Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)
"Jing wu feng yun: Chen Zhen" (original title)

Seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious ... See full summary »

Director:

Wai-keung Lau

Writers:

Gordon Chan (screenplay), Chi-Sing Cheung,

Stars:

Donnie Yen, Qi Shu, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang

4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Donnie Yen	...	Chen Zhen
Qi Shu	...	Yumi Yamaguchi / Fang Qing
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Liu Yu-Tian
Bo Huang	...	Inspector Huang Hao Long
Shawn Yue	...	General Zeng
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Tsuyoshi Chikaraishi
Gregory Wong	...	(as Wong Chung Yiu)
Siyan Huo	...	Vivian
Tony Ho
Karl Dominik	...	Vincent
Kenji Tanigaki	...	Gangster / Fighter in dojo
Ryu Kohata	...	Colonel Takeshi Chikaraishi
Jiajia Chen	...	Huang Lan
Tian Gao
Akira	...	Sasaki Chikaraishi

Storyline

Seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | shanghai | assassination | shot to death | punched in the face | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, martial arts action and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Mandarin Japanese English French German

Release Date:

21 September 2010 (China)

Also Known As:

Chen Zhen: The Turbulence of Jing Wu

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$11,365 (USA) (22 April 2011)

Gross:

$48,398 (USA) (10 June 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Asia Films, Enlight Pictures, Shanghai Film Media Asia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Chinese film (also first in Hong Kong film) mixed in "Dolby Surround 7.1" encoding system. Coincidentally, Wai-keung Lau's movie Kuen sun was the first Hong Kong film mixed in "Dolby Digital EX" 6.1 surround encoding system.

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Goofs

The movie is set in 1925, most of the cars are from late 1940s to early 1950s.

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Connections

References Batman Begins (2005)

User Reviews

It's enjoyable, but not as good as previous martial art flicks.

Previously this year, there were "True Legend", "14 Blades", "The Legend is Born: Ip Man" and the breathtaking "Ip Man 2". They have been well- made and enjoyable. September brings up another Donnie Yen flick: "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen".

The movie was actually not bad at all. The acting was not really bad at all and everything was fine. But, why a 6?

First, unlike "Ip Man 2", the movie didn't get to roam many places as the setting like previous martial art flicks. Instead, most of the movie or at least 85% of the movie took place in a club. That made the movie look pretty dull and boring. I just wanted more locations and explore more of Chen Zhen's world rather than staying in a club doing nothing; in the club, there were only some non-action stuff and they were boring.

Secondly, the climactic moment. What the hell happened to Chen Zhen. It's just so strange if you watch the climactic scene. In other words, you're facing a tough enemy and you didn't even get to hit him once in the first round. Suddenly, you rose and the enemy didn't get to hit you once. So "what the hell happened". It's just perfectly shot in the first part and it just suddenly drops in the second round.

Thirdly, why did Donnie Yen do the signature "haya" noises of Bruce Lee. I didn't hear any of those noises in the first movie. What happened to Chen Zhen? It's just so bizarre and unnecessary.

For the others, they were fine. The music was satisfying enough to raise suspense for the movie and the action scenes were perfectly directed. Nothing wrong with the others.

However, the movie does show quite some semi-nude scenes which were pretty disturbing. Compared to "Ip Man 2", "Chen Zhen" has bloodier action scenes.

Overall, the martial action movie was enjoyable and worth to be watched. Only those three things spoil the enjoyment of the film.

Prince AJB's rating: 6/10 or 60%

Thanks for reading my review and hope it is useful.