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

This is somewhat of a strange movie. The story really begins back in 1972 when Bruce Lee made Fist of Fury, the martial arts movie that helped launch him into international stardom. In it he played Chen Zhen, a patriotic martial artist trying to avenge his master who died at the hands of the Japanese invaders. It’s a classic martial arts film that inspired dozens of spinoffs in television and movies. Martial arts action star Donnie Yen even played the character in the Fist of Fury TV show during the ‘90s. Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is a sort of sequel to the Bruce Lee film, several times citing the events as the back story. Where it gets strange however, is the way it also references Bruce Lee as the one who played the famous hero. The obvious way is in the character himself. Much as he was in the original, Chen Zhen is a patriot and a dedicated nationalist. He fought with his comrades during WWI and afterwards helps them rebel against the Japanese occupancy. The nod to Bruce Lee is catapulted onto the screen especially during the finale, when the famous dojo fight scene is literally reenacted, complete with Donnie Yen doing Bruce Lee’s signature fighting style (including the battle cries). The second reference is a bit more surreal. At one point, Chen Zhen is forced to disguise himself so that he can save a general from assassination. After looking into a store window, he sees a costume for a movie super hero called “The Masked Warrior”, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Kato, a character Bruce Lee played when he costarred on the American TV series The Green Hornet, which was known as The Kato Show in China. 

The plot follows Chen Zhen and his friends after the war. Located in Shanghai, they start up a newspaper and plan their resistance. This leads to all sorts of chaos with the villainous Japanese military and Chen Zhen trying to balance his multiple aliases. The chaos of the story has a lot to do with the sheer number of characters that are apparently crucial to the plot. In the beginning, it’s easy to get lost trying to keep track of all the key players. Several of the generals are given only a short amount of screen time to establish their roles before being reduced to mere references in the dialogue. Characters get killed or betrayed left and right so that it’s almost impossible to remember who’s important and who isn’t. To make it worse, the entire movie is overly dramatic and crammed with heavy-handed symbolism. You never feel as though you know any of the characters outside of the main three. Many of their motivations are unknown or just grouped into the overtly stated theme of nationalism. This lack of character development makes certain dramatic scenes fall flat or at worst leave you scratching your head as to why you should even care. The romance between Chen Zhen and the hostess singer Kiki (Shu Qi) is weak and relies too heavily on montage to show it blossom.

Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen as Kato 

Speaking of montage, the movie is directed by Andrew Lau and he actually does a lot to make up for the often uninteresting characters. The setting is Shanghai in the twenties and it’s shown to be a stylish and glamorized place. The majority of the action revolves around the Casablanca Night Club where Chen Zhen works. The club and the city streets are full of bright colors and city lights, mixed with the cool fashions of the time and jazzy music. It’s a very fun setting and gives much of the film an eye-catching visual flare. Some of the better scenes are those just about establishing the atmosphere in the setting. Most of the time however – and this excludes the action scenes – the pacing is erratic. Certain scenes end abruptly while others that seem less important are dwelled on. There’s a scene of two generals talking and spewing exposition over dinner for several minutes before they are never seen again throughout the entire film. This kind of thing happens a lot at the beginning and only serves to muddle the plot. 

Granted, this is a martial arts action flick so the real question is: how’s the action? Luckily, the action scenes are the strongest aspect of the movie. Watching Donnie Yen kick all kinds of ass (whether he’s dressed as Kato or not) never gets old. He moves so fast that it’s often hard to differentiate between whether they’re natural stunts or assisted with wires. The climax, which is a recreation of one of the most famous scenes from Fist of Fury, is pretty memorable; he takes down what looks like fifty guys simultaneously. This kind of over-the-top action is made clear from the first scenes which are filmed almost like your typical war movie until Chen Zen starts dodging bullets and actually takes down a machine gunner with a knife while swinging from a rope. It’s so insane that it’s great. 

Although Legend of the Fist suffers from shallow characters and a convoluted plot, there’s still some fun to be had here. It pays a lot of tribute to Bruce Lee and with its well executed action sequences mixed with a unique style, it has the feel of something different.