Watching “Fearless” is an enjoyable ride; it has some fantastic fight sequences, some well composed, grand visuals, and strong human themes based in historical reality. It’s a shame that the film’s characters are handled so melodramatically and the execution of the story is so two-dimensional. Jet Li does an amicable job in the lead role as Huo Yuanjia, the most famous Chinese kung fu master of the early twentieth century who restored national pride in China following several years of infighting and infiltration by the West. Although the film is loosely based on his life, the story that has been dramatised in this film had the potential to be a sweeping epic with strong character and dramatic overtones but is let down by some cheesy acting and shallow story execution. That is not to say this film is not worth watching, but the way it has been done make it completely forgettable, which is a shame because it could have been so much more.
The strongest aspect of this film pertains to Yuanjia’s personal journey through life. From a very young age, Yuanjia wants to fight but his father never allows it because of Yuanjia’s asthmatic condition. Yuanjia begins practising in secret with his best friend Nong Jinsun (Yong Dong) doing his homework while he practises his fighting style. Yuanjia becomes a selfish brat, misunderstanding the basic principles behind kung fu; it is not about fighting, it is about discipline and helping others. Yuanjia’s brat attitude is exacerbated when he witnesses his father voluntarily lose a challenge match in a town square; after boasting of his father’s abilities to all the other kids, he gets beaten by the son of his father’s opponent and from that day forward, Yuanjia vows never to be defeated again. Over time, he becomes an undefeated fighter but his ego has grown out of control. All of his pursuits are selfish and immature, which ultimately leads to a tragic showdown where in retaliation for Yuanjia killing an opponent during a fight, his mother and daughter are brutally murdered in his estate. As a shattered man, Yuanjia rebuilds his life away from everything he has come to know, eventually finding the path towards enlightenment and becoming one of the most famous, and humble fighting heroes in Chinese history.
There is so much rich material in Yuanjia’s journey to engage with, least of all being that Yuanjia’s self-absorbed, ego-driven lifestyle ultimately led to some very tragic consequences. Yuanjia may not have directly caused his family’s death, but it was his self-absorbed actions that brought it about. This is a powerful message and the strongest one within the film; anger, revenge and selfishness will ultimately bring about tragedy and misery. For a character like this it seems the greater the ego, the greater tragedy is required to put him on the right path. Only when Yuanjia starts fighting for greater ideals such as national pride and honour that he regains the respect of his old community, including his best friend Jinsun who accepts Yuanjia as his friend once again after cutting him off during his ego-driven hey day.
The visuals in this film are outstanding. Right from the outset, much care has gone in to recreating early twentieth century China with some sweeping images that are only augmented by computer graphics for a few shots here and there. The colours are rich and vibrant, giving a visual texture to the film that puts it in another class from other Asian kung-fu films. The big shots of cities are the most impressive, with even the CG shots not standing out as a clever effect but as picturesque landscapes. The images of the rural country-side where Yuanjia rediscovers himself are likewise grand in scale.
The downsides to this film lie in its shallow story execution and melodramatic acting. For a story with such potential depth, it’s a shame that no attempt was made at giving the narrative a sense of balance and dimension. It’s not until over half way through the film that Yuanjia’s family is brutally murdered, starting him on his spiritual journey. His most important achievements as a fighter of restoring Chinese national pride are skimmed over in the last thirty minutes or so; the lack of care and time spent developing this part of the story makes the film unengaging. You enjoy the kung fu but dramatically the film has lost you. It becomes only a clinical exercise in execution which is unfortunate because the story themes were strong enough to make for a far better film. The melodramatic acting does not help either. The issues lie in the first half of the film where Jet Li has the unenviable task of playing a spoilt brat. It’s a mixed affair; some times it works, some times it doesn’t. The actors around him do not fare as well, particularly Yuanjia’s disciples who are over-acted to the extreme. Only Collin Chou who plays Yuanjia’s father displays any sense of character depth. The second half of the film is better, particularly in the sequences between Yuanjia and Japanese fighter Anno Tanaka (Nakamura Shido) who fight to the end but have a mutual respect for one another. One cannot help but wonder what kind of epic this film would have been had more time been spent developing the script and characters; it would have elevated this film in to a new category.
“Fearless” is a solid kung-fu film that’s useful for whiling away a few spare hours but is ultimately forgettable thanks to its lack of story development and execution.