Posted on Friday, 04.12.13
Korean film adds complexity to martial-arts genre
By CARY DARLING
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
South Korea cinema has been acclaimed for its bleak horror films and crime thrillers, less so for a martial-arts film like "Fists of Legend." Yet, true to its Korean roots, "Fists" has an intriguing dark side. It isn't just a display of kinetic athleticism but also a veiled commentary on corporate and cultural conformity.
Lim Deok-kyu (the sad-eyed Hwang Jun-Min), Lee Sang-Hoon (Yu Jun-Sang), and Shin Jae-suk (Yoon Jea-moon), known for their fighting skills in high school, are three fortysomething former friends recruited by a ruthless reality show that pits middle-aged men against each other in a mixed-martial arts showdown. Each has something to prove: Lim was a boxing Olympic hopeful who threw it all away and now is a single dad running a failing noodle shop; Lee was the best fighter in Gangnam but now is in the corporate world working for an extremely sadistic boss; and Shin was a street fighter who became just a low-level hood with no future.
They have to fight each other, and other assorted goons, as well as their demons. While the latter gives the movie more depth than the average Jackie Chan film, director Kang Woo-suk certainly knows his way around an MMA cage, especially in the final, bruising match between Lim and a mob-backed opponent known as The Turtle.
At 2 1/2 hours, "Fists of Legend" goes on too long. But Kang Woo-suk's take on a genre often relegated to the level of cartoon is a refreshing change of pace.
FISTS OF LEGEND
4 stars (out of 5)
Unrated (martial arts violence); 150 min.
In Korean with English subtitles.
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