Fearless

This movie has it all: a good story, based on real history; very good imagery and soundtrack; nice fighting scenes; last, but not least, a moral.

Jet Li plays a very important character in Chinese history, one that made Chinese people feel proud in a time when all their traditions were torn up by the interaction with the West. One can interpret the message of the movie in many ways. It is a movie about conquering yourself, about the meaning of honor and what it really means to be respected. Jet Li's character evolves from basically a glorified bully to the founder of a true Martial Arts competition based on respect of people and of fighting art. It is also a movie about how industry screws up... everything, really.

I personally feel that the film had enough material to be turned into a mini-series. The time from his personal tragedy to his realizing the meaning of his father's words it's very short and could have been expanded.

In conclusion, this is a great movie of Jet Li's and it's not only for martial arts lovers. I feel that his last "block busters" were meaningless violence films. Fearless is obviously NOT one of these movies. Enjoy.

While not as accomplished as Hero (2002), this film is successful, benefits from combat scenes particularly well choreographed and (it's sufficiently rare to be noted) a moral. Thus, if the first half might be reduced, by being slightly in bad faith, to a succession of d*ck comparisons, the second half highlights a philosophy of life based on respect, dignity and honor, even with the foreigners, even while knockin' on heaven's door. Nice! As a synthesis: 7/8 of 10.

Fearless has a similar structure to last years' Unleashed (2005), in that this is not just a martial arts extravaganza, but also a film with heart and proper acting on the part of Jet Li. This latest effort, despite flaws, is the much more accomplished of the two works; both contain exceptional and brutal fight scenes, and a central 'drama' section where Li's character learns about life and about who he is, and both of these aspects are handled better in Fearless.

Based on actual events, the story focuses on Li's Huo Yuanjin, martial arts master whose family is murdered and who flees his home, only to be taken in by simple farmers. Spending many years there, Huo learns to embrace peace and live out his simple life with the villagers. However, he is tempted back to his home town in an effort to show the foreign powers that are flooding China that the Chinese people are unified, and will not be suppressed by foreigners. He sets up a martial arts school and competes in a four-way tournament to prove that he is the greatest fighter in the world.

Make no mistake; the main appeal to the film is the fight sequences. Courtesy of the ever versatile Yuen Wo Ping, (The Matrix Trilogy, Crouching Tiger) the staggering fight choreography manages to combine the graceful moves of Hero (2002) with the brutality of Unleashed to create possibly the greatest action scenes put to film, aided by Jet Li's so-good-it-looks-easy martial arts capabilities. The film starts as it means to go on, and contains plenty of inventive action, the main highlights being a colossal one-on-one in a restaurant and of course the climactic four-way tournament.

The film is not all action though; at its centre is the time spent with the villagers where Huo 'finds himself'. This is perhaps the films weakest point, but it is held up by the fact that Jet Li, showing he's not only a martial arts expert, can actually act. However, the scenes are lacking, from a scripting and directing point of view, enough emotional depth to allow us to truly get involved. Being based on a true story the film had to play out as it did, but one feels that Huo could have gone anywhere to find himself, even stayed at home and become a recluse. Director Ronnie Yu lacks the directorial range to let these scenes flourish, so the section begins to bog itself down with unnecessary sentimentality. However, it is a more developed section than the comparable parts in Unleashed and although maybe is too short – it could have been developed into much more – it at least doesn't outstay its welcome. Jet Li is good though, and nicely moves from the arrogance of his early days to the wiser warrior in the second half.

Fearless shows us a moralistic China that is ruled by an honour that is now lost amongst the modern world, and its portrayal of upholding traditional values is a welcome move; it gives the film purpose, and not just an excuse to make good action scenes. Ironically, the films message is one of anti-violence, and if this is indeed to be Jet Li's last martial arts film, then he has gone out on a high.

Rated: 8/10

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This is an exciting, beautiful, exceptional martial arts movie that cements Jet Li's superlative contribution to kung-fu cinema. It is absolutely filled with stirring martial arts and gloriously made, with eye-filling cinematography. Although the story is simple, it is heart-felt and effective. It's hard to understand how anyone who could call this boring, unless they are so jaded and cynical that their review would be useless in any case. This film is a great accompaniment to Jet's Shaolin Temple series, Once Upon a Time in China films, Fist of Legend, and Hero, and an absolute must-see for anyone who enjoyed those films.

i think this movie is quite straightforward. anyone knows a little about Chinese history should know that in the early 20th century china is quite weak.and 1910 was just 10 years after the invasion of baguo lianjun(the union of troops of eight countries).and Chinese people then were called dongya bingfu (the ill of east asia). an insult to Chinese at that time. huo yuanjia is the first martial art master at that time that has waken the spirit of Chinese people and proved to the world that Chinese are not dongya bingfu.so if you don't know the history of modern Chinese, you may find it another martial art movie.but as a Chinese, i think this movie not only a martial art movie but also a brief biography of huo yuanjia with historical background.