PiraBit
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Abbigail Bush
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Master Cultist
This wilfully demented martial arts comedy is a mixed affair. Set some time in the past - sorry folks, Chinese history is not my strong point - when Empire was all, this sees a group of dissidents attempting to overthrow their evil overlords. Jet Li, acting as Executive Producer as well as the main star, plays Fong Sai-Yuk, a cheeky chappy with amazing Kung Fu prowess who falls in love with the beautiful daughter of an influential businessman and must prove his worth to the judgemental Patriarch. That's all I could really glean from the haphazard plotting, but it mattered not one jot as this is all about the fight scenes, which are many and varied. Going the Jackie Chan route of making use of scenery, this sees Jet leaping about on bamboo scaffolding, dancing on rooftops and even fighting on the shoulders and heads of the eagerly watching crowd. Whilst the comedy element quickly becomes tiresome and irritating the action is dazzling though be warned, it is all wire work, so if that annoys or disappoints this may not be the chop-socky movie for you. Whilst far from great, this nevertheless passed the time efficiently enough. Oh, and try to get hold of the subtitled version if you can as the dubbed voices on the version I watched are almost unbearable at times.
Jared Mitchener
Believe it or not, this was the movie that introduced me to Jet Li. I was immediately hooked. I've read reviews that discredit the dub into English, but I found it easy to overlook this -- in fact, I found it to be somewhat hilarious. This film has all the makings of a great movie. There are no sub-plots that do not get resolved. The servant who always bawls whenever Jet Li's character get's set to go away for a minute or two is downright hilarious. That's one of the unique things about this movie: with so much drama they managed to make a hilarious movie, as well. As usual, the kung fu is extraordinary. In particular, there are a few scenes in which the opponents face off and the camera takes a moment to pause and let the viewer see the poses from a brilliant perspective. This will always be one of my favorite Chinese films.
tripwires
And I think his Hong Kong/China movies are far better than his Hollywood ones. I saw this movie literally years ago, when I was a kid, so I don't remember it as well as I want to. I do remember it being kind of sad, but nevertheless, it's one of my favourite films. Jet Li simply rules.
charlie_062497
"The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk" (or "The Legend" as entitled by Dimension Films Home Entertainment) starring Jet Li as the title character captures some of the best martial arts ever placed on film. Oh, sure, the actors are sometimes aided by the help of wires, but "wire-fu" never does overstay it's welcome in this fun-filled comic, kung-fu drama.Jet Li (an executive producer on the film) and director Corey Yuen ("Kiss of the Dragon", "The Defender", "The One") have been able to come up with some of the most inventive fight scenes that rival those of "The Matrix", "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "The Legend of Drunken Master" (though I don't think Chan has ever used any wires in his work) or I should say vice versa since "Fong Sai Yuk" was filmed before any of the above mentioned.The movie itself is more or less the same as many other similar period piece kung-fu films (the "Once Upon A Time In China" series, which also starred Li, comes to mind). It details the heroics of Fong Sai-Yuk and his family (his father is the leader of a group of freedom fighters) as they try to evade and defeat an evil emperor's (who wants to rule China, of course) death squad.There's a subplot that involves a greedy land baron that's mostly played for laughs, but also introduces a female character who falls for Li and fleshes out a little bit of a love story between the two. However, as entertaining as those plot threads are, everytime the fighting begins, "Fong Sai-Yuk" kicks into overdrive with very thrilling scenes involving intricate, complex fight scenes.It's for those reasons that we go to see a martial art film and it's for those reasons alone that you should see "The Legend", I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
