REVIEW: ‘Fearless’ (2006)

Jet Li dazzles the viewer with stunning wushu action choreographed by the Master Yuen Wo-ping in this instant martial arts movie classic. International filmmaker Ronny Yu directs the story of famed Chinese wushu champion Hua Yuanjia as he struggles to overcome pride and personal tragedy on his journey to establish higher standards for martial arts competition and to defend his nation’s honor in a time of crisis.

Billed as Jet Li’s “final martial arts epic” and featuring the filmmaking and action directing talents of Ronny Yu and Yuen Wo-ping, FEARLESS comes with a fairly high level of expectation. For what may or may not end up being his last martial arts movie, Li doesn’t disappoint. The film is a finely-tuned update to the great Hong Kong martial arts classics of old that effectively draws together visceral fighting action, a poignant story of pride and redemption, Hollywood sensibilities, and a stellar acting and action performance from Li.

Up to this point, Li had played on screen many famous figures in China’s storied martial arts history and folklore. He played one of the 13 legendary warrior monks in 7th-century China who came to the aid of the Tang Dynasty’s second emperor in SHAOLIN TEMPLE (1982). He was the stoic patriot, physician and Hung Gar master Wong Fei-hung in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991). He appeared as Southern Shaolin folk heroes – as the mischievous title character in FONG SAI YUK (aka THE LEGEND) and as Hung Hei-kwun in LAST HERO IN CHINA (1993). He also starred as Zhang Sanfeng, the legendary founder of Tai Chi Chuan in THE TAI CHI MASTER (aka TWIN WARRIORS).

One of Li’s most memorable roles was in FIST OF LEGEND (1994) where he played Chen Zhen, a fictional martial arts student bent on avenging his master’s death. The character was first made famous by writer-director Lo Wei and superstar Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY (aka THE CHINESE CONNECTION). It seems fitting then that for Li’s last cinematic treatise on martial arts, he choose to portray Chen’s real-life master Hua Yuanjia (aka Fok Yuen-gap in Cantonese), a revered historical figure who through his mastery of wushu brought much needed pride to the Chinese people at a time when they were feeling the sting of subjugation and occupation from foreign powers.

The life story of Hua Yuanjia proves to be the ideal vessel for Li to carry his message of a harmonious and non-violent practice of martial arts to the masses. It details how a youthful Hua around the turn of the 20th century harnesses his bitterness at being denied his father’s martial arts training by becoming the champion fighter in his community. With that comes fame, fickle friends, financial irresponsibility, and bloated pride. Despite his martial accolades and care-free spirit Hua is on a self-destructive path, much to the dismay of his childhood friend and successful restaurateur Nong Jinsun (Dong Yong).

When one of Hua’s students is badly beaten and puts the blame on a rival master, Hua recklessly goes looking for revenge. The outcome leads to tragedy for both parties as Hua’s family is slain in reprisal for his killing of the rival master in a vicious duel to the death. Shocked, Hua abandons everything to aimlessly wander the countryside in search of death. He almost finds it until he’s rescued from drowning by members of a tranquil farming village.

Chris Chow’s script hits the mark with poetic irony at this point as Hua, once blinded by pride learns to see the world anew through the eyes of a young blind woman (Betty Sun Li) who takes on the task of caring for him.

After several years, a renewed Hua returns home to discover that the increased presence of Imperialist foreigners on Chinese soil is threatening the pride and sovereignty of a nation already suffering from years of internal conflict and political strife. As a martial artist and patriot, it becomes too much to bear when Western and Japanese fighters label the Chinese as “weak men of Asia.”

Hua moves to Shanghai, then China’s economic center and the heart of foreign occupation. There, he opens the Jingwu Sports Federation to unite China’s martial artists and to raise the practice of the pugilist arts from barbarous death matches between bitter rivals to a mutually respectful level of sportsmanship among fellow practitioners of all styles.

With China and the leading world powers looking on, Hua accepts a challenge to fight four leading competitors representing the occupying foreign nations including Britain, France, America, and Japan.

This engrossing, sometimes humorous and often emotional story quickly draws the viewer into Hua Yuanjia’s life and doesn’t let go. It no doubt helps tremendously that Jet Li and director Ronny Yu have both worked extensively in Hollywood. They know how to transcend cultures and get to the universal truths of the human condition. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, but by the end of FEARLESS you’ll be with all the Chinese spectators proudly cheering on Hua Yuanjia as if he fought for you too.

Li gives a magnificent performance as Hua Yuanjia that combines the fluid elegance of his very real wushu mastery with acting that adds wide ranging dimension to the character. In this single role, Li sums up his entire career of playing ass-whooping characters, while presenting an entirely human martial arts hero. As for his martial arts execution, there is little indication that Li has passed the age of 40. His mind-blowing aerial kicks, lightning-fast sparring and deft weapons handling is nothing short of brilliant. This cohesive combination of screen fighting and acting skills is a very rare and welcome achievement that few actors will ever match with even a lifetime of training and experience.

Yuen Wo-ping is also at the top of his game, which has become something audiences must be taking for granted by now following one modern success after another, from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and THE MATRIX to KUNG FU HUSTLE. FEARLESS however marks Yuen’s first full-blown, period kung fu movie since TAI CHI 2 (1996). In a recent interview fellow action director Robert Tai criticized Yuen for having run out of ideas despite his successes. There’s no indication of that here. Yuen has constructed some of the best fights of his career.

There are numerous action highlights. The most visceral fight occurs when Hua takes on his rival in a fight to the death. His opponent is played by screen fighter Chen Zhi-hui, an apparent newcomer to the movie biz who makes a great first impression. The match starts out as a sword duel and ends with open hand sparring, but remains exceptionally brutal throughout. Yuen has learned a lot from his recent big budget projects and makes extensive use of the environment, which gets trashed, to add to the power the unrestrained combatants unleash on one another. Sharp editing maximizes impact of blows. This is one of those unique screen battles where about midway through the viewer may start to really feel the uncomfortable sensation of an uncontrollable life and death struggle between exceptional fighters. It’s thrilling to witness for the first time.

Yuen slips in a little wirework here and there, mostly to accentuate Li’s recoveries from getting knocked back or off a platform. It is a slight stretch of the imagination here and there that shows the filmmakers were more interested in presentation than realism. But this is wholly consistent with the genre. It sure beats old school cheap cuts and reverse shooting to show fighters leaping onto rooftops.

MATRIX star Collin Chou has a regrettably small, but memorable role as Yuanjia’s martial arts-fighting father, who in losing a match with grace teaches his son a valuable lesson. Chou is one of the brightest screen fighters of his generation and it’s always a joy to witness his substantial skills in action.

As a final comment on the action, Yuen’s presentation of the mixed fighting styles is a special treat. In addition to the varied wushu versus wushu combat, Li applies his techniques to besting Western swordsmanship, spear fighting, strongman wrestling, and finally Japanese kendo and judo. This provides excellent opportunity to display the sophistication and subtlety of wushu in contrast to these harder, straight forward martial arts styles. I wouldn’t bother trying to argue the merits of one over the other. It isn’t necessary. Within the context of this film you will believe that a slightly built, 5′6″ man can drop a behemoth like the 6′11″ colossus known as Nathan Jones.

One fault in the movie is that about two thirds of the way in as Hua begins fighting for his nation instead of himself, the pace of the story increases to the point of distancing the audience. The intimacy of the film’s earlier parts disappears as such things as the founding of the Jingwu Sports Federation and Hua’s rise in notoriety in the eyes of wary foreigners are glossed over. It took only a moment to realize that this hurried conclusion was likely the result of cuts made from Yu’s original 150-minute version, the same cuts applied to the Asian theatrical release as well.

This is an unfortunate situation as it dilutes both the significance and power of the ending and the message Li is trying to get across about martial arts. In an interview with “Premiere” magazine, Li stated, “If you see [Ronny Yu's] director’s cut, all 2 hours and 30 minutes, you will understand more and see what is wushu in Jet Li’s heart.” I suspect this statement is true and I can only hope that the longer version is made available on DVD.

Cinematic tales from China’s fanciful realm of jiang hu have received plenty of attention in recent years with lavish treatment from filmmakers Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Tsui Hark. It’s about time filmmakers got back to serious work on exploring China’s equally entertaining and prolific wushu history and folklore. Beyond the cuts and hurried ending there is little to complain about regarding FEARLESS. It’s beautifully shot by Poon Hang-sang (KUNG FU HUSTLE) and possesses a perfectly complimentary musical score by Umebayashi Shigeru (ONMYOJI). Above all, the martial arts action is glorious and Jet Li stands tall to do his chosen art and his country proud.

Related Topics: Fearless (2006), Jet Li, Yuen Woo-ping