This is the story of Chen Zehn, a Chinese living in Japan just after Japan's occupation of China. I believe Zehn (Jet Li) is a kung fu expert, but he is far from being a master. In fact, he returns to China when he learns that his master has been killed by a Japanese martial artist, and basically it is about how Zehn gets to the bottom of why he was murdered and deals with the bad guy that was behind it all.
This is basically a Chinese against the Japanese film set in the late 1930's. The Japanese are bad, which is not surprising coming from the Chinese who have had a long seated hatred of them. Such a thing happens when you are neighbours and both want to be a super-power, as has been for a long time. Not all of the Japanese are bad though, because Zehn falls in love with a Japanese woman, and flees with her to escape persecution of his fellow Chinese, and he also fights with a Japanese martial arts master, but they do not have a deep seated hatred for each other - they only fight because they have to.
There is not much that is deep about this movie, it is a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (though I have not seen it). What it does show is how there is a Sino-Japanese rivalry, which isn't new. If we look at a number of Hong Kong movies we will notice that when it isn't the communist Chinese that are bad, it is the Japanese (and I am not considering the Hong Kong drug lords, which seem to be the most common).
Another thing this movie does though is that it shows us that even though the nations may be hostile towards each other, it does not mean that the individual members of the nations cannot have a relationship. Even then these relationships will be hard because of the general dislike that exists between those two nations. This is clearly seen when Zehn is sent away because he seeks to protect a Japanese woman - the enemy.
The question that arises is because a nation is the enemy, are all of its people bad as well? In the past this has been seen as such. During World War II, Japanese and Germans were imprisoned in both the United States and Australia simply because they were Japanese or Germans. There was no consideration to the fact that they were citizens and had a deep seated loyalty to the nation. In fact, such treatment is more likely to destroy one's faith in the nation than to increase it. But that is the way of the world.
As a movie it isn't bad. The fight scenes are good and entertaining and the struggles that occur in the relationship are explored. The ending may be good, but it isn't happy because the good guy does not get the girl. The realism exists as she must flee because of who she is, even though Zehn desires to be with her. It is something that creates a desire in the person to search for her, but this is another story.
This is basically a Chinese against the Japanese film set in the late 1930's. The Japanese are bad, which is not surprising coming from the Chinese who have had a long seated hatred of them. Such a thing happens when you are neighbours and both want to be a super-power, as has been for a long time. Not all of the Japanese are bad though, because Zehn falls in love with a Japanese woman, and flees with her to escape persecution of his fellow Chinese, and he also fights with a Japanese martial arts master, but they do not have a deep seated hatred for each other - they only fight because they have to.
There is not much that is deep about this movie, it is a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (though I have not seen it). What it does show is how there is a Sino-Japanese rivalry, which isn't new. If we look at a number of Hong Kong movies we will notice that when it isn't the communist Chinese that are bad, it is the Japanese (and I am not considering the Hong Kong drug lords, which seem to be the most common).
Another thing this movie does though is that it shows us that even though the nations may be hostile towards each other, it does not mean that the individual members of the nations cannot have a relationship. Even then these relationships will be hard because of the general dislike that exists between those two nations. This is clearly seen when Zehn is sent away because he seeks to protect a Japanese woman - the enemy.
The question that arises is because a nation is the enemy, are all of its people bad as well? In the past this has been seen as such. During World War II, Japanese and Germans were imprisoned in both the United States and Australia simply because they were Japanese or Germans. There was no consideration to the fact that they were citizens and had a deep seated loyalty to the nation. In fact, such treatment is more likely to destroy one's faith in the nation than to increase it. But that is the way of the world.
As a movie it isn't bad. The fight scenes are good and entertaining and the struggles that occur in the relationship are explored. The ending may be good, but it isn't happy because the good guy does not get the girl. The realism exists as she must flee because of who she is, even though Zehn desires to be with her. It is something that creates a desire in the person to search for her, but this is another story.