Birth of the Dragon (2017)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I'm writing here my first review just to say i'm not okay with those saying it's denigrating asians because the hero is the white guy.The director is caucasian and i think he took his point of view. We can see 2 legends by the eyes of a white guy. I think it was a good idea.And about those saying it's not how Bruce Lee realy was, i want to remind that the movie wants to show us a particular moment of his life, not his whole life.That was my asian point of view

This film as issues, a lot of issues but the main problem is that the supposed central character is nothing but a bit part. By concentrating the action on an underdeveloped, fictional and quite frankly dull character, the producers have missed an opportunity to explore a far more interesting story. The character of Steve McKee is totally pointless and drags the pace of the film down whenever he is on screen. Conversely, scenes involving Bruce Lee and/or Wong Jack Man while not wholly accurate bring the movie to life, except at the end where they team up as if they are starring in another addition to the Rush Hour movies. Worth a watch if nothing else is on but not one for repeated viewings and definitely not historically accurate.

This would be a good popcorn flick if it didn't pretend to be a biopic. Instead, it takes Bruce Lee and makes him a one-dimensional Kobra Kai character. His rival serves somewhat as a foil to this, having more motivations and development early on. And while I don't doubt China Town had issues in this time period, the movie does use the White Savior trope to move the plot along. It is the self-centered white man who can see passed his own connection to his Chinese girlfriend who gets to be the hero and martyr for most of the movie. Lee and Wong at least seem to recognize that the problems go beyond one woman, and ramming heads doesn't solve that. Instead of addressing issues, this movie falls back on the idea that a fight fixes everything. If one fight doesn't, start another one. Protagonist McWhitebread has his shortsightedness vindicated when a mere request leads antagonists to shut down an entire brothel revenue stream over one multi-million dollar fight. The antagonist had no reason to go this extra mile or stay true to his word. This movie isn't about Bruce Lee's life. It's about how white America glorifies violence and laughs at the idea that self-discipline and helping others should be more important. I thought it would be vice versa, with Sifu Wong teaching Bruce Lee through both Wong's refusal to fight, and then his refusal to kill. Instead, the movie keeps going long enough that the poignancy of that is diluted. Lee's journey is relegated to a McGuffin serving to prove that in the end, a white man's anger and the glory of violence are more glamorous and important.

People giving this film 1 star either have an agenda or didn't see it. By no means is it great but it's not the worst film ever created, it did portray Lee as kind of an asshole. However when you watch the film he's only 23 at the time & the story line is one of lessons learn, growth & redemption. People need to relax & actually see something before all their "Fake outrage" takes over. It's also NOT a biopic, that's a quote from the director.