(2013-05-18 23:50:54)

a little confusing plot, but excellent action movie overall

This review is from: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (DVD) I have been a longtime fan of Donnie Yen and this movie did not disappoint for me. Not the most outstanding of his action scenes, but still ones that kept me entertained. Just the opening sequence was unique (who would ever have thought of putting a martial arts battle in World War I France?). This movie's plot was a bit complicated to me, and it was a little difficult to keep track of the Chinese generals in this movie. However, this movie was fascinating to me in the fact that it seemed to cross multiple genres: it was all at the same time a comic book movie, a martial arts movie, and at the same time had a French feel to it. Thumbs up.

Alise_shenle

(2013-05-18 06:36:40)

Watch for more than the action

This film is not bad, the action is continuous! Acting: Donnie Yen hasone serious intense expression all the time. Although you might laughwhen he wears that mask, looking like Zorro/Daredevil/Spidermanstanding on rooftops. Shuqi looks ugly and unnatural. Huo siyan(she'skilled by Shuqi) is so pretty and when she died it was so poignant!Anthony Wong is a veteran and acts as good as ever. The bad guys areall one-dimensional and ugly. Choreography: Awesome. Donnie Yen takesoff his shirt. He is really quick at fighting and running. Lots ofblood and torture!! Plot: Basically it's a simple "Japanese--Bad.Chinese--Fight". It portrays what China is really like accuratelythough. Most of the times they are not united as seen from when theystart fighting amongst themselves instead of against enemies. I thinkit's because they're too crowded. Sentimental parts are not bad, likeChen Zhen's parts and Shuiqi's parts.

(2013-05-17 01:42:04)

How would Huo Yuanjia feel about this?

This review is from: Title (DVD) Donnie Yen returns as Chen Zhen in what could be deemed a sequel to Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury" aka "Chinese Connection" (1972), Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" (1994), or Yen's own "Fist of Fury" Chinese television series, from 1995. Or perhaps even the 3rd film following Yuen Woo Ping's "Legend of a Fighter" (1982) or Jet Li's "Fearless" (2006). Luckily the movie's much easier to sort out than my explanation of the work that sequentially preceded it! ALL are great films but none are necessary to view prior to this.The film starts out in France at the end of WW1. I don't recall how much time elapses between then and when Chen Zhen returns home but I didn't think that Japan entered China until 1931, though the gap was probably explained and I missed it. He joins a group of rebels and, under the pseudonym of a deceased comrade, becomes part owner of a large night club run by Chinese fat-cats who plan to profit from war, civil or otherwise. In preventing an attack on a Chinese military general, Chen Zhen dons the costume of a movie hero (Kato, Zorro, Black Mask, you pick) and saves the man's life. The Japanese are outraged and try to find the culprit. In the meantime he is also romancing the club's singer (Shu Qi, "The Transporter", "Gorgeous") who may have ulterior motives of her own.The fights: I try to be as objective as possible, but it's Donnie Yen's own words that I am basing my rating on: he notoriously (and justifiably) ripped apart poorly edited, wire-laden fight scenes a few years ago during the height of his "S.P.L./Flash Point" era and prides himself on choreographing better scenes, which he most certainly has done, and in many other titles than the two just mentioned. Do the fights in this suck? Absolutely not! However they are a noticeable step down from the work he has done in the last half-decade under director Wilson Yip. Here Yen's wire-work is better than most of Yuen Woo Ping's (whose choreography I love but have grown increasingly tired of) but not as good as his own "Dragon Tiger Gate". The editing is also overly choppy, which is not to say it's awful, but we all know that Yen is capable of much better stuff. He IS credited here as action director.Overall this is an enjoyable film with good enough fights to please most martial arts movie fans and I'm sure I'll watch it multiple times. If I had a non-fight gripe it would have to be about the absence of the great Yasuaki Kurata who is credited but barely glimpsed at all. The overall theme seems to be that the Japanese military, prior to (and during) WW2, were complete jerks. That's what I came away with though I did watch this the same day as "Black Belt" (2007), and was likely biased. I certainly don't think Yen felt that way in "Ip Man", lol.The picture quality on this Media Asia release is widescreen and excellent. The "making of" segment is quite extensive and features Yen on piano, enthusiastically jamming Scott Joplin tunes between takes. In Cantonese or Mandarin with removable English subtitles.2010

(2013-05-16 10:58:18)

Could have been way better...

This review is from: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen Collector's Edition (DVD) First off I would like to say that I am a big fan of Donnie Yen. I think he is a great martial artist/actor; but what is up with his movies? I love the first two Ip Man's, then I saw the preview to this one (The Legend of the Fist), it looked good so I bought it. The begining was great, but it soon died down, it got boring and the pliot was confusing. There was too much talking and not enough action. Another thing is that why do all the martial artist actors keep doing Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury. Jet Li did his version of it and now Donnie Yen. I'd say if you wanted to pay tribute to Lee, why not redo/finish the Game of Death. It was never finished because Lee passed away, I think if someone did that movie, that'll be a nice tribute to Lee instead doing his Fist of Fury, enough is enough, we've seen it already come up with something else. If you're a fan of Yen as I am then you'd probably keep this in your collection. If you're just starting out with Yen I'd watch Ip Man first before buying this movie, it wasn't that good. I'm afraid to get any other Donnie Yen movies because I fear that they won't be good. I've seen Killzone and Flashpoint and those 2 movies weren't good neither. I hope he comes out with better movies, because lately I haven't been feeling his movies.

(2013-05-14 00:59:03)

Total Stinker!!!!

Having just come back home from seeing this in the theatre...I felt I had to say something now before I became too apathetic to even care...In short....Don't waste your time. This was the "sequel" to Jet Li's incredible Fist of Legend (the remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury), and sadly this time not even the great Donnie Yen can save this movie.Set sometime after Chen Zhen's exile from Shanghi in the 1920's, Chen Zhen returns under an assumed identity to start a new life as a freedom fighter in the hopes of expelling the Japanese out of China. Bogged down with a terribly slow plot, uninteresting characters and a stunning lack of fight scenes, this film loses steam after the first 30 minutes. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the best parts of the movie and scenes that weren't even in the film... which might of actually made it better. I've spent a life time watching Martial Arts movies...Trust me, this is an epic failure! I could go on, but it's not even worth the time. Do yourself a favor and watch Legend of The Wolf or the Ip Man movies and forget you ever came across this one.

(2013-05-13 15:11:42)

Legend of the Fist. Return of Chen Zhen

This review is from: Title (DVD) If you are a fan of Donny Yen then this is a must see. The story starts out during World War I and transitions back to China. The Chinese are in the middle of the Japanese & British occupation. Nice period piece along with the costumes. Although the costume is sort of a take off the Kato character (played by Bruce Lee) in the Green Hornet series; I thought it was still a little interesting. I don't know what the creators intention was using the suit. But in my opinion Donny could have pulled off the role without the Kato reference. All in all I thought the movie was entertaining.

brucev13

(2013-05-12 22:23:23)

Donnie Yen in top form too bad the rest of the movie wasn't

There is only one reason to see this movie and that is Donnie Yen. Itis just an amazing sight to see this master of martial arts in action.Andrew Lau however must be ashamed for trying to be so political andpatriotic. Nothing wrong with nationalistic movies once in a while. Butlately it has been overkill. And he is clearly over his head here sincehe barely makes sense of what actually is happening on the screen.Worse you won't even care apart from the obvious cruelties displayed inmovies like this. It is such a shame that the focus seems to be on theplot that is hardly interesting. Luckily for Andrew Lau Donnie managesto save it all by himself but you can't but wonder what the movie wouldhave been like if the plot was kept simple.

(2013-05-12 17:12:18)

Wow!!!!!!!!!! Donnie Yen at his best!

This review is from: Title (DVD) If you like Ip Man, like I did, you will like this movie. Period. I didn't realize it at the time, but this is a sort-of remake of Bruce Lee's FIST OF FURY which Jet Li already remade as "FIST OF LEGEND". No surprise, I liked all three of these movies, all done by true martial arts masters. This DVD is fantastic. Excellent picture quality, clear, accurate subtitles, and special features. You can't go wrong with this purchase. I hear this will be released in USA theaters in 2011, and that it might be cut. This DVD is apparently uncut as I compared the running time with the running time in IMDB.

David Fu

(2013-05-12 10:01:11)

Incredible.

The action scenes with Donny Yen are incredible. There is some Parkourin this film. (A few monkey vaults, impressive moves.)The film also alludes to one of Bruce Lee's greatest fighting scenes. However, those who see all martial arts films for just action will missthe themes of the movie. The importance in a film or a work is themessage and meaning it conveys, not the plot.This is a film not fully based on historical events. Chen Zhen is awork of fiction, as is any superhero.Martial arts, Traceurs, and those who can connect to the characters allhave a reason to watch this film.

mehulxtreme

(2013-05-12 00:28:48)

Great visuals and explosives fight scenes but in the end leaves you wanting

I watched this a martial arts movie first, and will review it as suchThe scenes in this movie are explosive and expansive in type, there isless emphasis on technique, more on hard hitting and flash, with peopleflying through all types of object and with Donnie Yen looking forsomething to do a flying kick off most of the time.The fight scenes aren't numerous, so you will have to wait around forthem a bit, the problem I have is there was a huge opportunity missedin the middle of the film to throw a few more in.The plot is sufficient enough, and while the visuals are great, I feelit doesn't go well with a martial arts setting, as any fight scenesseem out of place, especially in the opening scene, which sees DonnieYen battle with about 20 German soldiers in France, who seem to forgetthey are holding guns when their fellow troops are being slashed andpunched a few yards in front of them.The final fight scene could have made up for the film, and whilegetting off to great start, disappointingly retorts to unclear andshaky visuals and stuff is more implied than directly shown.In conclusion, MA fans should still check it out for the brief flashesbrilliance from Donnie Yen surrounded by a decent enough film if youpay too much attention to the martials arts context.Quality of martial arts: 7.5/10 Relative amount of fight scenes: 4.0/10

(2013-05-10 20:23:59)

The Company Men

A time will come in which the current crisis caused by the sharks of Wall Street and the banks, among others, is going to be examined in more detail by Hollywood. We need a strong testament about how greed is always a cause for so much misery - even if we don't learn from it. Perhaps the riveting and unforgettable "The Company Men" will suffice for now. It is a warning call for those who watch it and those who have been suffering due to our present economic mess.Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is a young, successful high-profile executive at GTX (Global Transportation Systems). Just when everything is going well for him, he is informed that there has been a consolidation at the corporation, and that his position has become redundant. Because of this, he is fired. As you can imagine, everything down spirals for him from then on. He lives in a big house, drives a fancy car and has a beautiful wife and two children. With time, pressure begins mounting and he can not make payments anymore. He tries to look for jobs, but has no success. Eventually, Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper), one of his co-workers, is also fired, as well was Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones), who happened to be their boss. Curiously, Gene, together with James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson), were two of the original employees of GTX. Salinger eventually becomes the owner of the company and begins consolidating his power, guided by greed and corporate sharing. He uses Sally Wilcox (Maria Bello) as his henchwoman, who is in charge of downsizing personnel. The film guides us through the lives of Walker, McClary, and Wood ward, as they desperately try to survive."The Company Men" is honest and eye-opening. It tells us that we are all together in the current state of things - in this particular case, the movie focuses on extremely highly-paid employees, including a millionaire. It shows the evolution of despair in great detail, and how it affects the family and the self-respect of the individuals who are victims of downsizing. It also shows the role of wives in sharing the pain. The film also stars Kevin Costner as Bobby's brother-in-law. The way the movie ends, I won't be surprised if there is a sequel - it screams for one. "The Company Men" is a great companion to "Wall Street," and Ben Affleck's character will remind you to the one that he played in "Jersey Girl." The Blu-ray edition also includes an alternate ending, deleted scenes, making-of documentary, and audio commentary by writer-director John Wells. (UK/USA, 2010, color, 105 mins plus additional materials). Reviewed on June 12, 2011 by Eric Gonzalez exclusively for Anchor Bay Entertainment Blu-ray.

tigerstar154

(2013-05-10 11:27:24)

Pretty Good

Legend of the FistI saw this trailer during a screening of "IP MAN" and I was like ohyea, i have to see this! It had Donnie Yen in it, so that pretty muchsummed it up. When I saw the movie, It blew me away. It was great. Ithad a cool 20's like extravagance in it. The Pluses: The Scenery of Shanghai, Donnie Yen and his fightingskills, Shu Qi and her sexiness. Actions scenes and how the Japanesewere being portrayed.The Minuses: Too short, and some Chinese Propaganda inserted. Overall, Legend of the fist is great, watch it for Donnie Yen.

(2013-05-08 09:40:24)

(2.5 STARS) Disappointing: Not as Good as "Ip Man" (and Its Sequel)

In "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen," Donnie Yen plays Chen Zhen, a fictional character that first appeared n a 1972 Hong Kong movie "Fist of Fury" (aka "The Big Boss"). In the film Bruce Lee played the role of the hero, which has been taken up in many films and TV shows since then, including "Fist of Legend" starring Jet Li and, of course, a 1995 TV series starring Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen. Donnie Yen's new feature film directed by Andrew Lau is not a remake of the Bruce Lee film, but a sequel paying homage to the martial arts legend.The story is largely set in 1925 Shanghai. Chen Zhen, who has returned from WWI, is now a member of the resistance group to stop Japanese army from invading China. Hiding his true identity, Zhen visits a club (named "Casablanca") owned by Liu Yutian (Anthony Wong), where Japanese and Western military officers including a Japanese colonel Rikiishi (Ryu Kohata) frequent. There Chen meets a beautiful singer Kiki (Shu Qi), who also has a secret or two to hide from him.There are so many characters (including a cameo from Yasuaki Kurata, a familiar face of the 70s martial arts action films made in Hong Kong and Japan) and so many ideas and references thrown in. Some of the characters are unnecessary (do we really need Western characters here?). Some references are amusing (Green Hornet sidekick "Kato," for instance); others are pretty obscure (one character's name is Yamaguchi, possibly referring to a real-life actress Shirley Yamaguchi). But wait, isn't this supposed to be an action movie? Action scenes (choreographed by Donnie Yen himself) are certainly unique and powerful. The best part is the first scene in which Yen's Chen Zhen fights back the German soldiers in the WWI battlefield like a deadly version of Spider-man. Action sequences are mostly well-done except the very disappointing fight with Ryu Kohata in the climax. All the fast editing and camerawork cannot mask the fact that Kohata is not ready for the role as the opponent to Donnie Yen's hero. I read Kohata was an amateur boxer, but obviously he needs more skills as a fighter and an actor. You need someone like Sonny Chiba, someone with martial arts skills and charisma here.Not a bad action movie, but far inferior to "Ip Man."

(2013-05-07 20:59:39)

Awesome Movie

This review is from: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Well I am not really into the whole karate movies.but I just had to purchase this movie. It took awhile to come but it was worth it. It came in really good packaging so the movie wouldn't be scratched. I really enjoyed the movie it's well worth it!!!!

(2013-05-06 03:34:50)

Would be great IF

the vendor hadn't sent me yet another defective DVDvery frustrating to get through most of the movieonly to not be able to watch last 30 minutes or soas the DVD was defective

(2013-05-05 15:42:22)

Chen Zen

This review is from: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Donnie Yen was a bad @$$ in this movie!! Great story and awesome action scenes. The best part was probably the end scene.

(2013-05-02 00:38:25)

Hard hitting action

The action sequences alone are worth watching this movie. Donnie Yen is superb as an action director, and Bruce Lee fans will enjoy the realism of the fighting. There is very limited wire work here--Donnie's trademark style is speed and contact. The making of is extraordinary as you get to see how Donnie works. His abilities are amazing, though there is some use of camera speed to accentuate the impact. The flying kicks are trademark beautiful--what you've come to expect from Yen Sifu. For an epic film noir/comic book super hero type of movie, Chen Zhen is a whole lot of fun.This is NOT the wire-fu of Hero, and not the Wing Chun of Ip Man, this is more like Mixed Martial Arts with Taekwondo, Jui Jitzu, and boxing thrown in. All of the essential Chen Zhen is there, thumbs down to the Japanese CO, nunchaku, Bruce Lee war cries, mandarin suit, plus you get to sample some of Donnie's real piano playing skills, and some kung fu humor as he chases down the bad guys.MMA, Kung Fu, and Comic book movie lovers will enjoy this film!

DICK STEEL

(2013-05-01 16:11:36)

A Nutshell Review: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

This year marks the 70th year of Bruce Lee's birth, arguably the bestmartial artist the cinematic world has ever seen, with his shortfilmography still continuing to wow audiences young and old. Withtribute screenings at the Hong Kong International Film Festival earlierthis year, and at the Tokyo International Film Festival later thismonth, director Andrew Lau, writer Gordan Chan and leading kung-fu iconof the moment Donnie Yen pay their collective tribute with Legend ofthe Fist, taking one of the most memorable of Bruce Lee's charactersChen Zhen and imagining a follow up story.But wait, wasn't the final shot in Fist of Fury quite definitive? Butas movie rules are concerned, nothing's canon if you don't see it, so aslew of gunshots count for nothing, passing it off as one of manyrumours to discount his death, when in actual fact Chen Zhen (now withYen picking up the mantle) is still alive and kicking, and sent packingto the WWI front in France to fight alongside his Chinese labourercompatriots against the Axis forces. It's an unsatisfactory explanationI know, but one of the rare blips in what I thought was a rivetingstory concocted that alas was let down by a clichГѓВ©d ending that was tooabrupt to be satisfying, leaving doors open for another film if it doeshappen.Other than that, Legend of the Fist continues how Bruce Lee films weresteeped in Chinese nationalism, only here it went with trumpets blaringwith any given opportunity. Chen Zhen assumes a dead comrade's identityto return to Shanghai keeping jolly well under the Japanese's radar,where now the city in the early 20s gets carved up into settlements,with a microscopic representation of the internal chaos existing withinthe nightclub of influential Shanghainese businessman Liu Yiutian(Anthony Wong), with whom Chen Zhen befriends, for an ulterior motiveof course, since he's now with the resistance, and the Casablanca clubproviding a hotbed of information as they plot and counterplot movesagainst the Japanese's brewing aggression.Of late there's been a wave of such nationalistic movies that DonnieYen tend to get involved in, such as Bodyguards and Assassins, and hismore recent and successful Ip Man films, where Chinese people gatheraround a representative hero of their time to defeat foreignaggressors, where even in Ip Man 1, we see and expect the samemano-a-mano against a Japanese general who shows off his fair share ofkung-fu knowhow. Like how many caricatures would be crafted in manymore films that deal with that difficult period in Chinese history.While Yen had portrayed historical characters in those films, this onehe continues with a fictional one made famous by a historical martialartist in Lee.As a film steeped in paying homage to Lee, there are times where youfeel the characters and action get shackled from freedom of expression,but this is not always a bad thing. I had followed Donnie Yen's careerpretty early when he was still doing television serials for Hong Kong'sATV, where he played Chen Zhen in a storyline that had to mimic Fist ofFury, but expanded to include a romance with a Japanese woman. Likesome television dramas that gets new lease of life on the big screen,it helped that Yen has experience in portraying the role other than afew others like Jet Li in another feature film that was a remake, butthis one had the guts to continue where the film / series left off witha new spin.While aspects of the Chen Zhen character were toned down probablybecause the character has to continue staying under the radar, gone arethe high shrieks when he fights in the beginning (purists, please don'tworry, you'll hear that toward the end), and got replaced by plenty ofwhat I thought was MMA executed in brilliantly brutal fashion, startingwith the prologue action sequence which had Chen Zhen being that oneman soldier, followed by yet another nod in Bruce Lee's direction whendressed in a deliberate Kato costume. I'd say if not for his age, I'dgive my vote to Yen if he were to be casted as Kato in the upcomingGreen Hornet film in lieu of Jay Chou.More Lee homages were to come, with the necessity to go shirtless inhighlighting the chiseled physique that has its fair share ofpunishment, and what would be defining of Lee in Fist of Fury with theuse of the nunchaks, although with all due respect to Yen, Lee is quiteindomitable in this area, and the filmmakers here can only up the anteby throwing in a lot more goons to dispatch of in the same dojo fromthe earlier film. Yen took the action choreographer reins, andskillfully designed some spectacular fight sequences for action junkiesto go wow over, balancing the homage aspects as well as coming up withsome really violent, finishing moves to rid opponents. Watch this in acinema with a proper sound system decked out will heighten that sensesurround of being within the all round action.The story's pretty much plain sailing with little surprises thrown inother than to present shifting loyalties in a tumultuous time, whereAnthony Wong lends gravitas, Chinese actor Huang Bo providing comicrelief as a corrupt policeman, and Shu Qi lending her vocals yet againas a club hostess already seen in films like Blood Brothers. While thestory wouldn't be as iconic as Fist of Fury's, the fight actionsequences lived up to its billing, and celebrated manifold the legendof Bruce Lee's instead.

(2013-05-01 07:41:17)

Good historical Hong Kong action film

Very good Hong Kong action film with some brutal fight action, sufficient character development, and a well developed historical background. Fun.

Angelus2

(2013-04-30 23:31:21)

Disappointed in Mister Yen

Chen Zhen returns from France to save his country from the Japanese,and takes on the role of a superhero. That's the basic plot. The filmdraws out the plot, and places numerous characters with differentstories.The opening fight scene was quite spectacular, as Chen Zhen lays wasteto his enemies and protects his friends with amazing kung-fu, but thenit just goes downhill, the plot is perhaps the main problem and theactors fail to provide a decent performance. After watching Ip Man andthe sequel, I expected Donnie to ascend the ranks of his fellow MartialArt movie stars, but instead he descends to a place far lower. The rest of the fight scenes are too fast and rely heavily on wires,therefore Donnie's true Kung-Fu potential is never seen.Sure, a tribute is wonderful to watch. But when you bring a legendarycharacter back to life, you better get it right...Yen failed miserably.I loved the Ip Man films, and Dragon Tiger Gate; and envisioned Donnieas the saviour of Kung-fu movies..But something went wrong along theway.