La Nouvelle Fureur de vaincre

Fairly drawn-out and sometimes frustrating Kung Fu film about the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. This film is not too bad, you just have to make it to the final reel - something that I expect only enthusiasts of this genre will do. So why is it frustrating? Well, Jackie (or Jacky as credited here), does virtually nothing until fellow Chinese literally drag him into a Kung Fu school in the last quarter of the (2 hour) film.

Sure, he has one action scene early in the film, but he succeeds only in getting pounded nicely by two Japanese fighters. A nice motive for him to learn Kung Fu, I thought. But I was wrong. He does nothing about it...

Anyway, this is one of the more coherent Wei Lo films, and the tension builds fairly steadily. The main villain played by Sing Chen is a believable and decidedly confronting and dangerous man - he's great.

The references to Bruce Lee are tastelessly rammed down your throat, but the final fight is great and suitably brutal. It's a good revenge story, with an unusual ending.

The first of several movies directed by Lo Wei to feature up 'n' coming martial arts star Jackie Chan, New Fist of Fury was devised as a sequel to Bruce Lee's popular film Fist of Fury (which was also directed by Wei).

Chan plays Lung, a layabout thief in Japanese-occupied Taiwan who hates the Japs and enjoys a brawl, but has no interest in learning kung fu, meaning that he regularly gets his ass handed to him by his opponents.

After being discovered left for dead in a ditch after one particularly severe beating, Lung is nursed back to health by the students of a local kung fu school run by kindly Master Su and his pretty grand-daughter, Miss Lee (Nora Miao). Lung is invited to train at the school but refuses, unwilling to give up his freedom as a thief.

However, when Akumora (Chan Sing), the local Japanese official, takes his bully boy tactics too far, eventually causing the death of Master Su, Lung has a change of heart, becomes a highly skilled martial artist overnight (or so it seems) and kicks some major Japanese butt (before being shot to death in the film's closing frames!!!).

With the star spending most of this film as a punching bag for his enemies, and very little evidence of the innovative slapstick comedy/fight action that one generally associates with his later movies, New Fist of Fury is bound to disappoint many Chan fans. Unless you are a rabid fan of JC and wish to see all of his early work, you would probably be better off giving this one a miss (or watch either the Bruce Lee original, or the excellent Jet Li version of the story, Fist of Legend).

Somewhat a sequel (really in-name-only, although there are minor character references and the dangerous title name method gets used without the same affect) to Lo Wei's "Fist of Fury" that starred martial arts legend Bruce Lee, Wei would go on to direct having Jackie Chan on the main mantle, in what is a virtual remake in the political theme of China vs. Japan and certain story plots. Chinese academies fighting to stay alive against Japanese martial arts school. Spirited, but the impact and charisma of Chan just doesn't feel right. A young Chan is quite raw, in a more aggressive and vengeance-filled role. But it's far from a Jackie Chan vehicle, as he doesn't really come into play until midway through due to his character's reckless and carefree attitude that sees him constantly being beaten up. Still there are some outstanding martial art sequences, namely the final long-winded confrontation where it's brutal and bloody (and those nun-chucks get a work out) with an out-of-the-blue payoff that tries to be as iconic as the film it's wanting to be. Pacing can be a little uneven (excluding those kung-fu slow-motion shots), but director Wei keeps the story straight-forward adding enough interest and tension with Chan Sing making a terrific deadly opponent for Chan and Nora Miao is good too.

This is the first film for Jackie as a new Kung-Fu star after the miss of Bruce Lee. Jackie has kept being very popular in Japan since late 70's. When I was a kid,I saw the picture of original Hong Kong made poster of this and dreamed to see this film in the theatre someday -- because this is "part-2" of that Bruce Lee's masterpiece, and the director was Lo-Wei, the same guy who directed original Fist of Fury!!!!...But this one has never shown in Japanese movie theatre at all. Some of Jackie's Kung-Fu films in 70's are so shabby, they are almost garbages (Mostly because of Lo-Wei).But Jackie's Kung-Fu actions in this one is one of the best in his 70's. But if you are Bruce Lee fan and will see this as "Part-2" of his masterpiece "FIST OF FURY", DON'T TOUCH THIS!! Maybe you will be mad and burn this video.

It was a mistake in trying to model Jackie Chan as the new Bruce Lee. There will only be one Bruce Lee. "Golden Harvest" attempted to make Chan's character in "New Fist of Fury" another version of Chen Chen (Lee) from the previous "Fist of Fury" movie. In the above film, Chan is angry, hard-edged and determined but none of that suited him. Jackie Chan needed a chance to develop his own personality and identity in the Asian film community. Eventually, he succeeded as we know. The plot picks up where "Fist of Fury" left off and the narrative here is a rambling mess! I can't be sure but I reckon the DVD I have of this movie is heavily edited. There is poor continuity and the film's depressing tone doesn't help. It is rather obvious that Chan and the school he belongs to, haven't a chance against their Japanese enemies. The film may have a generous dose of location shooting but that doesn't compensate for much. The fight scenes are still pretty good and at least they provide some distraction from the film's weaknesses.