Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen 《精武风云: 陈真》

Honestly, I am neither a fan of Donnie Yen nor Kung Fu movie. In fact, I didn't watch IP Man despite all the fantastic reviews. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the show and concluded that it was indeed interesting despite the plain and predictable plot.

Thanks to omy, I had the chance to catch Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen yesterday. And, yes, I was captivated by the swift and suave Kung Fu moves of the male lead (Donnie Yen). In fact, he reminds me of Bruce Lee, especially during his last fight scene with the Japanese leader. Not sure if it is intentional though. -_-

The pitiful dance hostess cum Japanese war captain acted by Shu Qi and the comical policeman played by Huang Bo are also significant characters that have grabbed my attention throughout the show. In particular, I was enthralled by the fact that Shu Qi was able to display the internal struggle (being a spy and yet, a “genuine” close friend of Vivien and the love interest of Chen Zhen) of the character so well. I actually felt sorry for her for having to face the typical plight of woman (being deemed as just a sex tool) in ancient time despite trying her best to fulfill her responsibility of helping her country to win the war.

A good mix of violence, emotional struggle and slight comedy. In short, I will rate this movie 4/5.

Synopsis of movie:
While China is traumatized by military cliques during the World War era in the 1020s, Shanghai is the cynosure of all eyes. People see it as both Hell’s Kitchen and Heaven’s Gate/ One of the city’s most memorable heroes has to be Chen Zhen, who single-handedly avenges his mentor’s death by killing all the Japanese at a dojo in Hongkou, only to be showered with bullets while making his legendary flying kick. Vanished from the public eye ever since, he has been taken dead though his body is never found.

Seven years later, a wealthy entrepreneur called Koo returns from abroad and makes a grand entrance on the Shanghai social scene by befriending the notorious mafia boss of the city. This mysterious man is none other than Chen Zhen in disguise who dwells in a world of nefarious means in order to infiltrate the criminal empire. He soon discovers a clandestine collusion between the mafia and the Japanese.

Disguised as a caped crusader at night, Chen sets out to dismantle with his martial arts skill the evil collusion that plaques the country. One of his foremost missions is to ferret out the assassination list prepared by the Japanese.