Fearless marks Jet Li's last martial art production, where i am glad to say, he did not let anyone down in his martial art swan song.
Worked together with director Ronny Yu of The Bride With White Hair and Freddy VS Jason, Fearless marks the return of Jet and Ronny in the Asia market from Hollywood failures such as Lethal Weapon 4, The One and Formula 51.
Jet portrays the life of martial art master Huo Yuan Jia, which is also the Chinese title for the film. Fearless surrounds how he restored the pride and glory of the Chinese during the early 1900's from the intrusion and invasion of the Western powers and the growing Japanese power, where they have been calling the Chinese 'the sick man of Asia.' Huo Yuan Jia proves them wrong by accepting the challenges of the American fighters, the British and Spanish fighters, and the Japanese samurai Tanaka (Japanese actor Shidou Nakamura of Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu or Be With You fame.) But before we have the showdown before Tanaka and Huo, we are introduced to the past of Huo, who was then a proud and arrogant fighter who wants to make himself the one and only invincible fighter of TianJin (Huo's hometown.) His arrogance and past victory from the competition indirectly leads to the death of his mother and daughter, where he killed one of his opponent just to prove that he is invincible.
Huo lost his sanity after the death of his loved ones, and he drowns into a river, where he was saved by a young lady and her granny. Living with them for 7 years makes Huo realize the real meaning of martial arts, which he eventually sets up Jing Wu Martial Art School, to promote the value of strengthening and developing Mind, Body and Soul.
Previously stated in his interview on making a movie that he truly ones, Jet Li has achieved his objective in Fearless. Unlike any other B-Action flick focusing on how well the actor fights, Fearless carry the message of not to resort violence to settle any problem, where we can see how violence did to Huo's loved ones.
The showdown between Huo and other foreign fighters also promotes the idea of sparing your enemy a chance, no matter how deadly they could be. This, somehow, reflects on part of the idea and philosophy Jet Li understands and promotes from his one year Buddhism studies.
Director Ronny Yu has also made the right choice of casting Jet Li as Huo Yuan Jia, after Jet portrays Huang Fei Hong in his remarkable Once Upon A Time Trilogy. This has once again strengthen the image of Jet Li as the Chinese hero among the Chinese around the world.
Casting Shidou Nakamura as Tanaka (one of the main supporting cast) is fresh and new, where he was more well known for his role of Takumi, the husband who had an encounter with his late wife in Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu. Nakamura was more well for romantic and heart warming dramas. The showdown between Jet and Nakamura has not only make Fearless a must watch, but also the climax of the film.
However, Fearless is badly edited from the original 150 min version. To fit in the market demand, Fearless has been mercilessly chopped into a 103 min theatrical version. Michelle Yeoh, who makes a special appearance in Fearless, has been unfortunately removed. The duel between Jet Li and Thai boxer has also been removed, sad to say. Somehow, the movie has make the audience wants to go for something more than 103 min version.
Hope that the DVD release of Fearless will not disappoint the fans of Jet Li and anyone who loves the film with the deleted scenes. Apart from that, Fearless is remarkable. Definitely a must watch !
Worked together with director Ronny Yu of The Bride With White Hair and Freddy VS Jason, Fearless marks the return of Jet and Ronny in the Asia market from Hollywood failures such as Lethal Weapon 4, The One and Formula 51.
Jet portrays the life of martial art master Huo Yuan Jia, which is also the Chinese title for the film. Fearless surrounds how he restored the pride and glory of the Chinese during the early 1900's from the intrusion and invasion of the Western powers and the growing Japanese power, where they have been calling the Chinese 'the sick man of Asia.' Huo Yuan Jia proves them wrong by accepting the challenges of the American fighters, the British and Spanish fighters, and the Japanese samurai Tanaka (Japanese actor Shidou Nakamura of Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu or Be With You fame.) But before we have the showdown before Tanaka and Huo, we are introduced to the past of Huo, who was then a proud and arrogant fighter who wants to make himself the one and only invincible fighter of TianJin (Huo's hometown.) His arrogance and past victory from the competition indirectly leads to the death of his mother and daughter, where he killed one of his opponent just to prove that he is invincible.
Huo lost his sanity after the death of his loved ones, and he drowns into a river, where he was saved by a young lady and her granny. Living with them for 7 years makes Huo realize the real meaning of martial arts, which he eventually sets up Jing Wu Martial Art School, to promote the value of strengthening and developing Mind, Body and Soul.
Previously stated in his interview on making a movie that he truly ones, Jet Li has achieved his objective in Fearless. Unlike any other B-Action flick focusing on how well the actor fights, Fearless carry the message of not to resort violence to settle any problem, where we can see how violence did to Huo's loved ones.
The showdown between Huo and other foreign fighters also promotes the idea of sparing your enemy a chance, no matter how deadly they could be. This, somehow, reflects on part of the idea and philosophy Jet Li understands and promotes from his one year Buddhism studies.
Director Ronny Yu has also made the right choice of casting Jet Li as Huo Yuan Jia, after Jet portrays Huang Fei Hong in his remarkable Once Upon A Time Trilogy. This has once again strengthen the image of Jet Li as the Chinese hero among the Chinese around the world.
Casting Shidou Nakamura as Tanaka (one of the main supporting cast) is fresh and new, where he was more well known for his role of Takumi, the husband who had an encounter with his late wife in Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu. Nakamura was more well for romantic and heart warming dramas. The showdown between Jet and Nakamura has not only make Fearless a must watch, but also the climax of the film.
However, Fearless is badly edited from the original 150 min version. To fit in the market demand, Fearless has been mercilessly chopped into a 103 min theatrical version. Michelle Yeoh, who makes a special appearance in Fearless, has been unfortunately removed. The duel between Jet Li and Thai boxer has also been removed, sad to say. Somehow, the movie has make the audience wants to go for something more than 103 min version.
Hope that the DVD release of Fearless will not disappoint the fans of Jet Li and anyone who loves the film with the deleted scenes. Apart from that, Fearless is remarkable. Definitely a must watch !