Filmmaker Andrew Lau is betting that audiences are ready for a fresh take on Chen Zhen, the student of kung fu master Huo Yuanjia who became an icon of Chinese national empowerment after Bruce Lee portrayed him in FIST OF FURY in 1972. Lau has cast Donnie Yen in the role of what will be a kung fu-fighting hero upgraded to superspy in THE LEGEND OF CHEN ZHEN. China’s CCTV has aired the first video footage from this upcoming martial arts action thriller. Although very short, it offers a glimpse of the superhero-style action we can expect from the film. Check it out below.
While China is traumatized by military cliques during the Warlord Era in the 1920s, Shanghai is the cynosure of all eyes. People see it as both Hell’s Kitchen and Heaven’s Gate. One of the city’s most memorable heroes has to be Chen Zhen, who single-handedly avenges his mentor’s death by killing all the Japanese at a dojo in Hongkou, only to be showered with bullets while making his legendary flying kick. Vanished from the public eye ever since, he has been taken for dead though his body is never found.
Seven years later, a wealthy entrepreneur called Koo returns from abroad and makes a grand entrance on the Shanghai social scene by befriending the notorious mafia boss of the city. This mysterious man is none other than Chen Zhen in disguise who dwells in a world of nefarious means in order to infiltrate the criminal empire. He soon discovers a clandestine collusion between the mafia and the Japanese.
Disguised as a caped crusader at night, Chen sets out to dismantle with his martial arts skill the evil collusion that plagues the country. One of his foremost missions is to ferret out the assassination list prepared by the Japanese.
My initial thought is that this looks promising. With comic book action all the rage in Hollywood, Hong Kong action filmmakers have longed needed to step up and provide some credible, stylized martial arts action to compete that doesn’t simply rely on fantasy effects or wuxia conventions. What I’m seeing looks a bit like combative parkour but with the detailed, earthy period setting and high-impact martial arts that Hong Kong and Chinese cinema is known for.
What I’m really liking is that this film appears to be following the likes of BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, THE WARLORDS and KUNG FU HUSTLE in generating robust action setpieces that can actually compete with Hollywood when it comes to production scale. Hopefully, we won;t have to wait too long for a full trailer.
THE LEGEND OF CHEN ZHEN is scheduled for release in October.
Source: Twitch
Related Topics:The Legend of Chen Zhen (2010) • upcoming • Videos
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