Fist of Legend (4½ Stars)

This is my last film of 2021. I picked it at random, which is unusual for me. Usually I select my next film a day or two in advance. It's a very good film, though I do have one big complaint: Jet Li isn't a very good actor, or at least he wasn't a good actor at this point in his career. His acting improved as he got older. His fighting was always excellent. Comparing him with Donnie Yen, who also played the role of Chen Zhen in "Legend of the Fist", Jet Li was more brutal. It's more obvious that he's fighting to the death.

"Fist of Legend" (1994) is a remake of "Fist of Fury" (1972), a famous film starring Bruce Lee. Despite the many differences, which I listed in my last review, it's obviously the same story. Both films contain a lot of racism, but it's on different levels.

I've often written that racism is stupid. I'm not taking back that statement, but "Fist of Legend" shows that racism is sometimes understandable. There's a scene where Chen Zhen isn't allowed to rent an apartment because his girlfriend is Japanese. Racism? Yes. Bigotry? Yes, but there was a reason for it. The Japanese were occupying China, so they were hated as an occupying force. I'm not saying that it was right for the landlord to hate Chen Zhen's girlfriend Mitsuko, but it was understandable in the context of China in the 1930's.

What I mean when I say that the racism is on different levels is that the Japanese are presented differently to the viewers. In "Fist of Fury" the Japanese are all bad. In 1972 the Japanese occupation of China was still fresh in the memories of the director and the other crew members. "Fist of Legend" was made 22 years later and is more conciliatory. We see that not all the Japanese are bad. Chen Zhen judges each person on his own merits. And as I already mentioned, he has a Japanese girlfriend.

I feel like re-watching a few of Jet Li's films. I own quite a lot on DVD, but I haven't watched them for many years. Maybe some time in the middle of next year. I'll see how I feel then. My main priority at the moment is a marathon of true stories, which I intend to start tomorrow.

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