Fearless
Being a fan of martial arts movies, I decided to see Jet Li's Fearless this
weekend. The film is based upon the life of Master Huo Yuanjia who was the
founder of Jin Wu Sports Federation. Li plays Yuanjia and shows how he
became interested in martial arts, learned its spiritual aspects and the
hardships and personal tragedies he faced along the way.
This movie was excellent. The fight scenes were incredible. The speed,
choreography and overall athletic ability of each actor is so impressive I
sat there in awe during the entire movie. Though it was a maritial arts
movie, I never felt like I was only watching action scenes. The storyline
and characters were intriguing and I actually began to care for Yuanjia and
what happened to him. Though subtitled, I felt like I could easily follow
the plot and wasn't spending all my time reading and missing the action.
What is unfortuante to me is that because it is subtitled, most people will
possibly miss the wonderful acting job Jet Li does in this film. He was
obviously very involved in this character and I began to believe I was
watching to actual man, not some actor portraying him.
Honestly, I cannot say how I would make this movie any better, this movie
was beyond my expectations and I greatly enjoyed it. It is certainly worth
a watch on the big screen, as well.
All in all, I would recommend this film to any martial arts fan and anyone
else who likes an inspirational story about a real life, larger than life,
hero. I would give Fearless an B+.
Fearless would have a grade breakdown as follows:
Story: A. Easily followed, understood and captivated by. Also easy to
believe it is true, not so 'over-the-top' you feel a lot of liberties were
taken, which I greatly appreciate.
Acting: B. Jet Li was Huo Yuanjia. I felt it and believe it. It is just
unfortunate to me that the subtitles may prevent people from seeing how
great Jet Li is in this film.
Visuals: A. I have come to expect no less that perfect from Jet Li movies
when it comes to visuals and how they are translated onto film.
Originality/Innovation: B. Though this was the first time I had seen the
story of Yuanjia, similar stories have been around for years. So it was original in that sense but not unique.
Enjoyability grade: A+. It is a big screen movie if there ever was one.
Overall grade: A. Almost a martial arts Rudy. Part sadness, part love
story, part revenge movie but entirely worth the price of admission.
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