Acclaimed martial arts star, Jet Li, has stated that Fearless is to be his last film in the genre, as he believes that the plots in almost all martial arts films circle around revenge of one way or another, and they have become repetitive. His reasoning certainly can't be argued with. Just weeks ago we had The Protector, an overly violent live action cartoon of a movie where the lead character killed hundreds of thousands of people in every scene all because the bad guys had stolen his elephant and killed his father. Fearless is not only a fitting end to Li's career in martial arts films (he still plans to make other kinds of movies), but it is also one of the best entries in the genre I have seen in years. As a filmgoer who has grown tired of overblown spectacles that emphasize style over substance like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the overrated Hero, I was delighted to learn that Fearless has an actual story to tell with interesting characters that we can care about. While it serves as a fitting swan song for Jet Li's current career, it is also a great return to form for director Ronny Yu, a famed Asian filmmaker who has been reduced these past couple years to doing cheesy American slasher films like Freddy Vs. Jason and Bride of Chucky.

Jet Li plays Huo Yuanjia, a legendary real life fighter who inspired the nation of China with his exploits and his teachings. The film follows his life from a cocky young fighter who only cares about glory and fame, to a man who wishes to bring honor and dignity back to fighting and to his country when foreigners from the West start moving in and taking over his homeland. The change in Huo's life occurs after a fight with another master martial artist leads to the murder of his mother and young daughter at the hands of a follower of the man he defeated. Rather than seek revenge on the murderer, Huo decides to leave home and journey across the land, wallowing in his own depression. He winds up in a quiet, small community where the people seem laid back and calm. A kindly young blind woman in the village (played by Sun Li) teaches him how to respect others and the world around him. When Huo eventually returns home to the city he left years ago, he's a changed man, and wants to fight for national pride instead of for his own personal glory. He sets out to begin a new method of martial arts that emphasizes respect, instead of humiliation and killing, and enters a tournament pitting him against some of the best fighters from around the world to not only show his new method to the world, but to also prove the strength of the people of China.

What surprised me the most about Fearless is that this is not the overblown action spectacle that some of the advertisements would lead you to believe. This is definitely a plot-driven movie with a genuine message and a purpose. While the film may be a bit heavy handed and melodramatic in delivering this message at times, it nonetheless remains strong because the characters are easy to relate to and are likeable. Jet Li is able to play both sides of his character (the brash and arrogant young man that he is in the beginning, and the much wiser and understanding man he becomes half way through) with a sense of believability, making him a character that is easy for the audience to get behind. Li has said that he wants to do more roles that emphasize acting over his fighting skills, and this is certainly a good start, as his performance here is probably one of the best he has given in years. It certainly helps that he gets to play a character who smiles and gets to go through real emotions, instead of the more stoic and static characters he has played in films like the previously mentioned Hero. Here, he is charismatic and likeable. The rest of the cast are good as well, the stand outs including newcomer Sun Li as the pretty young woman who changes Huo's life, and Yong Dong as Huo's long-suffering, yet loyal, businessman friend who becomes one of his strongest supporters when he returns to the city he left years ago. All of the characters have much more emotion and depth than one would find in a typical martial arts film, and the movies gives them plenty of time to create genuine characters.

Li's fans should take heart, however. Despite a stronger emphasis on characterization and dialogue, Fearless still finds plenty of time to include some vivid and impressive fight scenes. The fight choreography by Yuen Wo-Ping (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is energetic, lively, and fun. They do not emphasize brutality, nor do they seem overly stylized. Much to my surprise, there seems to be very little to no wire work at all. No actors making impossible leaps into the air, and best of all, no special effects assistance allowing the actors to pull off overly incredible feats. These are the kind of things that can take me out of a movie, and I was relieved to see that the fighting looked genuinely real at least to me for the most part. The film's first 35 minutes or so are heavy on fight scenes, yet they never seem repetitive, nor do they seem alike in any way. Li and his opponents do something different in every battle, so they don't start to blend together. It's not just the fight scenes that look great in this movie, everything does. The sets and the scenery are often beautiful, a highlight being a short sequence where the film shows the changing of the seasons in the small village that Huo's journey leads him to. Director Ronny Yu brings a certain style and elegance to the look of the film, but he is careful not to make it look like an overly stylized and fantasy version of old China. The look of the film appears accurate, and is generally pleasing throughout.

If there is any justice in Hollywood, this film will become a word of mouth hit with American audiences. Fearless has all the fights and stunts that martial arts fans are looking for, but it also has enough substance to back it up and a real story to tell. These elements combine to create one of the most enjoyable films in the genre I have seen in a long time. If this is truly Jet Li's final martial arts epic, he can at least know that he went out on a high note. Yet, I have a feeling that if this movie hits big at the box office, he might have at least one more left in him. If it's as good as Fearless, I'm all for it.

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