Review: Fist of Fury


Bruce Lee stars as Chen Zhen, a martial arts student in the 1930s whose master is murdered, resulting in an enraged Lee taking on rival Japanese, who control Shanghai, and beating the crap out of them. Riki Hashimoto plays the leader of the Japanese who tries to pressure the martial arts school to hand over Chen Zhen or else he’ll have the school closed down and everyone arrested. Robert Baker plays Hashimoto’s Russian ally, whilst Paul (Ping Ou) Wei plays a slimy interpreter, as he later would in “Way of the Dragon”.

 

Written and directed by Lo Wei (“The Big Boss”), this 1972 martial-arts flick is far and away Bruce Lee’s best-ever starring vehicle, and probably one of the best martial-arts films ever made. This is the one to see, folks. It kicks arse. It’s the story of Chen Zhen, whose tale would also be told in Jet Li’s “Fist of Legend” and the uneven “Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen” (with a slightly miscast Donnie Yen). This is definitely more indicative of director Lo Wei and Golden Harvest than Bruce Lee, which is to say that it’s a period piece, rather than the more modern-set “Way of the Dragon”, directed by Lee himself. That suits me, as I do enjoy a good old-fashioned martial arts film, they seem more cinematic than some of Lee’s cheaper-looking films like “Way” and “Enter the Dragon”.

 

Things get off to a fine start, with a fun, Ennio Morricone-esque music score and opening credits scene clearly inspired by Sergio Leone. The music goes on to distinguish itself from Morricone, but is still really good. Lee himself impresses early on by taking out nearly as many Japanese as Godzilla in one awesome display of sheer badassery. You can tell Steven Seagal is a Bruce Lee fan, as he’s nearly as infallible on screen. Lee’s Chen Zhen absolutely does NOT fuck around, and he is not someone whom you want to piss off. His speed is also incredible to witness. What impresses me most about Lee here is his acting performance in just his second starring vehicle (after “The Big Boss”, his second-best film), much better than in any of his other films. He’s making a genuine effort to portray a character, rather than merely play an extension of himself, as I feel most of his other performances tend to suffer from. He can act! As terrific as the action is, the story and lead character really do put this one over-the-top and make it truly memorable (So long as you’re not watching a dubbed version. Subtitles are the way to go, guys. Reading is Good!). Riki Hashimoto also stands out as the intimidating-looking Japanese villain of the piece. That guy has mucho presence.

 

This leaves “Enter the Dragon” for dead, let alone the rest of Lee’s filmography. Far and away Bruce Lee’s crowning achievement and one of the best martial arts films you’ll ever see. Amazingly, it’s mostly due to the script, as terrific as the action is. A must-see for action fans, the firing squad freeze-frame ending is absolutely hilarious, too.  

 

Rating: B+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more