FEARLESS
(PG-13). If
this is, as purported, Jet Li’s last martial-arts epic, he’s going out on a
stolid, earnest note as a late 19th century master fighter who learns there’s
more to mastery than winning. Director Ronny Yu’s period drama is
meat-and-potatoes melodrama, but Li takes it up several notches every time he
goes into combat mode. Already a boxoffice hit in Asia, Jet Li’s Fearless,
directed by Ronny Yu (helmer of the Hong Kong classic The Bride with White
Hair), is Jet Li’s final martial arts masterpiece, capping a tremendous
body of work in that genre. Jet Li’s Fearless reunites the actor and martial
arts superstar with producer Bill Kong (Hero) and action choreographer Yuen
Wo Ping (Unleashed) as he portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who
became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo
faced incredible personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness
and into history, forever defining the true spirit of martial arts. His
self-discovery, and the choices he made, inspired his nation. The son of a great
fighter who did not wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, the bullied
Huo Yuanjia resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win. Years of training
enable him to ace match after match in his home region of Tianjin. But as his
fame as a martial arts master grows, so does his pride. After an ill-advised
fight leads to another master’s death, members of Huo’s family are slain in
revenge. Grieving and ashamed, Huo wanders the country in shock. Near death, he
is rescued by women from an idyllic village, and is offered simple kindness and
generosity that help him heal and regain his equilibrium over a period of
several years. Huo realizes that the future of martial arts lies in
sportsmanship and not brutality, and he rejoins society to apply what he has
learned. Returning to Tianjin, Huo takes steps to come to terms with his past
and restore his family’s name. His evolving, graceful Mizong (Missing) Fist
method of fighting brings Huo renewed success, and he forms the progressive Jingwu
Sports Federation. Taking note, duplicitous members of the Foreign Chamber
of Commerce engineer a Shanghai tournament pitting Huo against four fighters,
each representing the major foreign powers in China. Huo commits to the bout and
faces off against, respectively, a British boxer, a Spanish swordsman, a Belgian
soldier, and a Japanese martial artist. What happened that day in 1910 has never
been, and will never be, forgotten in China..