Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Legend of the Fist:
The Return of Chen Zhen

Theatrical poster
Traditional 精武風雲-陳真
Simplified 精武风云-陈真
Mandarin Jīng Wǔ Fēng Yún-Chén Zhēn
Cantonese Zing1 Mou5 Fung1 Wan4-Can4 Zan1
Directed by Andrew Lau
Produced by Andrew Lau
Gordon Chan
Written by Cheung Chi-shing
Gordon Chan
Starring Donnie Yen
Shu Qi
Anthony Wong
Huang Bo
Music by Chan Kwong-wing
Cinematography Andrew Lau
Ng Man-ching
Edited by Azrael Chung
Production
company
Media Asia Films
Enlight Pictures
Shanghai Film Media Asia
Basic Pictures
Distributed by Media Asia Distribution
Release dates
  • 21 September 2010 (2010-09-21) (China)
  • 23 September 2010 (2010-09-23) (Hong Kong)
Running time
106 minutes
Country Hong Kong
China
Language Cantonese
Mandarin
Japanese
Budget ¥120 million[1]
Box office ¥136 million

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is a 2010 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and produced by Andrew Lau, and starring Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen, a role made famous by Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury. The film is a sequel to the 1994 film Fist of Legend, which starred Jet Li as Chen Zhen. Principal photography for Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen began in November 2009 and ended in early February 2010; shooting took place in Shanghai, China. The film was shown out of competition during the opening night of the 67th Venice International Film Festival,[2] and 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] The film was released in Chinese theatres on 21 September 2010 and two days later in Hong Kong on 23 September 2010.

Plot

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is set in the period before the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chen joins a group of Chinese men who help the Allies fight the Germans in France during World War I. He returns to China after the war and takes on the identity of Qi Tianyuan, a comrade who was killed in action.

Back in Shanghai, Chen joins an underground resistance movement to stop the Empire of Japan from invading China. He befriends Liu Yutian, the owner of a nightclub frequented by foreign dignitaries. He becomes attracted to Kiki, a nightclub singer who is actually a Japanese undercover agent. One night, Chen discovers that the Japanese are planning to assassinate General Zeng, the son of a northern warlord, and push the blame to General Zhuo, a rival warlord. Zeng's death will spark off a civil war between the two warlords and aid the subsequent Japanese invasion. Chen disguises himself as a masked superhero and defeats the assassins and saves Zeng.

With the operation failed, Tokyo sends a name list of anti-Japanese activists to Colonel Chikaraishi Takeshi, the leader of the Japanese secret agency in Shanghai, ordering him to kill the people on the list. Chikaraishi leaks out the list, causing panic among the populace, and pays a visit to the nightclub. Chikaraishi is aware of Chen's true identity and he challenges Chen to save the people on the list. Chen and Chikaraishi engage in a race of time to save and assassinate the activists respectively. Some are killed while others managed to escape from Shanghai. Eventually, Chikaraishi's younger brother leads a team of assassins to murder the editor of the Shanghai Times. Chen kills Chikaraishi's brother, but fails to save the editor in time.

In the meantime, Chen figures out that Kiki is a spy and warns her to leave. Chikaraishi starts to distrust Kiki and forces her to kill General Zeng's girlfriend, one of her close friends. The blame is pushed to General Zhuo and the angered General Zeng attacks Zhuo with support from Japanese forces. One night, the Japanese corner Chen on the street and bring him to their headquarters to torture him. Concurrently, Chen's friends stage a raid on the Japanese headquarters and cause serious damage with explosives before fleeing the scene. The Japanese track down Chen's comrades and murder them in revenge later. Chen is thrown out of a car in front of the nightclub and remains in coma for days while he recovers from his injuries.

With the Japanese invasion underway and General Zhuo killed in action with his forces in full retreat, there seems to be nothing that the resistance movement can do to prevent the Japanese from occupying Shanghai. Chikaraishi challenges Chen to fight him, and kills Kiki after he shows up. In anger, Chen defeats many Japanese combatants all at once, after which he faces Chikaraishi in a one-on-one bout and wins. At the end of the film, Chikaraishi is replaced with another officer while Chen continues to help the resistance movement oppose the invaders.

Cast

Development

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is a continuation of the 1994 film Fist of Legend, with Donnie Yen taking over the role of Chen Zhen from Jet Li. Yen also previously played Chen Zhen in Fist of Fury, a 1995 television series adapted from the 1972 film of the same title which starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen.

In February 2007, Gordon Chan announced plans to make a follow-up feature film to the 1994 film Fist of Legend. Chan, who was also the writer and director of Fist of Legend, announced that Donnie Yen would replace Jet Li as Chen Zhen in the film.[4]

Production

The film was directed by Andrew Lau, who also co-produced the film and served as a cinematographer alongside his frequent partner Ng Man-ching; Gordon Chan co-wrote and co-produced the film; John Chong served as an executive producer. The film was a co-production between Hong Kong film distributor Media Asia Films, Lau's production company Basic Pictures, and Chinese film producer Enlight Pictures.[5]

On 15 November 2009, Gordon Chan promised the film would not be another remake of Fist of Fury. He also said that in Fist of Legend, Chen Zhen is in his 20s, while in this film Chen would be in his 30s.[6]

Casting

On 29 October 2009, Anthony Wong was announced to be a part of the supporting cast, prior to principal photography, the supporting cast members for the film was announced. Zhou Yang and Shu Qi will play two women competitively vying for Chen Zhen's affection; Huang Bo will play an underdog fighter; Anthony Wong plays a local crime boss.[7]

Filming

Principal photography for Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen began on 15 November 2009, following a press conference attended by the cast and crew; filming took place in Shanghai.[7] and concluded in early February.[8]

Action choreography

The fight scenes were choreographed by Donnie Yen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included nunchaku and the screaming elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury.[9] Furthermore, he incorporated many mixed martial arts (MMA) elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation of Wing Chun. MMA is an interdisciplinary form of fighting utilising elements of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing & wrestling, which are evidently in the film.

Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts is a necessity in this film.[10]

As a tribute to Bruce Lee

In the film, Donnie Yen's character Chen Zhen disguises himself as a masked vigilante (based on the Green Hornet's sidekick Kato) to stop the Japanese from assassinating people.[11] Director Andrew Lau mentioned that since Bruce Lee played both Chen Zhen (in the 1972 film Fist of Fury) and Kato (in the 1960s television series The Green Hornet), Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is a tribute and dedication to Lee.[12]

Release

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 23 September 2010.[7] It was further announced that the film will be released to theatres in the United States in its original, uncut international version by Variance Films on 22 April 2011. Thus, a total of 10 minutes of non-fighting scenes will be included.

Box office

The film grossed ¥65 million and ranked first in the box office during the first week of its theatrical run in China. Despite so, its total gross rose to only ¥136 million a month later. Donnie Yen was unhappy with the film distributors because many scenes were removed (about a total of 10 minutes of non-fighting scenes), and he commented on his Sina Weibo that the film's overall gross would not exceed ¥200 million.[13] However, producers Andrew Lau and Gordon Chan think that the film will still express what they want and gross well in other countries.[14]

Reception

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen has been praised for its action scenes and Donnie Yen's performance, and received mostly positive reviews.[15][16][17][18]

As per negative reviews, Total Film gave the film two stars out of five, stating that the film "only comes alive when showcasing Yen's flamboyant fight choreography, glimpsed far too seldom – the longeurs in between the snappy scraps are sloppily written, and the clumsy Chinese nationalism is tedious."[19] The Guardian gave the film two stars out of five finding the plot to be confusing.[20] The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mixed review referring to the film as "a popcorn movie of epic proportions" and that "one expects more from producer Gordon Chan and director Andrew Lau".[21] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 48% "rotten" rating based on 33 reviews.[22]

Other reviews commented that the film is not about Chen Zhen, but a Hollywood-style superhero film; a combination of 007, Spider-Man, and Batman.[23] Director Andrew Lau responded that a Hollywood-style superhero film is what people want to see, and he thinks that a 6:4 ratio of Hollywood style to traditional style is just right for the film.[14]

See also

References

  1. "《精武风云》宣布追加投资 大场面剧照首次曝光". qq.com. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  2. Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. "陈嘉上再拍《陈真》 甄子丹替下李连杰". sohu.com. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. Film Poster
  5. "《精武风云》上海开机 刘伟强又要"无间道"". qq.com. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 The Legend of Chen Zhen Resumes – Wu-Jing.org
  7. "Donnie Yen Dedicates Legend of Chen Zhen to Bruce Lee - Wu-Jing.org". wu-jing.org. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  8. "Donnie Yen Making New Moves for Return of Chen Zhen - Wu-Jing.org". wu-jing.org. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  9. "Donnie Yen Making New Moves for Return of Chen Zhen - Wu-Jing.org". wu-jing.org. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  10. Donnie Yen as the Green Hornet | TwitchFilm
  11. <Bruce Lee tribute, The Straits Times
  12. "甄子丹怒骂《陈真》发行方 称电影被剪太多(图)". 27 October 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  13. 1 2 "《精武风云》争议不少 刘伟强称删了两场大戏". sina.com.cn. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  14. "Legend of chen zhen review". Twitch Film. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  15. Fantastic Fest Review: 'Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen' | MovieFone Blog
  16. Says So: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen | Sinema.sg
  17. TIFF Review: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen | JoBlo
  18. Lowry, Andrew (5 December 2010). "Legend Of The Fist". Total Film. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  19. Brooks, Xan (2 December 2010). "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  20. Senjanovic, Natasha (15 October 2010). "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen – Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  21. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/legend_of_the_fist_the_return_of_chen_zhen/
  22. "《精武风云》打造超级英雄 陈真:蜘蛛侠+007". sina.com.cn. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
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