Legend of the Fist (2010) Review: Patriotic Pulp in a Mask

Is Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen worth watching?

It depends on your appetite for martial-arts pulp. Legend of the Fist is a slick, often exciting showcase for Donnie Yen, but its story is thin and its patriotic melodrama laid on with a trowel. The fight sequences, especially a spectacular opening on a First World War battlefield, are among Yen’s most dynamic, and the film’s nods to Bruce Lee are a treat for fans. Between those peaks, a muddled spy plot and cartoonish villains drag the energy down.

What is Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen about?

Chen Zhen, the martial artist first made famous by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury, is believed to be dead. In fact, he has spent the war years abroad, and he returns to Shanghai under a false identity at a time when Japanese power in the city is growing and threatening. Working his way into the circle of a nightclub owner (Anthony Wong) and a glamorous singer (Shu Qi), he learns that Chinese patriots are being targeted for assassination, and he takes to the streets at night as a masked avenger to fight back.

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is directed by Andrew Lau, best known for co-directing Infernal Affairs. It is a Hong Kong production that runs 105 minutes, with Donnie Yen in the lead and Huang Bo and Yasuaki Kurata in the supporting cast.

Donnie Yen at full speed

Yen had played Chen Zhen before, in a 1990s television series, and he clearly relishes returning to the role. His fighting style here is fast, hard-hitting and eclectic, and the film showcases it in a handful of standout sequences. The opening battle scene, in which Chen takes on enemy soldiers amid the chaos of a European front, is a thrilling burst of physical filmmaking that sets expectations high.

The masked-vigilante scenes are the other highlight. Chen’s black suit, cap and mask are an open homage to Bruce Lee’s role as Kato in The Green Hornet, and the night-time fights have a comic-book energy that suits Lau’s glossy style. A later showdown in a dojo pays tribute to the most famous sequence in Fist of Fury, and fans will enjoy spotting the echoes.

Style over substance in 1920s Shanghai

Lau gives the film a lush, polished look. The nightclub setting, all jazz, sequins and smoky intrigue, is well realised, and Shu Qi brings glamour and a touch of mystery to her role. Anthony Wong adds weight as a man trying to stay neutral between competing powers.

The problem is that the story does not hold these elements together. Long stretches of espionage and romance are clumsily plotted, and the film’s pacing sags whenever Yen is not fighting. The patriotic message is delivered with little nuance: the Japanese antagonists are drawn as sneering caricatures, and the dialogue often turns into speeches.

Where it falls short of its models

The obvious comparison is with Fist of Fury and Jet Li’s Fist of Legend, and Legend of the Fist lacks the emotional clarity of either. Its hero is iconic but underwritten, and the plot introduces characters and subplots it never develops. Fights are also rationed more sparingly than the premise suggests, and some rely on quick editing and digital effects that blunt their impact.

Who should watch Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen?

It is best suited to Donnie Yen fans, followers of the Chen Zhen legend and viewers who enjoy stylised period action with a nationalist bent. At 105 minutes it is not a big commitment. Expect frequent martial-arts violence, some of it brutal, along with executions and wartime scenes.

Better places to go next:

• Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee’s original Chen Zhen story, which this film openly honours.
• Once Upon a Time in China, for a far richer blend of martial arts, history and national identity.

The verdict

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen offers some spectacular Donnie Yen action and a stylish, pulp-flavoured period setting. A thin, heavy-handed story and caricatured villains hold it back, so it lands as a patchy but occasionally thrilling tribute rather than a worthy heir to Bruce Lee.

Rating: 3/5