True Legend (2011)

This movie is for those 15 and older. Younger teens may not be able to follow all that is going on. True legend has lots of action. I always am disappointed in a non-English film. I am glad of the subtitles though. The movie is very picturesque and like many Chinese subject films, has great color. It is pleasurable to watch. Always the constant battle between good and evil. Always the conflict of good having the necessary desire to quench evil at great personal cost. Timeless themes. Some of the knife throwing seems a little hokey, but I suppose that everything has to be greater than life. This film would make a good guys night out movie. Teenage gals might enjoy it as well for a non-romantic sleepover movie. I give it four thumbs up.

"True Legend" ("Su Qu-Er") was actually a nice surprise. I had been putting watching it off for some time now, but that turned out to be a mistake on my side.The story in "True Legend" is about Su Can (played by Wenzhuo Zhao) who serves as a general, but leaves his army life behind to open up a martial arts school. His adopted brother Yuan Lie (played by Andy On), envious and always standing in the shadow of Su Can, end up killing their father and taking Su Can's son captive. Su Can and his wife Yuan Ying (played by Xun Zhou) end up at a secluded mountain, where they live with Dr. Yu (played by Michelle Yeoh) while Su Can is struggling to regain his fighting abilities and battle for his mind. Tensions are high and the stakes even higher, as the two brothers end up face to face.Actually the story was rather interesting, although the movie had a tendency of lingering on certain parts a bit too much, where it ended up being somewhat of a drag to watch; especially on the mountain training scenes and the tavern epiphany scene.What really impressed me about this movie was the sword fighting scenes and the martial arts scenes. They were amazing to look at. Very well choreographed and executed. Given this being a Mandarin martial arts movie, expect a lot of wire action in the movie. Personally, I don't mind that, but of course that is a matter of preference.And as with most other epic Chinese movies in the same genre, there is a lot of really breathtakingly beautiful scenery to be seen in this movie. Lots of nice details everywhere."True Legend" is a great epic movie that hold elements from movies such as "Hero", "Ong Bak" and the like. It works very well when combined, and there is a lot of action from start to end.If you enjoy Asian movies, especially the epic ones with lots of sword fights and martial arts, then it is very likely that you will enjoy "True Legend" as much as I did.

There are some great things about this film, and some things that definitely detract from what is otherwise a really good action flick for those who enjoy the genre."True Legend" takes one good story, and then decides that one story is not enough. This is basically two films. One about revenge against a brother turned evil - another about a forgotten warrior who becomes a drunken master.Both could have held up better on their own. Their combination gives us some of the films only weaknesses... it's disjointed, and overlong.The action sequences are pretty spectacular, and my only gripe is some unnecessary overuse of cgi.The film has some other ideas that are fantastic. An enemy with sewn in body armor(super cool), and the whole learning from amazing/classic kung fu masters that don't really exist. The scenes that featured those two elements are by far the strongest scenes in the film.It almost seemed as if the movie jumped from the first storyline to the second without filling in the middle of the story. While this would have made the film even longer - it would have made the film less disjointed.Don't get me wrong - this is an action blast for those in search of just that. The real crime here is that this film obviously had tons of resources to become the truly epic film that it wanted to be, but isn't.That said, I could watch this thing over and over again for kick-butt action value alone.If you like to nitpick - you'll hate it. If you just like some kick-butt kung fu - you'll love it. I'll eventually own this... but for the same type of reasons I own the movie ,"300".

"Don't you ever touch my sister like that."This is the story of a Chinese general who abandons his military and political carrier, choosing to pursue the simple life of a family man and teacher of martial arts. His decision works out well for him, until the day his half brother returns, determined to avenge the death of his father.The first part of the movie delivers what it promises: a family drama with dark and surreal overtones, balanced by a romantic atmosphere of devotion and unconditional love, set in an age of heroes and legend. And it works well - very well, in fact - until the writers decide to make it go "Puff!" in the middle of the movie, smashing the whole thing to pieces.The fighting is decent (even though Bruce Lee they're not) and you'll spend the entire time shouting "The vase!... The vase!... Watch the... vase".The special effects are not that terrible, the music is OK (in a non-irritating way) and the mood of the movie swings from soft and beautiful to angry and dreadful or desperate. The camera work is unusual, the framing and the angles are a bit strange and it takes a while for the viewer to get used to them. The scenery is beautiful and the sets are very convincing.The characters are simplistic, stereotypical and rudimentary. The hero is the protector of the family, the woman is the beautiful, devoted and loving wife and mother, and the villain is the monster who doesn't care much for anything, except his obsessions. The kid is... the most irritating kid I've seen, in a while.True Legend. As a martial arts movie it is OK, I guess, but the story requires massive improvement. 5/10.