Once Upon a Time in China

Watched this again as an antidote to "The One". Jet Li's done some good films, some TERRIBLE films, and then again he's done a few genuine epics, like the Once upon a time in China series. These films are also among the best work of Tsui Hark.

The modern Wong Fei-Hung series contains elements of humour without being just broad slapstick (if you want kung fu comedy, rent a Jackie Chan film), but are mostly films about a troubled China where traditional values are being overwhelmed by Western style and influence. Iron-Robe Yim's line "you can't fight bullets with kung fu" resonates achingly with the failed boxer rebellion, during which chi-gung practitioners mistakenly believed they were protected from foreign guns.

Wong Fei-Hung's struggle to find an honourable, peaceful path through the collision between cultures should strike a chord with anyone who has moved on from chop-socky and realises that a kung fu movie can feature a great story as well as great cinematography.

Two of my favorite films are "One Upon a Time in America" and Once Upon a Time in the West." So naturally, I would be attracted to this film just to see if it matches the others. It does.

Jet Li stars as the legendary Chinese hero Wong Fei-Hong. He is fighting against intruders from the West. Yep, invading armies like us. The people of China are not going to give in. He is asked to train the locals in kung fu.

Things get complicated with the arrival of Wong's "Aunt" Yee (Rosamund Kwan), just back from a two-year stay in the West. She is not really his Aunt, so romance simmers between the two.

There are plenty of evildoers in this film. Gangs looking for protection money, corrupt government officials (no surprise there!), and those nasty foreigners.

You will want to watch this film more than once. Jet Li's performance, coupled with his kung fu wizardry, carries the viewer through any shaky patches. The fight scenes are the main attraction, of course, and the film delivers the goods again and again.

A traditional kung fu movie with elements of the Wuxia sub-genre, Once Upon A Time In China is considered by many to be one of the finest martial arts movies of all time; I don't rate it so highly, preferring my action to be a little more realistic and a tad more 'bone-crunching'.

Set in a troubled 19th century China, where centuries of tradition is being threatened by an influx of foreigners, this historical epic is directed by Tsui Hark and stars the incredible Jet Li, ably supported by Rosamund Kwan, Biao Yuen, Jacky Cheung and Kent Cheng. With a pedigree like that, I was expecting something truly astounding, but what I got was an overlong, over-stylised and definitely over-rated film. Saddled with a dreadfully dull story and some particularly poor comedic moments, it does not entertain as much as I had hoped.

Li plays Wong Fei Hung, martial arts master and all round good guy, who, along with his students, battles the foreign invaders who are plundering China. Kwan plays his love interest, Aunt Yee, who has recently returned from America, and who tries to educate Hung about the wonders of the Western world. As the troubles mount, Aunt Yee becomes the target of unscrupulous traders who try to sell her into prostitution, leaving Hung and his men no option but to pit their fighting skill against guns in a daring rescue attempt.

Although the movie admittedly features some well choreographed fight scenes which will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (as will the breath-taking cinematography), the action relies too much on clever wire-work and skillful editing for its impact, and the whole affair left this particular viewer rather disappointed.

The first of the new wave of Chinese movies is a masterpiece of action cinema, and looks gorgeous. Jet Lee plays Wong Fei Hung, a popular Chinese folk hero, although I gather he was doubled a fair bit due to an injury. Regardless, the set-piece fights are impressive and memorable, with imaginative wire work and use of scenery.

This is not to underplay the plot of the movie, which is a poignant view of China's cultural identity being chipped away by western invaders. As always, a lot appears to be lost for those like myself who don't speak Chinese, but the subtitles are clear and well produced. On DVD the option is there to play the movie dubbed, but please resist. Very few kung-fu movies aren't ruined by terrible dubbing, and this is no exception. The DVD I was watching had a very interesting commentary by man-in-the-know Bey Logan, a picture gallery and an interview with Jet. It's certainly worth updating your old VHS copy of this classic movie.

Jet Li's done some exceptional work in China. I have not been impressed by anything he did in America. Tsui Hark's 'Wong Fei Hung' has already been stretched into several sequels of which I have only seen the first. 'Wong Fei Hung' has all the ingredients to make it an enjoyable epic movie. There is a story with a heart, some very well crafted choreography, good acting, and enough action and culture. It's set on a historical backdrop of a pre-Communist China. The characters are very well written (with the exception of the non-Chinese who act like caricature villains). Jet Li, Biao Yuen, Rosamund Kwan, Jacky Cheung and Kent Cheng all act well. It also presents some taboo elements such as Wong's affection for his 'aunt' (it was taboo during the time) but this is all skillfully underused which prevents the film from appearing too preachy. The film has several layers but it tries to tackle too many things at once and becomes unnecessarily complicated at some point. The film slightly drags in the first half and the choreography of the action scenes without the main cast looked a little shoddy. Yet, the characters are very likable and the story also offers a lot to enjoy that I am looking forward to its sequels. In my humble opinion, it's certainly one of the better martial arts films and has a lot more substance than pretentious films like 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'. the only other Tsui Hark film I've seen is the magnificent 'Chat gim' and I've liked what I've seen so far.