Wong Fei Hung

Wong Fei Hung is a legendary Chinese hero (like James Bond) whoe has some 90 films about him before this movie. In fact Jackie Chan plays Wong Fei Hung in Legend of Drunken Master. So this movie is not merely a kung fu movie. This movie's main theme is of Chinese culture vs Western culture as it is embodied by martial arts vs guns. How can China remain beautiful in its art that requires years of dedication to master, when success can be so cheaply purchased with Western firearms? Wong Fei Hung must make sense of it somehow, and in the end shows that while you can't fight guns with kung fu, that kung fu in the right hands can be just as deadly as guns. (It's not the gun... it's the bullets.)

Woven into this main theme is the theme of a lost sense of Chineseness and lack of communication. The characters who cut off their queues (their symbol of loyalty to the Qing dynasty) because of desperation or confusion or ambition. The Chinese/American who cannot read Chinese. The mistaken Lion dance.

Beyond this conflict, the movie has countless inside jokes for the fans of Honk Kong cinema. The trampolines at the end were a tribute to the early kung fu movies that used them before wire techniques were introduced. The scene where the two disciples have to dress up in the Peking Opera: Sammo Hung (TV's Martial Law) traditionally played the role of the butcher in this series. He, along with the other character who dressed up in the movie were originally trained in Peking opera and form there entered kung fu movies. So it was an inside joke. The nerdy character is played by one of Hong Kong's most popular pop singers.

This movie is simply incredible, even though the kung fu is not as satisfying as in some of Jet Li's other movies (The Legend and Fist of Legend). I recommend seeing it on DVD. That way you can see the original movie with subtitles. Then you can go back and watch it with a running commentary. Stay away from the English dubbed version, as it cuts scenes from the movie.

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.

Jet Li plays the legendary Chinese martial arts hero, Wong Fei Hung. Set in ancient China, the cinematography catches the sceneries and atmosphere beautifully and sets the stage for all the awesome action sequences.

Jet Li's impressive martial arts moves are definitely the highlight of the film, battling bad guys left and right. Him doing the lion dances is also a very impressive treat to watch.

The acting was pretty good and the cast of characters were in the spot.

The music score is also well played, especially the toe tapping and theme sung by George Lam

A pretty fast paced plot for a pretty entertaining film.

Grade B

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.

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.