Birth of the Dragon (2017)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Such a frustrating disappointment

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I've been reading the book recently Bruce Life: A Life by Matthew Polly and that's what sparked my interest to watch the movie. I recently read the chapter where it discusses Bruce's fight with Wong Jack Man. It's nothing like what happens in this movie. It started because Bruce was very critical of more traditional style and advocated a more modern approach insulting many traditionalists. When Bruce put out an invite to his school many saw it as a challenge.The fight took place in Oakland. From what I can gather, during the fight Bruce struck Wong while he was intending to shake hands prior to the fight. Stunned and temporarily blinded Wong retreated. Wong pulled out a leather spiked bracelet and struck Bruce with it. The fight ended when Wong crashed into a window with Bruce over him trying to get him to admit defeat. It only lasted three minutes.That seems to be basically the story in a nutshell. It's a very short portion of the book. The movie seemed to have little interested in being accurate. Most of the characters were fiction. Most of the events straight fiction. The movie couldn't have at least even had Linda in it. Where was she this entire time? Just one quick mention of her existence.

This movie is more about a white boy than it was about Bruce. This movie does not depict the life of Bruce and its fiction. What a disappointment.

Birth of the Dragon is supposed to be a fictionalised account of a fight between Bruce Lee and a rival sent from China, Wong Jack Man that took place in the mid 1960s.The trouble is Bruce Lee is presented as an arrogant jerk in this movie and you actually root for Wong Jack Man as he comes across as a wise sage.Worse, the film wants to concentrate on the love story relating to a fictional side character, Steve McKee who falls for a Chinese girl forced to work for a Triad gang.Now I understand that the Bruce Lee family did not sanction this film. I frankly do not care if they had no chance to sanitise the film for their own ends. Bruce Lee has been dead for decades and there is room for a warts and all film about him. However this is not it.The action scenes are actually ok, some of the fight scenes featuring Lee are an homage from other Bruce Lee films. However, if you want to see a Bruce Lee biopic, stick to Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

Here's a Better Late than Never review of "Birth of the Dragon" (PG-13 - 2016 - US)...I will accept your challenge!!Genre: Action/Martial My Score: 5.3Cast=4 Acting=5 Plot=7 Ending=6 Story=3 Violent=7 Pace=5 F/X=6 Fights=6 History=4 Inspired by the legendary fight between Bruce Lee, an up and coming master in San Francisco...and Wong Jack Man, great Shaolin monk traveling to the city to workout his own issues."Your technique is impressive, but it has one limitation...you." I love all things Bruce Lee...and I was interested in this story that focused on this fight. The fight scenes were decent, but they could have been better. The biggest problem I had was they butchered the story to something akin to the old "save the girl" ploy. This was a big time letdown for me and no better then a meh...even if you are a martial arts movie fan.