True Legend (2011)

Brilliant and touching

Best movie ever!

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This movie started off with one of the coolest raid scenes of all time; ninja like Chinese soldiers assaulting a mountain base and saving the prince from execution. From there it just went downhill. I was looking to see some great Chinese Wushu commando action, and it was not pursued at all to my disappointment.There was lots of CGI but there was no believability in the aging of the characters. Sister Yu, comes into the movie to do one thing, and then is essentially gone dramatically, and like many of the characters is not only flat, but empty, and used only as a place holder in the movie with no background or character development. In the first ending of the movie, the battle was just flat, as opposed to the first run-in with the iron twins. And Yuan's soldiers just stood around as Su attacked. No wonder he was constantly killing his own men, maybe he needed to talk to TRC Staffing. The least the director could have done would be to throw in a few of Yuan's soldier's to get hacked into giblets.The funniest part of the movie was the crucial 'clue' of the 'exact' location of Su's wife '...in the forest'. Wow, thanks Professor Pinpoint. Then when they find the box she is buried in it is already exposed (you think the disturbed earth would be a giveaway, no, he had to hit his foot on it). Then they try to dig her up while she is suffocating. Su has up to this point been putting his fist through people, trees, stone walls, and other similar things but does not punch a hole in the box. What? There was a second ending/chapter of the movie about Russians wearing pajamas, but I won't even review it as it was just uninspired and rather stupid. Overall the movie was like the writer had great ideas for scenes, without a cohesive central story. A Chinese made quilt ( please be aware I do indeed wish to insinuate the bad quality of Chinese made products while making this analogy) poorly stitched together. This movie was like IP Man's younger brother with ADD.I gave this movie a low rating because, although beautiful, it started out really well and then disintegrated.

This is one of those Kung-Fu movie where the plot isn't all that effective, but the fighting sequences makes up for it. From what I heard this is a Chinese folklore tale style of story and the direction and many different sequences make it seem like it. The fighting sequences makes the characters seem superhuman which is typical for these types of genre in china, but doesn't go all that overboard with it in most scenes although still not believable at all. It does feature typical special fighting moves in this such as the Five Venom Fists. I found it kinda funny however how you can tell who the good guys are and who the villains are right off the bat because of the way they look. It just seemed a bit too generic for example with the dark spiky clothes and pale skin. Despite the plot not being all that great and the pacing a bit off, the fight sequences are top notch in this and very entertaining to watch. The fight choreography is very well crafted in this and will make a lot of the audiences have there eyes glued to the screen. Yes, there is use of CGI in this but it isn't used way too much to the point it gets irritating to watch in this type of movies. On a negative note, this movie goes in a direction where it tries a bit too hard to look epic. Especially when it comes to the plot, it doesn't have to be slightly convoluted cause when it comes down to it, it's a simple story. But it tries to make it seem more than what it is, maybe because the plot is a bit too narrow, which isn't a good thing. Because it throws the good pacing off of the whole progression of the film. Also like some of the reviewers are saying the bit of incest is kinda awkward in this because the characters just seem to be fine with it. Anyways overall this is a good martial arts flick where there is hardly a dull moment and any fan of this type of genre should check it out. Like I said the plot isn't anything outstanding, but I am giving this movie a 6.5 because the entertainment value of it all is pretty darn high.6.5/10

This movie is a work of art in many ways.The Martial Arts displayed are really one of the best I have seen in a long time, yes it relies on flying and jumping everywhere, yet the fight scenes feels visceral enough not to feel to much like a dance.The actors are really awesome, and they managed to make one of the BEST antagonist of all times.Now let's get to the part that almost ruins it : The Pacing.The flow of the movie suffers greatly from a bad editing, and it is too bad because it had the potential to be a true masterpiece.This movie should have started backwards, beginning at the end, and having Su telling his story.Instead of that, the pacing can be hard to follow, and at the end I was left with a strange feeling of incompletion.Otherwise, the movie is still one of the best martial art movies of the past years, and if you are a Martial Arts fan do not miss it !

Seriously, why not just make a sequel?So there I was, thinking that I'm watching the best kung fu film in recent years (Ip Man aside), when, instead of the film ending, a new story arc is tacked on, reducing our hero to a bum and worst father of the century! Okay, I get it, he's Beggar Su and somebody felt the need to move on to the Drunken Fist style, but why ruin a perfectly good Shaw Brothers-type fare?Verdict: if you want action, this is where it's at... but you'll most likely also be wondering why a 4th act was rushed through when a sequel would have been both economically viable and justified.