An important milestone for Chinese language film, with TRUE LEGEND Woo-Ping Yuen takes a step into the world of 3D. Beggar Su has retired from his life as a renowned general in order to pursue his dream of a family and his own martial arts school. However, Su's peaceful life is shattered by his evil adopted brother, Yuan Lie. Aided by his wife, the reclusive doctor Yu and the mystical ?God of Wushu?, Su masters the art of Drunken Boxing, and sets out in search of revenge. Featuring impressive set pieces, TRUE LEGEND entertains throughout and is one of the most impressive martial arts epics of recent years.

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26 September 2010

Mike Lotinga wrote

The plot is kung-fu-film-by-numbers, the script is toe-curlingly awful, with every cliche wheeled out and delivered by the 2-dimensional characters. So, is it saved by the martial arts sequences? Not really. The choreographed action is pretty forgettable considering this is Yuen Woo-Ping, and the 3D sections are short, pointless, and disrupt the film with an on-screen icon alerting the audience to when they should slip the 3D glasses on and off! There are a few cheap laughs to be had (generally motivated by the terrible lines used by the characters), particularly from the 'Pai-Mei master' (from Kill Bill), who actually only gets about 2 spoken lines and spends the rest of his (short) on-screen time giggling like a St Trinian girl. David Carradine also pops up for a brief cameo during a section featuring the usual offensively stereotypical 'decadent westerners' scenes. The film is separated into 2 sections, the first of which concerns a revenge mission against the lead character's very evil brother-in-law (the film neglects to explain the origins of the brother's evilness, other than some vague backplot regarding the murder of his father), while the 2nd section depicts the wandering of 'beggar Su' (the main character) following the murder of his wife at the hands of the aforementioned evil brother. During the 2nd section he generally mistreats his son and amazingly develops a completely new style of kung fu in the space of about 3 on-screen minutes, following an encounter with a confusingly clear-headed drunk and a brief bout of breakdancing. This really is a ludicrously bad kung fu film, artistically nowhere near the recent high-profile efforts coming from East Asia, and lacking any redeeming moments whatsoever. Avoid.

26 September 2010

Barry Le Bailly wrote

I enjoyed the film, however, the 3D was generally good but the feet were seldom synchronised to touch the surfaces. Not all martial arts or special effects a good flowing storyline held it together.

26 September 2010

CFF Student Critics wrote

The undisputed master of kung fu returns on top form with his latest work which doesn’t disappoint.

TRUE LEGEND unfortunately suffers with some weak character set up in the first half hour and a very basic good vs evil theme as we meet the protagonist Su Can, a Qing Dynasty general, retiring to start a family and open his own school to teach martial arts. This of course goes horribly wrong at the hands of Yuan, his evil adopted brother who nearly kills Su and kidnaps his son. Su and his wife escape into the mountains where they are rescued. The story then descends into a very bizarre series of fights with the questionable God of Wushu and his highly amused, banjo playing companion as Su prepares for revenge.

Both Vincent Zhao and Xun Zhou are deserving of attention, playing excellent parts. Zhao falls short of some of the more emotionally demanding scenes but is far superior in the more comedic moments and his skills in martial arts are undeniable. Xun Zhou plays an incredibly villainous character with quite an unnerving air to him, appearing to be a sort of grey skinned Voldemort with armoured skin and death in his fingers.

Despite the weak narrative and story, the film is rescued by the flawless fight scenes, as expected of Yuen Woo-Ping. The opening sequence is mind-blowing with a fantastic use of slow motion and the action only improves throughout, not to mention the art of the 'drunken fist'.

Unfortunately True Legend lacks direction throughout and the story has a tendency to become tedious or slightly pointless, not helped a lot by the ending. However, as expected Woo-Ping delivers some amazingly choreographed and spellbinding fight scenes that you will not be able to take your eyes off.

Jess Rudwick

26 September 2010

Festival Daily wrote

TRUE LEGEND marks the first Chinese made film to take advantage of 3D technology as well as returning Yuen Woo-Ping to the director’s chair for the first time in fourteen years. Unfortunately it seems that the legendary action choreographer has failed to utilise the new technology with any sense of skill and has also lost his way somewhat in the plot department.

The film follows Vincent Zhao as Beggar Su, a fabled folk hero in China and creator of the legendary Drunken Fist style. After his father is killed by his brother-in-law, Su goes into hiding where he is trained by an unconventional Wushu master. It’s a bog standard kung fu murder/revenge plot that’s been done a million times before but now with the novelty of teeth grindingly bad 3D. The new technology – only used in selected scenes - is jarring and in no way immersive, adding a strong argument to the negative effect 3D can have on a film.

However, as messy as the 3D is, it is not as detracting as the final third of the film. After concluding the revenge plot, it suddenly shifts into a completely new narrative regarding western imperialism’s encroachment on Chinese culture. It’s an untidy mixture of Jet Li’s Fearless with Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master with an all too brief cameo by the late David Carradine.

Ultimately TRUE LEGEND is a disorganised film that poorly uses every martial arts cliché in the book. A couple of decent action sequences aside, there is little to recommend, even to the most avid kung fu fan.

Liam Jack

25 September 2010

Ally Moodie wrote

Only parts of this film are in 3D (about 4 fight scenes) which are mostly fantasy sequences and look incongruous with the rest of the film. Story lacks flow and the ending seems to be tacked on to the end of the film as a "PS". Some great fight scenes but overall a big disappointment.

25 September 2010

Steve wrote

Woo-Ping Yuen's latest chop-socky film about Beggar Su, the master of Dunken Fist wu-shu was almost solid martial arts mayhem, with just a few pauses for breath; however the structure of the film was a bit of a mess - the intrusive 'now put on your 3D glasses/OK take them off again' around the training arc and what looked like it was going to be the Boss Fight didn't help (nor did the 3D itself where the actors often seemed to be floating detached from the rather washed-out scene around them.

The story itself seems to be a fairly direct one about Su and his adopted brother Yuan who spurns the generosity of his adopted family, and cue two-way revenge tragedy - then just when you think it's all over, a long coda culminating in the real Boss Fight out of nowhere.

Clearly it must be following the high points of a well known tale - but it ends up feeling unresolved because of the broken narrative rhythm, whereas stopping at the tragedy of the 3/4 mark would have given closure (if you don't ask too deeply why a martial artist of Su's calibre would dig a box out of sandy ground with his bare hands, rather than using some one-inch-punch technique to break open the lid in situ).

In all, not entirely satisfying popcorn fare.