In Once Upon A Time in China , the western powers have swarmed into China and brought new technology with them, such as cameras, cannons, and guns. The foreigners have already begun to influence the culture with their clothing, their guns, and their disrespect for native inhabitants. Wong Fei Hung is a young martial arts master trying to deal with the political change at the time and protect his Chinese heritage. He leads a local militia group, which is imprisoned towards the beginning of the movie, and he also helps injured patients at his famous clinic, Po Chi Lum. In a time of rapid technological changes, how can Kung Fu compete with powerful guns?
Once Upon A Time in China is a fantastic movie that has high production values, a legendary story, great music, nearly perfect subtitles, and some of the best action sequences ever filmed. Unlike many movies in the genre, the subtitles are almost error free, which makes the story much easier to follow than some smaller budget movies. The sets and costumes are better than Project A II , but unlike the slower paced Jackie Chan movie, Once Upon A Time in China never fails to delight with its action scenes.
There are numerous fight scenes scattered throughout the movie and Wong Fei Hung is always portrayed as a dominant and heroic fighter. He is revered by his followers and feared by his opponents. During one of the impressive shorter fights, Master Wong uses an umbrella to fend off his opponents in addition to his standard martial arts skills. When one of the opposing fighters tries to throw boiling water on him, he swiftly opens the umbrella and deflects the underhanded attempt at injury. There are other scenes with some fantastic weapons use, but the majority of the action is traditional, unarmed combat.
Once Upon A Time in China has a few slightly unrealistic moves and fight scenes, but they are not too ridiculous and they fit perfectly in the movie. The legend of Wong Fei Hung is enduring and grand enough that one should expect him to be overpowering and awesome. He fails to disappoint and so does the final showdown with Master Yim, which involved numerous ladders being thrown about and used as weapons. It does not dwell on them, however, since it also contains plenty of standard fighting that is executed especially well. Every fight in the movie is a joy to watch.
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