Review of Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) by Generoso F — 20 May 2011

I genuinely adore Donnie Yen, hometown hero (from Boston originally) and his keen ability to be as charming and as intense as needed for every role. Most folks in the US know him from his wildly successful IP MAN films which are amongst the best of it's genre in years.

Here, in "Legend Of The Fist" Yen takes on Chen Zhen, a role that seems to be the path for every martial arts legend (Bruce Lee and Jet Li have both tackled the legendary hero of Chinese resistance in films).

The action from the get go is top notch, the opening scenes of Chinese workers in World War One is as brilliant an opening I have seen in an action film. Yen is as engaging as always as is his co-star Qi Shu who is as radiant as ever but the film's editing seems butchered to me.

Characters are brought in with importance, only to disappear for a predominance of the film. Chen Zhen's Kato-like superhero is bizarrely constructed and also appears with no adherence to the narrative.

In total, the film is another Chinese Vs Japanese exercise that does an injustice to it's history. One wonders if a longer cut exists that glues this mess together.