Fearless (2006)

            Long advertised as Jet Li’s final film, it would be an unfortunate conclusion for such a big martial arts star to go out on such dissatisfying battles.  If the posters aren’t enough to alert the observant viewer to tacky dramatics, the ensuing fight scenes should certainly be enough to turn them off.

            The story takes itself a little too seriously, perhaps attempting to be an end all to the generic plot of martial arts films.  One lone fighter must avenge the name of his family by training and defeating numerous opponents in close combat.  Undoubtedly, he must also go up against a buffed up Westerner whose only means of communication are grunts and howls.  I pray the film knows what it is doing in taking these stock characters, pushing them over the top, and letting them play out against one another.  This does not make it any less entertaining, just a bit antithetical to the emotion laden story the filmmakers are trying to develop around it.

            It seems a long time since the intricately choreographed scenes of Jackie Chan’s stunt team where complex hand-to-hand fights are filmed in lengthy shots displaying the actor/artist’s talent rather than flashy cinematic post production.  Many of this film’s epic battles take place in computer-generated arenas that hardly pass as amazing and pass even less as realistic.  This is not to say that the fighting lacks the talent of the countless martial arts films that precede it, there are indeed entertaining scenes.  But judging martial skill is muddled by the improbable wirework and annoying background graphics.  This goes without mentioning the plight of all modern action films in cutting nearly every punch and attack into a different shot.  I would much rather see the fights temporally choreographed than making them appear so in postproduction.

            Per usual, yet not explicitly, the cinematography showcases the foreign landscape while highlighting the cultural connections to it.  Many cases find CG distracting, and the script supervisor must have taken a few days off, but other than these instances the film is enjoyable enough the look at.  It should be known by now that this was not Li’s last film and certainly not the last one he fights in.