[yasr_overall_rating]
An orphan, whose father has been killed by dark power, attempts to bring justice back to the town.
I have watched countless martial arts movies throughout my life. Starting in my early teen years, I watched anything that had Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan in it but as I matured, my taste in Asian films in general changed. I would never have watched a movie like “Rise of the Legend” when I was young because while there is some absolutely astonishing fight choreography herein, there is also the necessary story and character exposition needed to help move the film forward, the “boring parts” as I would have called them, and it is this aspect that I would have fast-forwarded through. “Rise of the Legend” has some of the most spectacular and impressive martial arts fight scenes I have ever witnessed and that is saying something because I have watched copious amounts of them. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and breathtakingly shot by Man-Ching Ng, who also lensed some other beautifully photographed movies such as “Chinese Zodiac” and “Infernal Affairs 2 & 3.”
The movie takes place in Guangzhou in 1868 during the late Qing Dynasty. Young Fei is an orphan who has been taken off the streets by Wong Kei-ying (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a kindly older man who takes homeless children into his house, feeds them and proceeds to look after them, giving them a purpose in life. The children all become best friends and Fei and Chun fall in love and promise each other that they will always be in each other’s hearts but tragedy strikes when Wong loses his life trying to save them after their home is set on fire by the Black Tiger, one of two crime factions in the neighborhood who run the nearby Huangpu Port. The children vow revenge and many years later, a lot of them have grown apart. Homeless and with no family, Fei (Eddie Peng) manages to impress Lei Gong (Sammo Hung), the fearsome Black Tiger boss, with his fighting skills. After he gives Fei an impossible task, to bring back the head of his sworn enemy, he and his men are taken aback when he does exactly that, something none of his own men have ever accomplished. Lei is so impressed that he adopts him as his fourth son.
For a while everything appears to be running smoothly but when Lei’s opium warehouses are set on fire, his three hidden storerooms, which amass all of his wealth are ransacked, and some of his sons wind up dead, pandemonium sets in and people begin pointing their accusatory fingers at each other, causing Lei a great deal of skepticism and suspicion. As Lei tries to evaluate his situation as to who could possibly be behind this great deception, he hones in on who he thinks it might be until it is just the two of them left standing, in a fight to the death.
The film discloses nothing new in terms of overall story narrative, revenge is one of the oldest motives known to mankind and nowhere are they realized better, than in westerns or Asian martial arts epics. Or both. While “The Matrix” is in my top five movies of all time, some of its choreography pales in comparison to “Rise of the Legend,” it literally has to be seen to be believed. The cast do well in their respective roles and help to create an authentic period piece, complete with luscious cinematography and the impressive sporadic use of CGI. If you’re looking for revenge, fighting, decapitations, dismemberments, betrayal, deception, and the kitchen sink, then check out “Rise of the Legend,” you will be not be disappointed.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD Tuesday, May 24th
