Jet Li's Fearless

At the beginning of the movie we see Jet Li's character, Huo Yuanjia, beating three men from different cultures and using different weapons. Don't ask me what country any of them were from because I have no idea. The final opponent is Tanaka (Shido Nakamura) from Japan. Wait a second, isn't this the giant fight that is the point of the movie? That China's strongest warrior versus the world's four best? If this is now then that means the rest of the movie is ... oh crap, flashbacks.

Thirty years before this, so in 1890-ish, we see little Yuanjia trying to get a glimpse of his father's fighting style, only his father doesn't want him to watch, because Yuanjia has asthma. I guess he convinced his father to let him learn because full grown Yuanjia is fighting fights, to become the Champion of... I forgot the name of his province, so sue me. He even beat the crap out of the guy who bullied him when he was younger.  After the battles he goes to his friend's restaurant, the same friend that used to his homework when they were younger, Nong Jinsun (Yong Dong). Everyone, except Yuanjia is concerned that Yuanjia has no money. His students drink and spend money on his tab and they don't pay enough for his lessons for him to break even.  The only thing Yuanjia is concerned about is that he is not the champion yet. Mr. Chin is.

Chin then beats up one of his students and Yuanjia gets all pissed and challenges him to a fight, where Yuanjia is victorious. The next day he discovers that Chin is dead. He returns home to find his mother (Hee Chin Paw) and daughter are dead, killed by Chin's godson, who then kills himself before Yuanjia can do it. Right after, his students come up to him and say that the one that got beat up by Chin was due to the fact that he was drunk and he insulted Chin's wife. Chin was defending her honor.

Totally broken Yuanjia wanders away. He almost dies but is discovered by a small village where he is nursed back to health by a blind woman called Moon (Betty Sun) and her grandmother (Yun Qu). There he learns the meaning of life and being a good person and all that crap.  Years later he returns to his home to see westerners everywhere.  Talking to Jinsun he gets money to fight again, this time he wants to unite China and to show them that they are strong. Together Yuanjia and Jinsun start up a school and then he gets the challenge. Him against the four other fighters. Before he goes to fight Tanaka comes and talks to him, they form a mutual understanding right before we are brought back to the beginning of the movie.  

Tanaka and Yuanjia fight, the first round is a draw and they switch from weapons to hand-to-hand combat. Before the round can start, Yuanjia is poisoned, but fights anyway. Tanaka, technically is the one standing at the end, but he declares Yuanjia is victorious, because Yuanjia pulled back his punch that would have killed Tanaka, and Tanaka knew it.  Yuanjia is the winner and everyone is happy, well, not really because you know, Yuanjia is dead.  But the important thing is he won the fight and gave the sprit back to his people.

I thought this was going to be a purely action movie. I don't know why I went in thinking like that, because none of the other  Chinese action movies I have seen were only action. The plot was okay, it wasn't the greatest. The problem I had is that I don't believe Yuanjia's change. It's like he learns to plant properly, suddenly he's gown as a person. I don't buy it.

And there was no development with the bad guys. I don't even think we can consider them bad guys. They were there for thirty seconds and they fixed the match, that was all they did. Why? Who knows?

I still liked the movie. It wasn't the greatest. Even some of the fight scenes weren't that good. But there was a heart to it that I liked. Maybe I wound have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been Jet Li, because I don't find him a great actor.

Grade: 6/10