Once upon a time again

Updated: 2014-11-21 07:48

By Elizabeth Kerr in Hong Kong(HK Edition)

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Superheroes may dominate box offices right now, but historical folk heroes are truly forever. Like Shakespeare, there's a reason artists go to the folk well time and again. Folk legends are usually freakishly current and carry universal messages that work at any time, in any place. Guangzhou's most enduring folk hero is easily Wong Fei-hung, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) doctor, teacher and martial artist best known for his revolutionary defense of the poor, exploited workers and the marginalized. It doesn't get much more current than that.

Wong has been portrayed countless times on television (by Vincent Zhao) and in film (Jackie Chan, Drunken Master), most famously by Jet Li in Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China series, but it's been 20 years since the last Wong Fei-hung movie. So the time is right for a reboot for a new generation. Director Roy Chow Hin-yeung (Murderer), writer Christine To and action director Cory Yuen have taken on the daunting task of reimagining the story for the 21st century and have done a fine, if fundamentally unaltered, job of remaking the legend for modern audiences.

Rise of the Legend traces the young Wong Fei-hung's (Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng, Cold War) transformation from maverick fighter out for vengeance to poised, umbrella-wielding man of the people.

After years of martial arts training, following the murder of his doctor/teacher father (Tony Leung Ka-fai), Wong insinuates himself into the Black Tiger gang, led by the ruthless Master Lei (Sammo Hung), who is embroiled in a war for dominance of Guangzhou's corruption-plagued but lucrative ports with the North Sea gang.

It's no spoiler to say Wong has a larger plan to dismantle the gangs from within and stop the brutality. Helping him are his childhood friends Fiery (Jing Boran), the woman who secretly loves him, Chun (Wang Luodan), and Orchid (Angelababy), who was kidnapped as a child and forced to become a courtesan. Wong and company systematically destroy Lei's revenue streams - gambling, trafficking, prostitution - while crushing North Sea before Lei discovers the mole and the two have their final showdown.

Chow and To construct a basic story in which they sow the seeds of the Wong legend and probably lay the groundwork for a new film franchise. To manages to shoehorn in an underwhelming love triangle (rather than let Wang and Angelababy join in the fisticuffs), and it moves easily (if a bit too leisurely) from one defining moment to the next. All this happens amid Yuen's masterly choreography and elegant action sequences (Wong's throwdown, using a severed head as a weapon is a highlight). The shots are well composed, with plenty of deep focus that gives 1860s Guangzhou a palpable atmosphere (that loses nothing in standard 2D).

What is fresh is the breakout performance by Peng. Peng is an athletic actor (he starred in the boxing movie Unbeatable and the gymnastics flick Jump Ashin!). In Rise of the Legend Chow takes full advantage of that athleticism.

This is a younger, cooler, much sexier Wong Fei-hung. There are plenty of torn shirts and close-ups of rippling abs on display. But in addition to his considerable physical appeal Peng strikes a balance between honoring the legend and the iconic performances that preceded him and making the role - and for Chow the film - his own. Peng's youthful Wong has a bit of attitude and that's okay. It adds a relatable, angry, human dimension to a character that can too easily be whitewashed. Go for the enjoyably familiar story, stay to watch the birth of a movie star.

Once upon a time again

(HK Edition 11/21/2014 page7)