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2006 | Action | Drama | International
105 mins
After a terrible tragedy, a martial artist (Jet Li) retreats to a remote village to gain a new appreciation for the important things in life, but when he returns to the city to reconcile his past with the present, he gets caught up in a duel to the death defending China's honor.
| Produced by | Rogue Pictures (Focus) |
| Director | Ronny Yu |
| Writer | Chris Chow |
| Cast | Jet Li, Shidรด Nakamura, Betty Sun, Dong Yong, Paw Hee Ching, Yun Qu, Nathan Jones and Brandon Rhea |
Images And Data Courtesy Of: Rogue Pictures (Focus).
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated
Sep 21, 2020
If this really is Jet Li's final wushu martial arts epic, it ain't too shabby of a one to end on. Sprawling, a bit messy, classical (often to a fault) - but Li is such a masterful performer that he virtually negates the abundance of flaws this movie does have. He encapsulates both extremes of this character's life with such a mesmerizing grace - he literally actualizes the transition from cocky little shit to anguished, sage older gentleman right before our eyes; when it's revealed that he killed his last adversary, and Li reacts as if he's been socked in the chest with a blunt object. A lot of pretty generic story elements in here (how many times have we seen the 'guy who becomes so obsessed with something that he alienates his family and friends' arc) but it's kind of nice to see an action epic that is more focused on interpersonality and doesn't turn into countless dry battles where the fighters are reduced to indiscernible specs on the screen a la ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ. But the fights are out of this *world* holy hell, the pretty much magic choreography alone makes this worthwhile. Still don't think this leans into the bombast *quite* enough, and the (forgivably) melodramatic middle section cuts from scene to scene far too often - but this whole thing is Jet Li's dancefloor, and we are merely privileged enough to be able to witness it.