Rise of the Legend 黃飛鴻

[GeneChing]

The WFH genre has become its own beast, quite independent of any historical basis. As a Kung Fu practitioner whose first Sifu was a Hung exponent, I totally agree with this sentiment. But as a Chinese cinephile, there's no way I'm going to exclude the non-Hung Gar flicks featuring WFH. Take Drunken Master (1978) for example - not Hung, not even based on WFH at all beyond the name, but a great film.

[Zombie King]

[donnyir]

This is rise of the legend, wong fei hung movie reboot

[GeneChing]

Very limited - from WellGoUSA

US THEATER LOCATIONS

March 11, 2016
LOS ANGELES

Arena Cinema
1625 N Las Palmas Ave
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 306-0676

AMC Atlantic Time Square
450 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 407-0240

CHICAGO

AMC River East 21
322 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 596-0333

HOUSTON

AMC Studio 30
2949 Dunvale
Houston, TX 77063
(713) 977-4431

SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA

Four Star
2200 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 666-3488

CANADA THEATER LOCATIONS

March 11, 2016
OTTAWA

Mayfair Theatre
1074 Bank St
Ottawa, ON K1S 3X3, Canada

[GeneChing]

Very limited release above (maybe it expanded - I have not checked)

Review: ‘Rise of the Legend,’ a Kung Fu Period Film
Rise of the Legend
By ANDY WEBSTER MARCH 10, 2016


Eddie Peng in “Rise of the Legend.” Credit WellGo USA

The blending of vast sets and digital effects is not quite seamless in Chow Hin Yeung’s kung fu period extravaganza “Rise of the Legend,” but it’s close. Revisiting the story of Wong Fei Hung, a martial arts master whose life has passed into Chinese folklore, “Legend” takes place in 19th-century Guangzhou, where two crime factions vie for control of the docks. This movie’s Guangzhou is a marvel: sprawling, detailed, abounding in narrow alleys and vivid street scenes.

Alas, the plot and subplots are variations on time-honored Hong Kong cinema devices: The young Fei (played as an adult by Eddie Peng) grows up training alongside a buddy, Fiery (Jing Boran); both pine for the same woman, Chun (Wang Luodan), a minder of street waifs. Fei, a formidable warrior, is adopted by the kingpin Lei Gong (the kung fu movie veteran Sammo Hung), only to subvert his empire. When Chun and Fiery lead an insurrection and torch Lei Gong’s opium dens, furious but graceful brawls (orchestrated by the renowned fight choreographer Corey Yuen) erupt.

Mr. Peng has charisma, though his moves are less convincing than those of an earlier Fei: Jet Li, in Tsui Hark’s 1991 classic “Once Upon a Time in China” (and less humorous than those of Jackie Chan, who played Fei in “The Legend of Drunken Master,” a.k.a. “Drunken Master 2,” from 1994). But “Legend” does offer the hefty authority of Mr. Hung, who at 64 can still — almost — hit, kick and do wire work with the best of them.

Rise of the Legend

Not rated

In Mandarin and Cantonese, with English subtitles

Running time: 2 hours 11 minutes

[GeneChing]

Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for Rise of the Legend on DVD! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 6/06/2016

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: Rise of the Legend on DVD thread.

[Jimbo]

Gene, I know there was already a thread about this somewhere but I couldn't find it, and I'm sure you'll merge this post with that thread.

I enjoyed this movie. The action is pretty good, and I liked that it's set in the Qing Dynasty, like so many of the old-school KF films were. IMO, this was one of the more unusual takes on the Wong Fei-Hong story. I hadn't realized that the star Eddie Peng is not an experienced MAist, but had only trained MA for 6 months in preparation for the film, until I looked up his info. He was pretty convincing, although like most newer MA films, this one lacks the long, complex, single-shot sequences that require a relatively high degree of performance skill, as was often seen in the old Shaw Brothers films. The quick-shot nature of the fight scenes makes lots of sense if the star's actual MA abilities are limited.

The film is beautifully shot, even including some shots from the fighters' POV. Action choreography-wise, this is some of Corey Yuen's best work, IMO. Corey Yuen isn't exactly one of my favorite choreographers, as he often runs hot and cold; sometimes his work is spectacular, but often it seems uninspired. Also, his fight scenes usually focus on mostly fancy leg maneuvers/kicking, and his fights often start off well but end inconclusively or in unspectacular fashion. In Rise of the Legend, Corey Yuen does not limit the action to kicking, but also features handwork, swords, staffs (staves?), etc. IMO, one of the best scenes in the movie features Wong Fei-Hong's best friend armed with a broadsword in an alleyway.

Sammo Hung looks good as the villain and, while he obviously can't perform like he did at his peak, he still moves well and is convincing. He is assisted by wirework, which IMO he would have been better without. It looks a bit funny to see such a heavyset man floating about.

I never felt that the film dragged too long at any point. Its story moves along at a fairly brisk pace. The cinematography is beautiful. Although I can't say I liked it as much as, say, the old Shaw Brothers flicks, in spite of its much bigger budget; that is mostly my own personal bias.