True Legend (2010)

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.

Fmovies: 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 fi

Yuen Woo Ping! Are you familiar with that name yet or not? Many films struggle to reach my top ten list, but The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are two that definitely deserve to be contenders for those ranks. Su Qi-Er I thought might be even better than both of those movies possibly as far as cinema being a carefully practiced art form goes. It blended some classic and modern approaches.

Even if it had wire-fu wushu computer animated action sequences at times, that isn't something I am particularly prejudiced against. What really matters is good story telling and writing and acting, and well...many things, etc. The lead actor and actress I thought were really great at times and I definitely have to contribute that to the director's credit, especially since he has a lot more experience than them. Holy sweetness! Gordon Liu, Michelle Yeoh, and David Carradine!? Great to get to see them all act, they were all superb even though they weren't the main stars. Seriously, how does Carradine keep coming out with all these posthumous films? Did he make a robot clone? Costumes, music, action choreography, makeup, lighting, sound, casting, animetors, etc.: all of these people came together and did amazingly fantastic jobs to make the picture as a whole really a superb film. There were some very nice nature images that were quite artfully done almost like a master painter's ink brushstroke. The story was captivating. I didn't think I felt like it ever really began to drag on too long at any one time the way many other films seem to do. Everything about it is really great. I highly suggest this film to everyone!The fact that most Americans still have not heard of this movie truly blows my mind. It needs to be in theaters immediately!

True Legend fmovies. One of the best movies i've seen what concern martial arts. Just superb. The choreography is classic. Fighters fly on wires, strike with fast hands, kick high, hold impossible poses and pull on a variety of weapons. Also fights I've never seen before, what makes it all original. They are truly breathtaking: brilliantly composed and shot.

Action from the beginning to the end in this modern fighting movie with some Asian tragedy. The locations are beautiful. The story is very simple, but who cares? (If you look for a movie with a good story, i could recommend you "house of flying daggers"). This is a movie where you find some beautiful and stunning fighting scenes. Kungfu fans would love to see this movie.

I found this to be one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a long time. I loved the whole concept of the film, it was booming with creativity and not to mention the fight sequences were bloody brilliant.

The story line is actually very consuming once you become endeared by the characters, whom I might add are supremely crafted. I mean how can you not think the 'God of Wushu' is not cool.

As a fan of the genre, I really rate this film up there with the best of them. It certainly deserves more attention, which I hope it gets.

10/10.

I am basing my 9 stars for two reasons. First, the choreography is top notch. Second the cinematography is top notch. Simply put, this a very beautiful movie to watch. As for the story and plot...it's an action movie with a fairly simple story. It was designed to entertain with action and composition so the story is not the main vehicle which it uses to engage the viewer. If you are looking for extremely beautiful images, super insane kinetic choreography and fight scenes, you have come to the right place. The fights are on par with and perhaps even surpass Crouching Tiger, or Hero. Woo Ping just keeps improving on his choreography. I don't know how he does it, but he does it in every new movie. This is a definite purchase on bluray for my collection.