True Legend (2011)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Overrated

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Americans have grown accustomed to a certain kind of Chinese martial arts film. Ever since Crouching Tiger, the Chinese MA film has gotten more attention beyond whatever Hollywood effort is churned out to force a Jet Li or Jackie Chan sub-par effort on American audiences. Crouching Tiger was followed by films like House of Flying Daggers and Hero, while those with bigger interests in the subject certainly sought out more films that most Americans might not know.True Legend seems to pick up on this. Yuen Wo Ping, who is no stranger to Hollywood martial arts films, having dabbled his hand in a number of Hollywood efforts, seems to have taken some of what he's done for American audiences and applied it to this film. He has, after all, been attached to several big U.S. productions, most notably Kill Bill and The Matrix series of films. These and other notable Chinese MA films, which saw American audiences, between True Legend and his last directorial effort, Tai Chi Boxer (1996). So, it may not be surprising that he's incorporated some more Western friendly elements. That may be far reaching, but True Legend is certainly no traditional Martial Arts film.For Chinese MA fans, this is a mixed bag. It starts out with several powerful action sequences, the most notable being the opening rescue scene. Sadly, this is Ping putting his best foot forward and the film never truly rises above it in terms of impressive action. That doesn't mean the film doesn't contain some other outstanding scenes that, at least, left me with a few 'oh snap' moments. And the combination of fantasy elements that you might see in older films, like the 5 Venom Fist style MA, and more modern concepts, like mixing break dancing with drunken fist boxing, give the film it's own identity. Sadly, this creates a bit of an identity crises. We're given a historical context for the film, and the story presents itself similarly to Fearless, another MA biopic, but the film isn't grounded in reality and some strange turns are taken, those most notable being main character Su's encounter with The Wushu God. It's a bizarre, CGI heavy intermission between the more grounded first and final acts. But the entire tone of the film seems to be a mix of the two: the more traditional Chinese MA film and the modern, special effects and wire laden Chinese MA film, the kind that Western audiences might be more accustomed to. And reading about the production of the film, you can certainly see that Ping did want to go beyond the traditional film to create something more modern.Despite this seemingly jumbled style, the film is full of Ping's mastery. Fantastic camera work, editing, and special effects add to the impressive set pieces and choreographed action sequences. Again, there are a ton of 'oh snap' moments, and in a MA film, that is a wonderful thing to have. The opening scene is an incredible display of talent, action, special effects, and choreography that will most likely go down as one of the great modern MA action scenes. There are plenty of other fantastic action sequences, and thankfully Ping knows how to shoot a proper action scene as opposed to so many other directors who think all the action has to be confusing and up close, and all the editors who think that it requires cuts by the second. This film reaffirms that, even after all these years, Ping can still produce something that is entertaining and exciting, that he is still a master of the MA sequence.Whether you enjoy this film or not will depend entirely on how much you can enjoy the fairly odd mix of styles along with the inclusion of a fifth act to end the film. It does take a bit of a right turn with the final act, but it's none the less very entertaining, and includes a cameo (most likely our last glimpse) of David Carradine, who you might know worked with Ping on Kill Bill. However, I would recommend this film to any MA fan. It's unique blend of quirky style, fantastic action, and masterful filming technique all make up one entertaining Chinese MA.

They tried to make an epic saga with some fantasy legend like story in the beginning, then somehow changed the mind and added some tragedy and at the and the mixture of Ipman, Tai chi master, Tom yum goong, ghulam(Hindi). The ending is so horrible and funny, you will wish some quick ending and some real beating up of the hero. This is those kind of movies where they try very hard to provoke some emotion out of you and harder they try, more comical it becomes. Very poor acting. Fight scenes could have been way better if there were some good budget. The graphical scenes are poorly done.Watch it if you have nothing else to do and you truly love the Chinese action movies, but set your expectation very very low, really low.Even rating 5 seems too high for me. Still...

For some time now, since the idea of Drunken boxing came to fruition, it has been widely disregarded as a martial art. But after seeing this film, I came to understand that Drunken Boxing has its place among the ideals between the masters. Su Can (Man Cheuk Cheiu) an ex general who led many countless battles to victory dreams of settling down with his son and his wife. But through sheer happenstance, his adopted brother takes his revenge on Su's father for killing his own father in previous years before. Now with a new battle ahead, Su must save his son from the clutches of his step brother Yuan Ying (Xun Zhou). Except his step brother has mastered a martial art called the five venom fist. A technique that uses poison in battle. All seemed lost until he comes across in exile with his wife two beings called the god of Wushu (Jay Chou) to learn even further and hone his martial skills. And an old sage drunk (Gordon Liu) who I thought was a great addition to the team. Although I wanted to see more of Gordon, the story however revolves around Su's well being and state of mind. During his exile and his retraining with the gods, his wife has seen that he might be losing his mind. She has seen that he trains by himself and makes the wounds to look like he has taken on the gods. She leaves to find their son, and in so doing Su finally takes his revenge on his step brother after his wife writes him a letter on her voyage. Now with a new resolve, he finds and fights Yuan and defeats him, but all for nothing since Yuan buried his wife in a box. Now with her death even after finding her, he loses all hope and falls again to the wine. With his son beside him they come across a deadly battle for which men get killed. Now an old friend named Ma Quing Feng (Xiaodong Guo) must fight for his life and attain fame to call himself the best Wushu martial artist. But to battle wrestlers is another thing altogether. Now with a mean spirited team Captain (The Late David Carradine) Ma faces his toughest challenge. But as he sees his defeat in the midst, Su comes to the rescue with his patented Drunken Style which vanquishes the enemy team. A great and Wonderful display of martial arts since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Or Ip man. Michell Yeoh is as always, such an attractive addition to any film that graces the silver screen. Her abilities of acting is next to none, but sad to see her as only a doctor. I would have loved to see her in action once again. But I guess it wasn't in the cards this time around. All in all, a great film, excellent music, and beautiful styles of fighting I have ever seen for some time. Yuen Wo Ping really delivers. A must see.

I was so excited for this film to make its way to the states. Yuen Woo-ping is a master of the ideal fight movie and it's awesome to have him directing again after 15 years! His directing/fight coordinating in this film are absolutely epic! This movie has everything you want in a Wushu film. There's copious amounts of fighting with distinctly different styles including MMA, knife combat and awesome aerial stunts, and the ever popular drunken boxing, an evil master, family betrayal and of course the classic David Carradine in one of his final roles. While some may have issues with the "3 acts" or the CGI, I think that they all add to the master work of art that is True Legend.