Saw this at London preview.

This is a loose sequel to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury. Its not important to know that but if you are a fan of Bruce Lee, you will enjoy Donny Yen's sometimes blatant impression of Bruce Lee's nuances and war cries. If you aren't familiar with Bruce Lee, than a certain fight sequence may look a bit bewildering! There is a fascinating story to be told here with some interesting sub plots and bizarrely evolving into a comic book superhero flick. Unfortunately, it makes for a complete mess. I wont totally blame the director for that, that's an editor's job to maintain a narrative flow. The potential is there for this to work but unfortunately it just seems to me that couldn't bind it all together, or they were in a hurry to complete the film because it all seemed rushed.

However, the film is sumptuous to watch in its period settings, and the 2 leads are charismatic enough to carry the film. There is a sprinkle of humour that gave me chuckles though some were unintentional.

But the real star of the film is Donny Yen. As he gets older, he has even more star presence than ever before and when he fights, you can always feel his punches and awesome kicks. The action scenes are adrenaline pumping, visceral, with a stylish visual flair. These alone are worth the price of admission.

I would watch this again, and maybe next time I can piece a few more pieces of the story together.

Overall, see it for the brilliance of Donny Yen action and if you actually followed the story and enjoyed it, then good for you!

Fictional Chinese hero Chen Zhen was first portrayed by the legendary Bruce Lee in kung fu classic Fist of Fury (1972), in which he fought against Japanese imperialism in 1910s Shanghai. The character has since been reprised in numerous films and TV series, most notably by Jet Li In 1994 (for his excellent remake, Fist of Legend) and Donnie Yen, who, having already played the hero in a 1995 television series, returned to the character in 2010 for Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, a sequel to Bruce Lee's original.

The film quickly excuses the fact that Chen Zhen was caught in an inescapable crossfire at the end of Fist of Fury, showing him to be alive and well in France, fighting alongside the allied forces in WW1. In a promising pre-credits action sequence, Yen's Zhen singlehandedly dispatches of umpteen German soldiers who have his fellow countrymen pinned down by gunfire. Zhen leaps out of a bunker, launches himself towards the enemy with impossible athleticism, scoots up a wooden pole armed only with a pair of bayonets, and deals with the Germans with incredible ferocity. It's an impressively OTT battle scene that delivers a level of action and excitement that, sadly, is never replicated.

What follows is, for the most part, a politically charged drama, as Zhen adopts the identity of a fallen comrade and returns to his homeland to attempt to unite his country and oppose the invading Japanese forces. Fast, furious and brutal martial arts scenes are few and far between, the film leaving fight fans wanting for the majority of the time. There are only a couple of martial arts melees (before the inevitable big smack-down at the end), in which Yen turns up in his Masked Warrior disguise (a nod to Bruce Lee's Kato character in The Green Hornet) to kick Japanese butt, but director Andrew Lau's annoying use of rapid editing and close-up camerawork doesn't allow the viewer to appreciate the star's fight choreography and lightning fast moves.

Predictably, the finale takes place at the Hongkou dojo, the site of Zhen's fight at the end of Fist of Fury, our hero taking on numerous karate students before facing the loathsome Colonel Takeshi Chikaraishi (Ryu Kohata). At this point, Yen does his best Bruce Lee impression, even producing a pair of nunchuks to crack some skulls, all of which would have been a lot of fun if it wasn't for Lau's frustrating directorial style. The movie closes by informing the viewer that Japan seized control of Shanghai shortly after, making the whole thing feel like a pointless exercise.

4.5/10, rounded down to 4 for wasting Shu Qi in a pointless 'tragic romantic interest' role.