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la_belle_laideOn the recommendation of my Lao Shir, I just went out to see Fearless. Not only was I not disappointed, but I was also kind of overwhelmed. It was a terrific movie from start to finish. In lots of ways it was the formulaic Kung Fu movie: Child wants to learn and be strong but can't / isn't allowed; child learns anyway and becomes strong over time; as an adult becomes the strongest; faces either defeat or disgrace or some sort of personal tragedy due to fighting; then disappears to live a more wholesome life among simple people (usually farmers) and doing so, learns the true spirit of martial arts; then returns to face the final challenger. (And having seen enough anime, I can say that this formula crosses over into other kinds of martial arts movies, too.) But honestly, I don't have a problem with that. Cliches, I think, exist for two reasons: one, they are common or true; or two, they speak to some sort of axiom that people understand or relate to.
(Tangentially: I am a lot more forgiving of cliches in movies than in books, and I'll tell you why. Because in movies, a cliche or a storyline that has been done before can be rounded out by many other factors, like the directing, quality of acting, cinematography etc. In a book, all you have is the writer, and unless the writer is exceedingly clever and is doing something neat WITH the existing cliche, then it's just another cliche novel. Which is not to say that I'm exceedingly clever or that I avoid cliches in my writing, because that would be a lie. I'm just sayin'.)
That said, this movie was filmed brilliantly and had awesome acting. A lot of the times in martial arts movies, the acting will take a backseat in favor of awesome action sequences and pretty moves ... I"m looking at you, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) Also, we have to keep in mind that this movie is at least based on true events, so the "seen it a thousand times" storyline actually has a reason. One thing I really liked about it was that in the middle of the story they could have made the mistake of adding a cheesy and pointless romance--which may or may not have actually happened in real life; usually movie-makers don't care about keeping it real when it comes to that and will add it in just to fulfill this lame cultural requirement--and they opted not to. When Yuanjia leaves Tianjn and meets Moon, I thought, "Well, here we go with the pointless romance." And instead, they just became friends which was much sweeter.
There have been a few movies that have touched on the ideas of the Eurpoeans coming along and making the people local to the movie realize that they have to unite instead of fighting each other, but this movie didn't force it down your throat. For all that the Europeans / Americans spread to other cultures and homogenize them, there is that one factor of other cultures deciding to unite to be strong. Usually in real live, Euro-American invasions tend to assimilate any culture they touch anyway. Meh. But again: semi-biopic. There really is a Sports Federation founded by Huo Yuanjia. But it's funny, you even see today that most martial arts schools are all against each other. You only have to take a peek at Kung Fu Magazine's fora to see exactly this kind of stuff going on. Challenges and all the "MY STYLE IS BETTER THAN YOURS / MY MASTER CAN BEAT YOUR MASTER!" That has not changed. I've often thought that there was never going to be one style that could beat all the other styles; it only matters who is using it. Imagine my delight when Yuanjia said the exact same thing to Tanaka. (By the way, I fell in love with Tanaka. Not only because Shido Nakamura is handsome--though he is--but the character was so awesome, so Kenshin in a way.)
In terms of Kung Fu, man, Jet Li is so freaking liquid. I wish that someday I could move like that. (Incidentally, the move that I was trying to do when I busted up my knee Wednesday was something similar to this one. Only I do it with more twistiness in the legs and with my butt landing on the ground, because I am an idiot like that.) His Kung Fu is so pretty to look at, yet still looks so powerful. Generally in my own training, I'm starting--slowly--to see the things I'm doing wrong, and something visual like this, especially the scenes in slow motion, actually do teach me some stuff. In theory, anyway.
Oh, and of course, the broadsword fight made me squeal like an idiot.
I was glad I was the only one in the theater, because I did cry at the end. I mean, I wasn't sobbing or anything, but I got all misty. Which really doesn't happen to me. I giggled through the entire ending of the most moronic movie ever: Titanic. (Which doesn't actually say much about me. It really was one of the stupidest and most unintentionally hilarious films ever.)
In short, I think that all people who do Kung Fu should see this movie. Scratch that, all martial artists should see it. Scratch even that, anyone who likes martial arts should see it. Oh, heck with it, anyone who loves good movies should watch it. As a movie-geek, I thought it was lovely and engaging. As a martial artist, it made me want to try to stay in my horse stance for ten minutes. ^_^;;
(Tangentially: I am a lot more forgiving of cliches in movies than in books, and I'll tell you why. Because in movies, a cliche or a storyline that has been done before can be rounded out by many other factors, like the directing, quality of acting, cinematography etc. In a book, all you have is the writer, and unless the writer is exceedingly clever and is doing something neat WITH the existing cliche, then it's just another cliche novel. Which is not to say that I'm exceedingly clever or that I avoid cliches in my writing, because that would be a lie. I'm just sayin'.)
That said, this movie was filmed brilliantly and had awesome acting. A lot of the times in martial arts movies, the acting will take a backseat in favor of awesome action sequences and pretty moves ... I"m looking at you, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) Also, we have to keep in mind that this movie is at least based on true events, so the "seen it a thousand times" storyline actually has a reason. One thing I really liked about it was that in the middle of the story they could have made the mistake of adding a cheesy and pointless romance--which may or may not have actually happened in real life; usually movie-makers don't care about keeping it real when it comes to that and will add it in just to fulfill this lame cultural requirement--and they opted not to. When Yuanjia leaves Tianjn and meets Moon, I thought, "Well, here we go with the pointless romance." And instead, they just became friends which was much sweeter.
There have been a few movies that have touched on the ideas of the Eurpoeans coming along and making the people local to the movie realize that they have to unite instead of fighting each other, but this movie didn't force it down your throat. For all that the Europeans / Americans spread to other cultures and homogenize them, there is that one factor of other cultures deciding to unite to be strong. Usually in real live, Euro-American invasions tend to assimilate any culture they touch anyway. Meh. But again: semi-biopic. There really is a Sports Federation founded by Huo Yuanjia. But it's funny, you even see today that most martial arts schools are all against each other. You only have to take a peek at Kung Fu Magazine's fora to see exactly this kind of stuff going on. Challenges and all the "MY STYLE IS BETTER THAN YOURS / MY MASTER CAN BEAT YOUR MASTER!" That has not changed. I've often thought that there was never going to be one style that could beat all the other styles; it only matters who is using it. Imagine my delight when Yuanjia said the exact same thing to Tanaka. (By the way, I fell in love with Tanaka. Not only because Shido Nakamura is handsome--though he is--but the character was so awesome, so Kenshin in a way.)
In terms of Kung Fu, man, Jet Li is so freaking liquid. I wish that someday I could move like that. (Incidentally, the move that I was trying to do when I busted up my knee Wednesday was something similar to this one. Only I do it with more twistiness in the legs and with my butt landing on the ground, because I am an idiot like that.) His Kung Fu is so pretty to look at, yet still looks so powerful. Generally in my own training, I'm starting--slowly--to see the things I'm doing wrong, and something visual like this, especially the scenes in slow motion, actually do teach me some stuff. In theory, anyway.
Oh, and of course, the broadsword fight made me squeal like an idiot.
I was glad I was the only one in the theater, because I did cry at the end. I mean, I wasn't sobbing or anything, but I got all misty. Which really doesn't happen to me. I giggled through the entire ending of the most moronic movie ever: Titanic. (Which doesn't actually say much about me. It really was one of the stupidest and most unintentionally hilarious films ever.)
In short, I think that all people who do Kung Fu should see this movie. Scratch that, all martial artists should see it. Scratch even that, anyone who likes martial arts should see it. Oh, heck with it, anyone who loves good movies should watch it. As a movie-geek, I thought it was lovely and engaging. As a martial artist, it made me want to try to stay in my horse stance for ten minutes. ^_^;;
