Fist of Legend

Simply put, Fist of Legend is one of the very best martial arts films ever made. It stands in a group with Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II, and...as soon as I think of anything as good as those three, I'll let you know.

Choreographed by the legendary Yuen Wo-Ping, this is Jet Li at his best (and that's saying a lot, folks). Eschewing the aerial wire stunts, Li relies on skill, speed and agility, and is more than up to the task. These fights - and there are a lot of them - are stunning. But the real wonder is that there's a real movie here underneath all the stuntwork. Interesting characters, an intriguing plot, and conflict that goes deeper than "you killed my master"; there's even some political comment. This is a thinly-veiled remake of Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury" (or "The Chinese Connection" in the US, for some bizarre reason), but the story's been widened and given more depth. There's less Japanese-bashing, with more of an attempt to pin blame on individuals instead of nationalities.

If Jet Li is ever going to have a formidable American presence, it's films like this one that should be making the conversion, instead of merely above-average fare like "Black Mask".