The last movie that was in my must-watch list during chinese new year was this film - True Legend.
After watching some of the highly anticipated Chinese martial arts films early this year (e.g. 14 Blades starring Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan's Little Big Soldier, both of which were entertaining but not considered modern classics (Jet Li's Fearless (2006) and Donnie Yen's Ip Man (2008) are highly recommended), True Legend is definitely in the bottom of the list of martial arts movies. This is a disappointment considered that it was directed by legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping (Matrix Trilogy, Kill Bill, Drunken Master) The plot is exactly a carbon copy of Jet Li's fearless with slight variations. You know the drill: A man who is famous with his martial arts skills loses his family and almost died, regains his health and vows to seek revenge. Even the ending is the same as Fearless. However, Fearless is much better due to the well choreographed fight scenes with minimal use of CGI and wires. However, for True Legend, it is the exact opposite. Fight scenes take place in high mountains and stone structures which look fake, some of the fight scenes are also laughable because they look like they are break dancing ! The only really slightly exciting action scene is in the arena, which you've guessed it, can also be found in Fearless.Don't let the poster fool you. Veteran actresses Michelle Yeoh, Gordon Liu and the late David Carradine only make cameo appearances and spout only handful of lines just to entice you to watch this poor excuse of a movie. In short, True legend is a mediocre martial arts flick that follows too closely to the highly superior Jet-li flick Fearless. Rating 5/10
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