If Fearless truly is Jet Li's last martial arts film, then it is a fitting ending to his work in the genre. His choice of project has been excellent in the last few years after turning down Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon then appearing in Cradle to the Grave and Romeo Must Die, which were both a far cry from the quality of his films from the early 90's such as Once Upon a Time in China and Fist of Legend.
After playing famous historical figures such as Wong Fei-Hung and Fong Sai-Yuk he returns to create what could be described as a prequel of Fist of Legend, playing Huo Yuanjia, made famous from Leung-Kar Yan's portrayal in Legend of a Fighter, and Bruce Lee and Jet Li have both played his top student, Chen Zen.
Jet Li uses the film to put across his philosophy on violence and martial arts, which is told in such a way as to not be patronising even if it is obvious. In recent years he has shown his frustration at how his films are perceived as encouraging violence as a solution. Sadly the debate about who would win a fight between Bruce Lee and himself will probably continue to haunt him, even 30 years and more after the former's tragic death. I believe this film should have a wider audience than just martial arts fans, as it carries a poignant message, that Jet has also tried to convey in Hero and Unleashed (Danny the Dog). It must be noted that Fearless is far more tolerant than other Huo Yuanjia films, especially Fist of Fury where all the Japanese were depicted as degenerate or just plain evil. Compare that with the Japanese characters in Fearless, especially Tanaka, played with great gravitas by Shido Nakamura.
The action does not disappoint in Fearless, with the numerous fight scenes being well choreographed by his extremely frequent collaborator Yuen Woo-Ping. There is enough wire work involved to annoy purists, but there are plenty of grounded moves, with Jet showing off his skills with the spear, sabre and three-section-staff to good effect. The most exciting of the action scenes is Huo Yuanjia fighting against Master Chin.
There are a few issues in pacing, perhaps due to the removal of Michelle Yeoh's scenes, but it does detract much from the overall quality, and simply making films longer does not necessarily improve them - e.g. Alexander.
The acting is convincing and all the characters are beautifully portrayed, with few big names in Chinese cinema involved other than Jet himself, which in no way detracts from the portrayal. Betty Sun in particular creates a large impact even though her scenes do not take up much of the running time. This is backed by another haunting score from Shigeru Umbayashi (House of Flying Daggers), who seems to have replaced Tan Dun in scoring Chinese epics.
Overall this has become one of my favourite Jet Li films and I have seen all but a handful of them. The sense of tragedy and morality is well balanced with the action, and does not leave a bad taste in the mouth compared to many martial arts films where revenge is considered the only option.
After playing famous historical figures such as Wong Fei-Hung and Fong Sai-Yuk he returns to create what could be described as a prequel of Fist of Legend, playing Huo Yuanjia, made famous from Leung-Kar Yan's portrayal in Legend of a Fighter, and Bruce Lee and Jet Li have both played his top student, Chen Zen.
Jet Li uses the film to put across his philosophy on violence and martial arts, which is told in such a way as to not be patronising even if it is obvious. In recent years he has shown his frustration at how his films are perceived as encouraging violence as a solution. Sadly the debate about who would win a fight between Bruce Lee and himself will probably continue to haunt him, even 30 years and more after the former's tragic death. I believe this film should have a wider audience than just martial arts fans, as it carries a poignant message, that Jet has also tried to convey in Hero and Unleashed (Danny the Dog). It must be noted that Fearless is far more tolerant than other Huo Yuanjia films, especially Fist of Fury where all the Japanese were depicted as degenerate or just plain evil. Compare that with the Japanese characters in Fearless, especially Tanaka, played with great gravitas by Shido Nakamura.
The action does not disappoint in Fearless, with the numerous fight scenes being well choreographed by his extremely frequent collaborator Yuen Woo-Ping. There is enough wire work involved to annoy purists, but there are plenty of grounded moves, with Jet showing off his skills with the spear, sabre and three-section-staff to good effect. The most exciting of the action scenes is Huo Yuanjia fighting against Master Chin.
There are a few issues in pacing, perhaps due to the removal of Michelle Yeoh's scenes, but it does detract much from the overall quality, and simply making films longer does not necessarily improve them - e.g. Alexander.
The acting is convincing and all the characters are beautifully portrayed, with few big names in Chinese cinema involved other than Jet himself, which in no way detracts from the portrayal. Betty Sun in particular creates a large impact even though her scenes do not take up much of the running time. This is backed by another haunting score from Shigeru Umbayashi (House of Flying Daggers), who seems to have replaced Tan Dun in scoring Chinese epics.
Overall this has become one of my favourite Jet Li films and I have seen all but a handful of them. The sense of tragedy and morality is well balanced with the action, and does not leave a bad taste in the mouth compared to many martial arts films where revenge is considered the only option.