthy!" Well, that pretty much describes this mumbled action flick.

In fairness, the script - or final cut - could have been messed up by anyone, so I won't blame the writer, but as an espionage-cum-action thriller, the film is a total dud.

If you're a fan of Donnie Yen (like me!), you'll watch this regardless of how bad anyone tells you it is, and where the big fight at the end nets it an extra star, please don't let the 4/10 fool you into believing that this is half-way decent, because it really is one of the worst Donnie films I've sat through. Which is a shame, because Shu Qi looks as gorgeous as ever and really pours a lot of emotion into her role... which only further highlights how badly the final film lets down both of its main stars.

Although the narrative gets convoluted at times, the historical setting of the Chinese labor corps sent to aid the allied war effort during world war 1 is historically factual ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Labour_Corps ), though it has been largely forgotten.

the Chinese intelligentsia also successfully mounted pressure to cause Japan to delay full scale aggression until the 30s ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-One_Demands )

this movie is essentially a big budget hong kong action movie produced as a homage to Bruce Lee. At times it strives to be too many homages at once with Donnie Yen resurrecting both Kato AND Chen Zhen ( Fist of Fury).

It shouldn't be conceived as Chinese propaganda (anymore than any of the Bruce Lee movies were) or anti-Japanese, as long as you understand that the Chinese truly were the underdogs back then.

in fact, the young Japanese actor playing the colonel totally stole the show.

The best thing about "Legend of the Fist" is that it features some of the most spectacular acrobatic prowess to come from the great Donnie Yen. Unfortunately, these moments of awe inspiring nirvana appear in fits and starts after long, long moments of exposition.

If this movie had a strong story, like Donnie Yen's "Kill Zone" with it's engaging plot about police corruption and the consequences of pursuing vengeance, all this exposition could be forgiven. However, the story is about Yen playing a Zorro-like folk hero, who dresses like Bruce Lee in 'The Green Hornet'. What should be a rollicking adventure instead becomes a violent drama about China's occupation by the Japanese. Granted, Donnie Yen's best film, "Ip Man" was also about the Chinese occupation; but that film managed a perfect balance between drama and spectacular action.

I would almost dismiss "Legend of the Fist" altogether; but then Yen does a flip, a jump, a punch, a kick and my jaw hits the floor.

Where to start….? Watched it on Netflix, and was really excited for the first 10 minutes because for once in my lifetime I finally came across a MA movie that's not telling me the story about how the Chinese being invaded from whomever for whatever reasons.

I was wrong, miserably wrong.

At one point I was still looking at Donne Yan killing German solider in the Western battlefield, minutes later he became Chen Zhen (played by Bruce Lee in the 1972 blockbuster, "Fist of Fury") in a black suit kicking Japanese's asses. Don't get me wrong, the fight scenes are crystal clear, fast, and furious; but for every 5 minutes fight scene comes a 35 minutes "Chinese trying so hard to be united against the Japanese", I just couldn't help but to skip through the so-called "acting" part. I knew what's coming next, you probably knew too, in fact everyone who have ever watched a MA movie would have known exactly what's going to happen next.

This is not about being incredibly stereotypical, this is not about absolutely zero character development; this is not even about being predictable. This is about the epic failure of the Chinese movie industry, the fact that they DO NOT have the brain power to think of anything new that's suitable in a movie to tie with Martial Art.

To conclude this, history is history, we do not need another and another and yet another movie to emphasis the past. We won't be nemesis trying to revenge the Japanese, this is not "glorious bastard", and we do not want to fall back in the same pattern and same routine, that's why we study history.

And Just a side note, never did a single Chinese troop fought outside of Asia during WW1, try harder next time.

Previously this year, there were "True Legend", "14 Blades", "The Legend is Born: Ip Man" and the breathtaking "Ip Man 2". They have been well- made and enjoyable. September brings up another Donnie Yen flick: "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen".

The movie was actually not bad at all. The acting was not really bad at all and everything was fine. But, why a 6?

First, unlike "Ip Man 2", the movie didn't get to roam many places as the setting like previous martial art flicks. Instead, most of the movie or at least 85% of the movie took place in a club. That made the movie look pretty dull and boring. I just wanted more locations and explore more of Chen Zhen's world rather than staying in a club doing nothing; in the club, there were only some non-action stuff and they were boring.

Secondly, the climactic moment. What the hell happened to Chen Zhen. It's just so strange if you watch the climactic scene. In other words, you're facing a tough enemy and you didn't even get to hit him once in the first round. Suddenly, you rose and the enemy didn't get to hit you once. So "what the hell happened". It's just perfectly shot in the first part and it just suddenly drops in the second round.

Thirdly, why did Donnie Yen do the signature "haya" noises of Bruce Lee. I didn't hear any of those noises in the first movie. What happened to Chen Zhen? It's just so bizarre and unnecessary.

For the others, they were fine. The music was satisfying enough to raise suspense for the movie and the action scenes were perfectly directed. Nothing wrong with the others.

However, the movie does show quite some semi-nude scenes which were pretty disturbing. Compared to "Ip Man 2", "Chen Zhen" has bloodier action scenes.

Overall, the martial action movie was enjoyable and worth to be watched. Only those three things spoil the enjoyment of the film.

Prince AJB's rating: 6/10 or 60%

Thanks for reading my review and hope it is useful.