True Legend

[GeneChing]

Official TRUE LEGEND US Trailer 2011

This will have a limited U.S. theatrical release next weekend by Indomina. For martial arts film fans, it goes up against Priest which also opens next Friday. That's Friday the 13th, btw.

[doug maverick]

HA i called it..knew it was gonna get a theatrical release..i might see this, and just leave before the last twenty minutes.

[Li Kao]

I guess I have the same opinions as most of you all -- it was entertaining but probably not one I would want to see again. I really, really was hoping to be blown away -- it's been a while since a really good period wuxia piece and I want movies like that to still get made. I didn't see the movie in 3-D but I don't think it would have improved it much (personally I think 3-D is still gimmicky and I have never really cared for it in traditional movies).

I really liked the villain and the 5 Venom fist twist was pretty neat. Vincent Zhou did a decent job as well. The story reminded me a lot of Tai Chi Master and your typical kung fu flick. (Side note: I don't necessarily fault the story for following the typical blueprint, but on the other hand, I think that is why Five Deadly Venoms is my favorite kung fu flick - it played out like a mystery and kept you guessing and wondering a bit. It is pretty rare for a kung fu movie to have that level of intrigue in the story. Than again, it was Chang Cheh. But I digress...). I didn't really care for how they would skip forward years at a time - not that it was hard to follow, but it seems there could have been better transitions. The whole kung fu training in his mind was a different twist - you could almost say Su was a schizophrenic I will say that the Michelle Yeoh & Gordon Liu cameos were not that satisfying, even though I'm *huge* fans of them both. I guess I was hoping they would get to show off a little kung-fu but it seemed like both of their characters were almost incidental and pointless.

The kid was *very* annoying -- the whining and crying got to be a bit much, wish they could have made him a bit stronger willed. I kept thinking of that scene in Airplane where everyone is lining up to slap the girl who wouldn't calm down.

I agree that the movie would have been better off ending before the final 30 minutes. The CGI looked silly and the typical evil Westerner corruption theme complete with mindless, steroid-freak wrestlers was played out again. I suppose it's a classic villain for Chinese kung fu movies -- kind of like Indy battling the Nazis. I guess I prefer the good old days when it was the evil Manchus that were the villains. The scene was like watching a WWF match, and Su looked like he was pulling off some breakdancing moves at times.

Hopefully Woo Ping fares a little better his next time around, and I hope the movie makes a little bit of dough here in the U.S. to recoup somewhat, as from what I have read it was a pretty big flop in China monetarily, grossing barely 1/4 of the budget.

[GeneChing]

About a dozen articles on the newsfeeds today. Not bad for a limited release.

A Martial Artist in Action
By MIKE HALE
Published: May 12, 2011

In “True Legend,” his return to feature-film directing after a 15-year hiatus, Yuen Woo Ping soemtimes flashes the skills that made him the world’s favorite action choreographer for hire. (His résumé includes the “Matrix” and “Kill Bill” films, as well as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”)

After a stirring opening battle, however, the fights in “True Legend” become pretty routine. And beyond some lovely mountain scenery and a tiny cameo by a radiant Michelle Yeoh, there isn’t much else to look at. Like so many of the bloated, moralistic epics being pumped out by the Chinese film industry, it maneuvers cardboard characters through a story built almost entirely from aphorisms, scheming and pledges of revenge.

“True Legend,” written by Christine To, actually packs in two such stories. Vincent Zhao plays Su Can, a general and legendary martial artist in the 1860s who has a violent falling-out with his half-brother. After a long and boring mountaintop exile spiced up by some mystical training with the God of Wushu (Jay Chou), he returns for the big showdown.

That would seem to be that, except that the movie isn’t over. Suddenly we’re cast ahead into Su’s future in a more or less realistic border city, where he must uphold Chinese honor against a troupe of sadistic Russian wrestlers who “kill Chinese for amusement.” This long, strange epilogue is made even stranger by the presence of David Carradine, who died in 2009 in a Bangkok hotel room, in one of his last roles, as the primary white caricature.

It’s giving nothing away to report that Su, despite being a grief-stricken drunk, emerges as the last man standing with his new “drunken fist” style of martial arts. An alcoholic leitmotif runs through “True Legend,” but it only makes you nostalgic for the lightness and humor of “Drunken Master,” the breakthrough 1978 film for both Mr. Yuen and Jackie Chan.

“True Legend” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for violence. Crunching bones, coughing blood.

TRUE LEGEND

Opens on Friday in New York; Los Angeles; Austin, Tex.; San Francisco; and Honolulu.

Directed by Yuen Woo Ping; written by Christine To; director of photography, Zhao Ziaoding; edited by Wenders Li; music by Shigeru Umebayashi; production design by Huo Tingxiao; costumes by Yee Chung Man; produced by Bill Kong, Cary Cheng, Wang Tianyun and Xu Jianhai; released by Indomina Releasing. Running time: 1 hour 56 minutes.

WITH: Vincent Zhao (Su Can), Zhou Xun (Ying), Andy On (Yuan Lie), Guo Xiaodong (Ma Qingfeng), Jay Chou (God of Wushu/Drunken God), Michelle Yeoh (Dr. Yu), David Carradine (Anthony), Gordon Liu (Old Sage) and Cung Le (Militia Leader).

[enoajnin]

It got a nice review over on the science fiction site, I09

Yuen Woo-Ping’s True Legend: Pure Old-School Awesomeness

Charlie Jane Anders — Remember what Chinese martial-arts movies used to be like, before Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero? The no-holds-barred action, the over-the-top storytelling? The Daoist laughter? Yuen Woo-Ping sure seems to. His new movie True Legend is pure old-school awesomeness.

Yuen, of course, is the guy who did the stunts for The Matrix and countless other classics. And True Legend, in select theaters today and more theaters next week, does have some of the most mind-blowing wirework and beautifully choreographed violence I've seen in ages. Plus it's just hair-raisingly insane, and it wears its giant heart on its sleeve.

[JamesC]

Just watched this.

My biggest complaint is the the fact that there were at LEAST 15 slow-mo scenes of people being punched or kicked and then spraying fake blood out of their mouth. It was comical.

[doug maverick]

Just watched this.

My biggest complaint is the the fact that there were at LEAST 15 slow-mo scenes of people being punched or kicked and then spraying fake blood out of their mouth. It was comical.

i dont understand your complaint. would you rather them spray real blood?

[JamesC]

My complaint is that there was no reason to show them doing that so many times with slow-motion close-ups of their mouths. It was cheesy and overdone, that's all i'm saying.

Is it okay with you if I share my opinion?

[doug maverick]

My complaint is that there was no reason to show them doing that so many times with slow-motion close-ups of their mouths. It was cheesy and overdone, that's all i'm saying.

Is it okay with you if I share my opinion?

im not arguing with you i just didnt understand your complaint. but now that you fleshed it out for me a bit, i get it and agree.

[JamesC]

im not arguing with you i just didnt understand your complaint. but now that you fleshed it out for me a bit, i get it and agree.

Sorry Doug.

I wasn't having a particularly good morning. I apologize if I offended you. I realize what I said may have been rude.

[Jimbo]

I finally saw it at the theater today, and though it was a bit better than I was expecting from reading some reviews, it wasn't as good as it could have been. The first thing that kind of annoyed me was the jumpy camerawork during the opening battle scene. It actually looked more like cinematography for an American movie. It was so jumpy/unclear that I didn't realize until after the movie was over that Cung Le was the bandit(?) leader Su (Vincent Zhao) fought at the beginning. For being his first movie, I think Cung Le did very well. I'd like to see him showcased better and more clearly in a future movie.

I get the feeling that Yuen Woo-Ping has run out of ideas in the action department. There was a sameness to all the fight action that was in contrast to Yuen's classic old-school stuff. A lot of that has to do with so many of the leading actors in his recent films being wushu athletes. Very athletic, to be sure, but most wushu athletes film-fight at the same tempo throughout. And there was a bit too much Superman stuff, with people sent flying through walls, pillars, etc., and just getting up like nothing happened.

I also thought that Gordon Liu and Michelle Yeoh were wasted. They were just brought in for their name value. Anybody could have played their roles. I was surprised at Jay Chou; this is the first time I've seen him in a movie, and he moved very well.

I agree with Li Kao that the kid was annoying...very much so. I know the scenes with his high-pitched whining were supposed to be emotional, but I just kept thinking at him: "Shut up!"

Andy On was good as the Five Venoms Fist main villain.

These types of films (True Legend, Ip Man 2) that feature 'evil' Western fighters beating up Chinese fighters and ultimately losing to the Chinese hero are ostensibly to bolster Chinese pride. But in reality, they make the Chinese appear weak. Because it always takes an exceptional Chinese fighter to beat the Westerners, and in the recent movies, he nearly dies beating the Westerner(s). You would think with all the superhuman powers and hard-core battle and killing experience he has, that Su wouldn't have too much trouble against two Western pro wrestlers and a Western TKD guy. BTW, how is a Westerner doing TKD kicks in the 1800s? I doubt they intended him to be a Savate guy.

David Carradine brought a sense of irony to the film. It was funny seeing him say, "Get that Chinaman!" Because that's what the cowboys were saying about him when he was Kwai Chang Caine. I'm not sure if the irony was intended or not, but I doubt it was lost on Carradine.

The CGI animation gave the movie a cheap look. I know it's popular and saves time, but it wasn't well-done, and there was entirely too much of it.

[SimonM]

It got a nice review over on the science fiction site, I09

I bought a copy on the strength of the IO9 review. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

[SimonM]

Ok, it was good but could have easily been half an hour shorter. The epilogue was entirely divorced from the rest of the story.

[doug maverick]

Ok, it was good but could have easily been half an hour shorter. The epilogue was entirely divorced from the rest of the story.

read every review posted. we all agree the last half hour was useless.

[SimonM]

Well I'm glad we all agree then.