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The Legend Review

Due to a glitch at Amazon, there are numerous reviews cross-pasted from a hatchet-job of this movie called "The Legend." Buy the Dragon Dynasty release without fear: this is the real deal!

I've seen this movie in the theater several times. I can tell you that this is not only one of Jet Li's finest films, but also one of the real gems of HK movies, and one of the best period martial arts films of all time.

The characters are fun and charming, the acting full of energy. The story and script is humorous and heroic. The sets and period evocations are flawless.

Of course, the fighting is incredible: full use is made of many large set-pieces, similar to Iron Monkey and Wing Chun. And Jet is at the pinnacle of his grace and power, as well as boyish charm wedded to striking nobility and screen presence.

I advise all lovers of HK martial arts to see this brilliant film made during the modern height of the Hong Kong cinema glory days. And then come back and stick a 5-star review in here so this wonderful movie doesn't get done in by The Legend's bad reputation.

The Legend Overview

Martial arts matinee idol Jet Li Lin-Kit, who made his U.S. debut as a bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4, portrays a real life turn-of-the-century Cantonese patriot, the dauntless Fong Sai-Yuk. This is a much more blunt and straightforward effort than Tsui Hark's flamboyant Once Upon a Time in China films, but codirectors Ann Hui (Song of the Exile) and Yuen Kwai (Yes, Madam) deliver many lively and funny sequences. For U.S. viewers, the revelation of the film will be Josephine Siao, a Cantonese film star of the '60s, in both comedies and high-flying swordplay films, who plays Fong Sai-Yuk's martial mother. Siao disguises herself as man to enter a martial arts competition and ends up winning both the prize and the heart of a high official's daughter--mostly because the girl has never met a hero with so much poetic sensitivity lurking just beneath the surface. Chu Kong (Sidney in John Woo's The Killer) plays Fong Sai-Yuk's father as an anti-Manchu patriot so unbendingly upright that he's a bit of a prig, and as the action heats up, political stakes emerge more clearly. In the grand finale, Fong Sai-Yuk squares off against a Manchu killer played with great panache by newcomer Chiu Man-cheuk. --David Chute

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jan 25, 2010 23:00:07

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