Review – Jet Li’s Fearless

Location – Home Type – On DVD MMPA Rating – Rated 14A

Jet Li's Fearless I had a lot to fear going into this movie, given that Jet Li’s movies aren’t the greatest. He’s had a few good ones here and there, but the majority have been dud’s. But for some reason, I keep renting films with him in it. Maybe it’s because of the lack of martial arts films to begin with, so you just accept what they have and watch them.

In the film Jet Li portrays Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia was famous in China for fighting in a series of highly publicized matches and in the process becoming a national hero in is homeland. The film is loosely based off his exploits and takes a bit of liberties with the facts.

Overall I found the film to be enjoyable. The martial art scene’s were very well choreographed and beautifully shot. I don’t know if it’s because I watched the film with the Chinese dialogue on, with English subtitles. But not having to hear Jet butcher the English language, I found that I was able to get into the film and not distracted from him reciting his lines.

Maybe because he’s more at ease speaking in his native language, he seemed to give a bit more of an emotional performance as well. It wasn’t that sort of cryptic, he’s some sort of robot kind of a feel you get from usually watching him. If you’ve ever seen the “One” and you remember what it was like when he’s getting interrogated and he was trying to show emotion and the performance kind of comes out flat, you’ll know what I mean.

Pros – Probably Jet Li’s best film in the best few years! Although I still have to see Forbidden Kingdom, so I guess I wont be able to make a final judgment until I see that.

Cons – There was some stuff that felt left out and unanswered. I watched the directors cut and it still seemed to be missing stuff. Don’t know if it’s because in Huo Yuanjia’s life, it’s a bit hard to separate what’s fact and fiction.

Overall Rating – C+