Su Qi-er

Beggar Su is a folkloric kung fu hero, and "True Legend" is Su's story told in epic form, from esteemed general to madman to drunkard to hero. Vincent Zhao is the titular hero, who after rescuing a kidnapped prince, returns home to his wife Ying (Zhou Xun) and young son, rather than becoming a governor as the prince offers in reward for his service. Instead, he hands the governorship over to his foster brother Yuan (Andy On), thinking to share his good fortune with the man he thinks of as a brother and who is in fact Ying's actual brother. He doesn't realize that Yuan is full of hatred and vengeful feelings for Su's family, because Su's father had killed Yuan's real father many years earlier, to prevent that rampaging man from killing more innocent people. Five years later, Yuan has control of an army, and he is seeking vengeance....

That is only the opening section of this film, directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, who is best known in the West for choreographing the fight scenes in "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." "True Legend" is full of fight scenes, some of the quite funny, some of them quite beautiful; and it is also full of cameos of kung fu superstars such as Gordon Liu, Michelle Yeoh and, in his last role, David Carradine. I find that a little kung fu fighting goes a long way, but if you're going to see a kung fu film, you couldn't find better than this.

Tagline: Yuen Woo Ping tries hard and manages to entertain in an uneven manner...

It's been too long since The Blade's Vincent Zhao last cinematic venture. The lad for all his worth was groomed to be Jet Li's successor. For whatever reason, he disappeared off the radar and wandered into the wilderness of mainland television. Zhao lacks the on-screen charisma or likable good looks of Jet Li, but there is no doubting of his martial arts ability and his physical presence is comparable to Donnie Yen. Many would probably have forgotten that Zhao's career got off to a storming start by simply existing under the shadows of Jet Li in roles like Wong Fei Hung and the villain in Fong Sai Yuk, before embarking on the cult classic lead role in The Blade. Impressive resume one might assume. So instead of rambling on about past laurels, Zhao makes a stunning return and one might just assume, his career is on the rebound.

The movie goes like this: Beggar So (Vincent Zhao) is army general, but gives up the position for family life. Beggar So gives all his status to his adopted brother (Andy On) and lived a life of an ordinary person. Until one day, Andy On returns home and killed Zhao's father (Leung Ka-Yan) in avenging On's own nemesis. The result is Beggar So escaping alive with his wife waiting for an opportunity to strike back.

Director Yuen Woo Ping is obviously in top form and there are a number of action sequences that are original enough for a mention. The fight in the snake well between On and Zhao is both innovative and fun. Hong Kong no longer has a huge luxury of upcoming kung fu star. While Vincent Zhao isn't exactly in his twenties, but he is still young enough to relaunch a career and with a bit of luck, he may even be able to match the reinvention successes of a similar counterpart in Donnie Yen. Sure, Zhao can't act and when he tries, more than often he is overacting in the famous Yen's style. It remains to be seen if Zhao is given a better material, he will be able to embrace it as his own.

As usual, Zhou Xun is a wonderful actress of both quality and presence. While not exactly a conventional beaut, Xun is one heck of an actress that makes the unnatural natural. She have been constantly stealing the show in numerous epics starring as side characters, but in all honestly her acting ability is second to none in the current HK cinema. In fact, when considered on a whole, Xun is given a paper thin role with nothing to work with, yet somehow she manages to impress, engage and express.

Moving on to Andy On, he is certainly a case of missing in action. For the past decade, since his terrible debut in Black Mask 2, Andy On has showed himself to be a decent supporting actor. In fact, he was the best thing in 2003's Star Runner, decent showdown against Jackie Chan in New Police Story. However since then, he has been almost unnoticeable in all circumstances. Perhaps, True Legend is what you call, a re-launch of young Andy's career. While he does have some screen presence to a certain degree, his acting is too one dimensional and his villainous turn is neither memorable nor effective. The kid got martial arts potential; let's just hope he is not suitability wasted away.

All in all, True Legend is a welcome additional to modern day HK martial arts cinema. While the 3rd act may seem like a remake of Fearless and the film suffers from some obvious coherence and uneven issues. Namely the frequently fast forward style of editing, making days goes by as fast as years. Director Yuen Woo Ping does compensate this by some blood crunching action display and even if it is a carbon copy of Fearless in the third act, there is no doubt that Yuen is simply taking a leaf out of his previous efforts. One may wonder if the film simply ended in the 2nd act, it may well be more coherent, but for me, it would have left me half-baked. So honestly, True Legend really isn't that bad and in fact, it is quite a decent film with some good parts in between. A welcome return for Shaw Brothers and to a larger extent Mr. Vincent Zhao...(Neo 2010)

I rate it 7/10

• www.thehkneo.com

Wenzhuo Zhao has just reduced a rebel province, but he turns down the chance to be the new governor, so he can marry Xun Zhou and open a martial arts school. Some time later, his foster brother, Andy On decides to beat Zhao to a pulp and take his nephew so he can keep him safe. The happy couple wind up on a mountain with Doctor Michelle Yeoh, and while he heals, has training episodes with Jay Chou, the God of Wushu. Eventually, there's a big fight with On, and Miss Zhou winds up dead.

It's supposed to be about the founder of the 'Drunken Fist' form of martial arts. If that sounds familiar to western audiences, that's because DRUNKEN MASTER was a breakout hit for Jacky Chan. The director of this film, Woo-Ping Yuen, had a small role in that film, and decided to make an utterly serious drama about it, with evil foreigners beating the tar out of Chinese, and jazz bands playing "Sweet Georgia Brown" sixty years before it was written. Chou appears to be having some fun in his dual roles -- the second is "Drunken God". Otherwise it's seemingly endless fantasy fighting and unhappiness.

There also something that annoys me about the Chinese fantasy films I've seen over the past couple of years: you can see the fact it is computer generated. Reality has a roughness that lends it verisimilitude, and the fantasy sequences wind up looking like cutscenes from a computer game.

TRUE LEGEND marks the first Chinese made film to take advantage of 3D technology as well as returning Yuen Woo-Ping to the director's chair for the first time in fourteen years. Unfortunately it seems that the legendary action choreographer has failed to utilise the new technology with any sense of skill and has also lost his way somewhat in the plot department.

The film follows Vincent Zhao as Beggar Su, a fabled folk hero in China and creator of the legendary Drunken Fist style. After his father is killed by his brother-in-law, Su goes into hiding where he is trained by an unconventional Wushu master. It's a bog standard kung fu murder/revenge plot that's been done a million times before but now with the novelty of teeth grindingly bad 3D. The new technology – only used in selected scenes - is jarring and in no way immersive, adding a strong argument to the negative effect 3D can have on a film.

However, as messy as the 3D is, it is not as detracting as the final third of the film. After concluding the revenge plot, it suddenly shifts into a completely new narrative regarding western imperialism's encroachment on Chinese culture. It's an untidy mixture of Jet Li's Fearless with Jackie Chan's Drunken Master with an all too brief cameo by the late David Carradine.

Ultimately TRUE LEGEND is a disorganised film that poorly uses every martial arts cliché in the book. A couple of decent action sequences aside, there is little to recommend, even to the most avid kung fu fan. 3 out of 5

Cambridge Film Festival Daily

One of the best movies i've seen what concern martial arts. Just superb. The choreography is classic. Fighters fly on wires, strike with fast hands, kick high, hold impossible poses and pull on a variety of weapons. Also fights I've never seen before, what makes it all original. They are truly breathtaking: brilliantly composed and shot.

Action from the beginning to the end in this modern fighting movie with some Asian tragedy. The locations are beautiful. The story is very simple, but who cares? (If you look for a movie with a good story, i could recommend you "house of flying daggers"). This is a movie where you find some beautiful and stunning fighting scenes. Kungfu fans would love to see this movie.