Once Upon a Time in China (1991) Review: Kung Fu vs Empire

Is Once Upon a Time in China worth watching?

Yes, with reservations. Once Upon a Time in China is a landmark of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, with some of the most inventive fight choreography of its era and the performance that made Jet Li a star. Tsui Hark gives the kung fu film a grand historical canvas, using the legend of Wong Fei-hung to ask how China should respond to Western power. The reservations are structural: the story sprawls, the comic relief is broad, and the depiction of foreigners is often cartoonish.

What is Once Upon a Time in China about?

In late 19th-century Canton, the martial arts master and physician Wong Fei-hung (Jet Li) watches with growing alarm as foreign powers, English, French and American, extend their influence over China. When his westernised Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) returns from America with a camera and modern ideas, Wong finds himself acting as her protector while trying to keep order in a city full of tensions. His martial arts school and the local militia are drawn into conflicts with foreign interests, corrupt officials and a local gang, while a rival fighter (Yen Shi-kwan) and a hungry young martial artist (Yuen Biao) complicate matters further.

Once Upon a Time in China was directed by Tsui Hark. It is a Hong Kong production in Cantonese, runs 134 minutes, and launched a long-running series of sequels. Jacky Cheung and Kent Cheng co-star.

Wong Fei-hung rebuilt for a new era

Wong Fei-hung was already a legendary figure in Hong Kong cinema, the subject of dozens of earlier films, but Tsui Hark reimagines him as a symbol of national dignity under pressure. His Wong is disciplined, principled and slightly stiff, a traditionalist forced to consider whether martial virtue can survive in a world of guns and foreign treaties. The question hangs over the whole film and gives the action a political charge.

Jet Li is ideal for this version. His martial arts skill is astonishing, with a speed and precision that make even complex moves look effortless, and his calm, serious screen presence gives Wong a moral authority that grounds the film’s more fantastical moments. It is the role that turned him into an international name.

Action that argues as well as dazzles

The fight scenes are the main reason to watch, and they remain breathtaking. The choreography makes heavy use of wirework, allowing fighters to leap and spin through the air, but it is anchored in real physical skill and inventive use of props and spaces. Each major fight has its own design and rhythm, and the climactic confrontation is among the most celebrated in the genre.

Tsui Hark also uses action to express the film’s themes: traditional kung fu faces modern weapons, and the contrast between physical skill and firepower becomes a visual argument about China’s future. The rousing theme song, a patriotic anthem that became synonymous with the series, reinforces that sense of national purpose.

Where the epic gets unwieldy

The film tries to do a great deal, and it shows. Multiple subplots involving gangs, officials, foreign merchants and rival fighters compete for attention, and the narrative can feel crowded and hard to follow. The slapstick comedy, especially from some supporting characters, is broad in the typical Hong Kong style of the period and may not suit every viewer. The foreign characters are often villains or caricatures, which limits the film’s political seriousness. The quieter romantic thread between Wong and Aunt Yee is sweet but underdeveloped.

Who should watch Once Upon a Time in China?

It is essential for fans of martial arts cinema, Jet Li and Hong Kong action films of the early 1990s, and rewarding for anyone interested in how popular cinema engages with history and national identity. Expect a long, busy film with extended fight scenes; violence is frequent but stylised rather than graphic.

If it works for you, try these next:

• Iron Monkey, a leaner, more playful martial arts adventure that also features a young Wong Fei-hung.
• Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, a modern take on a patriotic martial arts hero resisting foreign domination.
• SPL: Kill Zone, for Hong Kong fight choreography in a gritty contemporary setting.

The verdict

Once Upon a Time in China is a sprawling, exhilarating martial arts epic, lifted by Jet Li’s star-making performance and some of the most dazzling fight scenes Hong Kong ever produced. Its overcrowded plot and broad humour hold it back, but as a piece of popular filmmaking with real ambition, it remains a classic of its genre.

Rating: 3.5/5