Good start, but then it gets ruined

Absolutely Fantastic

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This engaging Jet Li epic is a throwback to the old glory days of the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series, as Li adopts his trademark shaven headed, ponytail-wearing persona and battles villains in turn-of-the-20th-century China. Yep, it's a China that's being invaded by the West once more, so there are many themes revisited that'll be familiar to fans of Li's earlier films. This film had a lot of publicity when Li declared to the press that it was his last martial arts film – but by that he meant it was his last period flick ABOUT martial arts; he's shooting a modern-day cop thriller as I write!FEARLESS is clearly a good film, with an epic-feeling plot, a ton of good action scenes and a very good performance from Li, whose acting seems to get better with age. There are two parts to the film really; the first is a series of action spectacles as egomaniac Li ruthlessly defeats opponents, until his temper leads to tragedy and he undergoes a spiritual redemption, LAST SAMURAI style, in the second half of the film. The finale of the film is particularly strong, with a genuine surprise of a plot twist and some moving scenes interspersed with the action. It's clear that Li has never been better, and he's supported by sterling work from the likes of Yong Dong as his childhood buddy and the underused Masato Harada as yet another Japanese villain, almost exactly the same character he played in the Tom Cruise movie!Of course, it's the action that'll make or break a martial arts film, and the fights here are great: fluid, kinetic and scenery-busting all the while. Yuen Woo Ping works well with the choreography of the battles, which are only spoiled a little by the overuse of CGI. Okay, so some of the impossible moves can only be done through computers – I accept that – but do we have to see CGI wood smashing, people being thrown through CGI walls and the like? Old-fashioned props and scenics will always be far more convincing than the cartoon-style effects on offer here. Plus, the editing on the fight scenes pushes things to the max, with lots of unnecessary jump cuts that'll make you think your brain is going funny, missing frames (why?) and an attempt to out-stylise THE MATRIX! Saying that, at least the battles are pleasingly violent, no kiddie fare here. The highlight is a tremendous fight to the finish between Li and a fellow martial arts master that ends with a rib-snapping power-punch that I've never seen the like of before. Plus we get a ring fight with WARRIOR KING's Nathan Jones, that hulking he-man whose sheer presence and size adds to any film in which he appears. While a better director for the job could have been found (I mean, Ronny Yu? BRIDE OF CHUCKY's Ronny Yu?) FEARLESS is still a strong and effective epic-feeling yarn with plenty to recommend it.

Fearless chronicles the true story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia who was one of the best fighters of his time and also the founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.Fearless throws us straight into the action and we are treated to an explosive beginning with several impressively choreographed fights. Through beautifully choreography, the Asians seemed to be able to make fighting look like art (when compared to the fight choreography that we witness in films from other continents). This film certainly has style, but it also has more than enough substance to go with it...In the early days of his life Yuanjia just wants to fight for 2 main reasons; 1) So that he is able to defend himself 2) In order to continue to defend his father's legacy. In later life, he sticks to these values and works his way to the top, however he seems to lose touch with his original values along the way. Once he's at the top, Yuanjia seems quite content with his new found popularity and is happy with his new found legendary status. However, being popular and being the toughest can evidently be a double edged sword and both aspect result in devastating consequences for Yuanjia.The second half of the film is much less action orientated than the first half mainly because the second half of the film spends the majority of the time developing Yuanjia's character. Following his time with some villagers, he returns with a new outlook on life and attempts to build some bridges. I think that this is one of the main reasons why this works so well; not only is it stylish, well-choreographed and generally beautiful to look at, but the characters are also well-developed through the narrative.Jet Li was excellent in this film (probably the best I've seen from him). Essentially more is asked of him in the second half, but overall he was solid whether he was in 'martial arts' mode or 'acting' mode.I can't praise this film enough and loved everything about it. The ending is particularly moving and it's a wonderful feeling knowing how influential the real life Yuanjia has been in the martial arts world. This simply has to be seen.

Martial arts films tend to be rather over the top and fantastic in tone as a norm. As such it's refreshing to see one taking place in recent history and featuring actual historical people.Fearless tells the tale of Huo Yuanjia, the prodigious son of a long line of martial arts practitioners, who grows in the late 19th century China, in a nation that's buckling under the Western pressure and occupation. We see him growing from a cocky young fighter into a man that in his own way tried to preserve and protect the ideal that was and still is China.In my opinion this is Jet Li's finest film. He's everything the role needs him to be and then some. Absolutely perfect casting and one of the films where you can see that he actually has a lot of acting talent as well. Sure he can probably identify a lot with the role, but that only makes him so much better for the role. He can also pull off the more serious tone of the story in comparison to usual martial arts ware. Someone like Jackie Chan would be too comical and not arrogant enough for the role.Aside from that, it's a professionally done film. The production values are very high, the whole film looks and sounds great, the story has enough soul and depth behind it to convince and it's interesting to follow. The need to follow a historical story does make some of the plot twists seem a bit weird, because the film doesn't have enough time to give us the whole context, but that never becomes a major problem.Fearless is an excellent film to pick if you're looking for a more serious take on the martial arts genre, without giving up any of the quality or enjoyability.

Prematurely billed as Jet Li's final martial arts epic, Fearless follows the -mostly- true story of Huo Yuanjia who rose to fame defeating foreign fighters in a time where China was facing encroachment from a militant Japan and Western colonials; he also founded one of the largest Wushu organisations in the world.The story traces his early life as an arrogant, ambitious upstart fighter to an upstanding humble defender of China and the moral values inherent in Wushu. The story told is an inspiring one, of co-operation over confrontation, which unfortunately is yet to become the wide consensus. Though engaging, the beats of the story could be drawn from the book of clichés. Both the imagery and the dialogue lack any form of subtlety, particularly in the first half of the film as Jet Li's character 'matures'.The film relies on Jet Li to carry the movie, both as the only truly developed character in the film and forced to portray a spectrum of emotions. Amid tragedies that his character faces, arrogance turns to humility in what is a relatively short space of time, yet Jet Li makes it believable and real. He is of course helped along from the already mentioned weathered old storyline. The quiet exile where one 'finds themselves' is particularly trite.This is still-somewhat- a martial arts piece, and some could argue that in such a film the story is irrelevant. Though with such a strong message that would be an unfortunate conclusion here. Nevertheless, Yuen Woo-Ping is on top form for the fight scenes here, bettering most of his 'Western' work at the least. The fighting switches from flamboyance to raw brutality, and sports a fantastic variety in one-on-ones. The fights between Yuanjia and Master Chin, and against Tanaka, are particular standouts.There have been some suggestions of 'Chinese propaganda' and a one dimensional role for the 'Westerners'. Of the former charge, I'd say its patriotic and disdainful of colonialism, but neither of these are crimes. Of the latter, I was quite enjoying the portrayal, solely as the evil moustache twirlers. This spoke more to me as a hypocritical attitude from some of the 'West', and the charges are certainly exaggerated.As a note, and it may be especially relevant to the last point on one-dimensional 'villains', but this is based solely on viewings of the theatrical edition, and not the directors cut, which adds a significant 40 minutes to the length. While it's been said to be unwieldy long, the film could have done with a bit more character development, as the film is a relatively tight 1 hour 40 minutes, and Jet Li's character arc is of significant length.Certainly, the film looks great, particularly with the action scenes, and the themes are solid. The film is just disappointing for lacking any originality with its themes, and worse, originality in portraying them. It doesn't stray away from the playbook, and repeat viewings serve to make this more obvious. It takes a safe route, but by no means a bad one.