Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) - The Good Parts

This movie sucks.  It's haphazard, utterly non-engaging, and just plain dull.  However, as The Bard himself, William Shakespeare, once said: "The fight scenes are totally swank."

So, as a public service to you, my long-suffering readers, I have decided to post links to the best parts of the movie.  This way you don't have to sit through all the crap to get to the good stuff.

First, a short history lesson.  Chen Zhen is a fictional Chinese hero who lived during the Japanese occupation of China and fought to protect his fellow countrymen and preserve Chinese culture.  He originally appeared in the blockbuster film "Fist of Fury" (retitled "The Chinese Connection" for America), where he was played by the one-and-only Bruce Lee.  There was a sequel in 1976 called "New Fist of Fury" (featuring a young Jackie Chan), as well as numerous novels, movies and T.V. shows based on his legend.  Jet Li played him in 1994's awesome "Fist of Legend".  And now Donnie Yen plays him in "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen".

Donnie Yen is currently the number one martial arts star in the world.  His movies make more bank than those featuring superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li.  Funny, since he first started making a name for himself by playing villains opposite Jet Li in films such as "Once Upon a Time in China 2" (1991).  His breakthrough role came in 1993 when he starred in "Iron Monkey" (prequel to the "Once Upon a Time in China" series), yet he still couldn't make it to "leading man" status.  It wasn't until recently that he's managed to become a major box office draw.  Of course now he's 47 years old and only has a few more ass-kicking years left in him, but better late than never!

So here's the opening action sequence, set in France during WWI, where Chen Zhen becomes an inspiration to his fellow countrymen.  Subtitles are in French, because French is funny.

Andrew Lau directed this movie.  He also directed one of my favorite trilogies, the "Infernal Affairs" gangster trilogy (the Leonardo DiCaprio/Jack Nicholson movie "The Departed" was a remake of the original "Infernal Affairs").  This is his first all-out action movie, and while it's a good looking movie, it just doesn't work. I don't know what happened.  Donnie Yen choreographed and directed the fight scenes, which explains why the fights are so much more engaging than the drama.

Here are the rest of the fights, including the scene where Chen Zhen beats up a bunch of Japanese martial arts students (a staple of Chen Zhen movies since Bruce Lee first did it back in the day).  Zhen even pilfers a black suit and mask from a storefront window display to become a masked avenger, an addition to the story that was intended, no doubt, to appeal to our masked hero-crazy culture.

So there you have it.  The good parts.  You're welcome.

If you want to see some really good Donnie Yen movies, I recommend "Ip Man" 1 and 2.  Also look up "Flash Point", "An Empress and Her Warriors", or "Kill Zone".  He's pretty cool.