True Legend

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

"True Legend" ("Su Qu-Er") was actually a nice surprise. I had been putting watching it off for some time now, but that turned out to be a mistake on my side.

The story in "True Legend" is about Su Can (played by Wenzhuo Zhao) who serves as a general, but leaves his army life behind to open up a martial arts school. His adopted brother Yuan Lie (played by Andy On), envious and always standing in the shadow of Su Can, end up killing their father and taking Su Can's son captive. Su Can and his wife Yuan Ying (played by Xun Zhou) end up at a secluded mountain, where they live with Dr. Yu (played by Michelle Yeoh) while Su Can is struggling to regain his fighting abilities and battle for his mind. Tensions are high and the stakes even higher, as the two brothers end up face to face.

Actually the story was rather interesting, although the movie had a tendency of lingering on certain parts a bit too much, where it ended up being somewhat of a drag to watch; especially on the mountain training scenes and the tavern epiphany scene.

What really impressed me about this movie was the sword fighting scenes and the martial arts scenes. They were amazing to look at. Very well choreographed and executed. Given this being a Mandarin martial arts movie, expect a lot of wire action in the movie. Personally, I don't mind that, but of course that is a matter of preference.

And as with most other epic Chinese movies in the same genre, there is a lot of really breathtakingly beautiful scenery to be seen in this movie. Lots of nice details everywhere.

"True Legend" is a great epic movie that hold elements from movies such as "Hero", "Ong Bak" and the like. It works very well when combined, and there is a lot of action from start to end.

If you enjoy Asian movies, especially the epic ones with lots of sword fights and martial arts, then it is very likely that you will enjoy "True Legend" as much as I did.

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It seems as if there are three stages to the star's development. The movie moves it along just fine.

I'm not a person who analyzes a movie to death. I'm just a regular guy that likes Martial Arts films. This one has plenty of action from the get-go. If you're searching for a good martial arts action flick and are hesitating on this one, don't hesitate. You will not be disappointed. Order a pizza, make some popcorn and enjoy the high flying kicks, punches and acrobatic action that this movie brings. There were a couple reviews that rated this low. All I can say is that's a result of states allowing cannabis to its citizens, because this movie is all that and a bag of chips.

Seriously, get it. You'll enjoy it.

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.