Réalisation:
Gordon ChanPhotographie:
Derek WanActeurs·trices:
Jet Li, 中山忍, Siu-hou Chin, Billy Chow, Yasuaki Kurata, Ada Choi, Cheung-Yan Yuen, Gary Wing-Lun Mak, Jimmy Wa-Wo Wong, Bill Man-Biu Lee, Siu-ming Lui (plus)Résumés(1)
En 1937, au début de la guerre sino-japonaise, Chen Zhen (Jet Li), un étudiant chinois, revient de Tokyo, où le racisme est devenu insupportable, pour rejoindre son école d'arts martiaux à Shanghai. Sur place, il apprend que son vieux maître Huo Yuan-jia a trouvé la mort au terme d'un combat truqué contre le directeur d'une école de karaté rivale. Menant son enquête, Chen Zhen découvre que son mentor a en fait été assassiné par Go Fujita (Billy Chow), un militaire japonais, avec la complicité d'un membre de l'école. Aidé du maître d'arts martiaux japonais Fumio Funakoshi (Yasuaki Kurata), de Huo Ting-en (Siu-hou Chin), le fils de Huo Yuan-jia, ainsi que de Mitsuko Yamada (Shinobu Nakayama), sa petite amie japonaise venue le rejoindre, le jeune homme est déterminé à venger l'honneur de son maître. (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Critiques (3)
A very solid martial arts romp starring Jet Li, who is as fit as ever here, I don't remember him like this, angry and determined (it's a shame he's no longer in newer films). There's plenty of action and it's filmed very dynamic and fast for its time, with effective and interesting moves, perfect kung-fu choreography and fine opponents. The downside is the occasional mismatched punches, but that's forgivable for the time the time the film was made. 80%.
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Pretty solid entertainment. A simple story with weak dialogue that serves only as an uninteresting filler between fights, of which there are plenty. The fights are not as spectacular and eye-pleasing as in Chan's films, but Jet Li is still good and some of his stunts are breathtaking. Otherwise, Jet Li is perhaps an even worse actor than Jackie Chan with his mimic minimalism, but I wouldn't dare say that to his face.
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Is it possible for a boring story, framed by an even more tedious narration, to overshadow the experience of kung fu fights choreographed by the master of his field, Yuen Woo-Ping? Fist of Legend is sad proof of this. Director Gordon Chan could have shown at least a little more creativity in transitioning from one fight scene to the next. Although it may not seem like it, the gaps between kicks and punches are filled with thick filler, which requires the viewer to put in a lot of effort to get through. Towards the end, this effort turns into almost suffering. Jet Li's acting skills may not be the strongest wouldn't matter much because when he fights, maybe only his opponent gets to see his face (and even that happens briefly, as Jet's limbs quickly take care of them). But most of the time, Jet Li's presence contributes to the thick filler in between the action sequences. This means that neither the exotic original title nor the presence of numerous Asians throughout can increase the level of poetry that other films abound in and Fist Of Legend lacks.
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