Wong Fei Hung

Once Upon a Time in China is quite simply one of the best films ever to come out of Hong Kong from almost every perspective.

Jet Li stars in the role he was born to play (in my opinion), real-life martial arts master, doctor and commander of the local militia, Wong Fei-Hung. Despite not even being able to speak Cantonese his acting in this just using facial expression, and body language is highly impressive, conveying a man of great dignity and command above the real age of Jet Li, answering the critics who considered him too young for the role. It must have been a difficult role for him to take on, with Kwan Tak-Hing (played Wong Fei Hung in around 100 films) and Jackie Chan (Drunken Master I and II) being his predecessors.

The story is very complex - possibly a little too complex - and transcends a good many martial arts films whose plots can easily be summed up in a single sentence. Wong Fei-Hung has to deal with American slavers, local gangs, a renegade martial arts master and even his own wayward (but well-intentioned students). On top of this he has to contend with his growing affection for Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) which is important as it is set around the end of the 19th century when there were great social changes in China. This is typified with his relationship with his aunt who is not related to him by blood, but with whom it would be taboo to marry. The fact that this is a series of films allows the relationship to develop also sets it apart from many Hong Kong films where any romances are usually very fast-moving and unrealistic.

The rest of the cast is extremely good, slightly more so than later episodes. The wonderfully athletic Yuen Biao plays Leung Foon, a trainee actor who wants to learn kung fu to protect himself - it is a shame he allegedly fell out with director Tsui Hark over screen time as his replacement in subsequent films is comic but has not got the martial arts skills. Kent Cheng is perfect for the role of the larger-than-life Lam Sai-Wing who is Wong Fei Hung's head student. His other students are played with vigour by Jacky Cheung and Yuen Kam-Fai.

The villains are suitably colourful, and the lead bad guy played by Yam Sai-Kun is interesting because he is not as two-dimensional as he could have been and is almost a double for Wong Fei-Hung and what he could have become had he gone down the wrong path.

The action is superb which is unsurprising considering it is choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping, though critics will still fault the wire-work and use of doubles. The final showdown is a masterpiece of editing as Jet Li was injured and had to be doubled for many of the shots that weren't above the waist, but his fist techniques make up for this. The film has a long running time for a martial arts flick so for once there is plenty of time for story and action.

An honourable mention has to go the music written by James Wong, as it is one of the greatest and most memorable of all martial arts theme music.

In short they don't come much better than this. People who enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would probably love this and it should also be seen by anyone who has seen Cradle 2 the Grave and thinks Jet Li can't act. The first 2 sequels for this are also warmly recommended.

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.

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.

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.

This movie, directed by Tsui Hark, embodied some of the best Kong-fu fight sequences to be found anywhere in the entire genre. Not only were the fights choreographed with amazing skill and dexterity, there was also supreme creativity and use of forces at work here. The angle placement of the camera was always effective and the fight scenes between the hero and his enemies are set up with admirable presence and dignity. Furthermore, the editing was bold and crisp; for the most part everything flowed very well from one scene to the next. Jet Li was unparalleled in his martial arts glamour. His stern demeanor accentuated his role as a leader and a man of principle.

Jet Li played Wong Feihong, a doctor who also happened to be renowned for his skill in martial arts. Against his will, he became involved in combating the local gang, whose rivalry and antagonism was set up by a flimsy pretext. (Apparently gang violence usually are created over the most trifle of instances) On the one hand, Feihong, had to deal with the local thugs, on the other, he had to deal with government officials and foreign mercenaries.

Along for the ride were some touching characters playing Wong Feihong's students, the stuttering Western-educated nerd and the formidably huge pork merchant. The addition of Aunt 13 to the cast added shy romance, providing a nice contrast to all the fighting and constant strife and chaos.

The movie featured a convincing historical backdrop and captured the national Chinese character well, at least, the 19th century, pre-Communist era. The music score was very nicely done and complemented the film well. At times, the movie evoked as much emotion as the characters themselves.

The only problem with this film may be its overly ambitious goals of trying to tackle everything at once. There was the sentiment of saving China from "foreign devils" as well as the sentiment that China was rotting and corrupt at its core, with the Chinese betraying the Chinese. There was also the strong sense of there being too few good men like Wong Feihong, with a strong desire to do right by his country. Over all, the movie's message was multi-layered and complex and can be confusing to the unschooled audience.

Still, this movie, made in 1991, showed off Jet Li's lyrical martial arts grace in full glory and in its best moments, takes fighting to a transcendent level.