It's been a minute since I watched a good martial arts movie. This doesn't break that streak, unfortunately. Chen Zhen (Donnie Yen) left his identity behind on the war-torn fields of Europe in World War I. Living under an assumed name, he manages a nightclub in Shanghai but his peaceful existence is threatened by invasion by Japan led by Sasaki Chikaraishi (Akira), the son of the man Chen Zhen killed in his own dojo, after whipping the asses of his whole squad. Chikaraishi obviously has a personal axe to grind on top of the imperialistic plans of Japan and is willing to murder half of Shanghai to accomplish his goals. Chen Zhen steals a costume from a movie premiere (no, really) to fight the Japanese as a masked vigilante.
This is a sequel to Bruce Lee's 1972 film Fist of Fury, which was also remade in 1994 as Fist of Legend starring Jet Li. There are in fact so many versions of this story that I had to see if Chen Zhen was a real dude. He is not, although he is kind of based on one. Like Robin Hood. Only with more punching.
The Jet Li movie remains my favorite although I do appreciate Donnie Yen's reverence for Bruce Lee. Also, deeply appreciate how willing he is to take his shirt off. Jet Li never did, not in a single one of his movies, even when his character was changing clothes (the tease). Is it shameless fan service? Yes. That's why I'm a fucking fan. Anyway.
The story gets a little muddled because it's trying to do too many things. This movie is at its best when Yen is allowed to just beat the shit out of people. In that sense, it's an extremely faithful sequel to Bruce Lee's film. It's currently streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Tubi, but the subtitles were only good on Netflix. There are better films out there, but if you're in the mood for it, this isn't the worst.
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