[Review] Birth Of The Dragon (8/10)

I did not expect much from this movie. The reason I even went for it at the cinema was because there was nothing else playing that I was more interested in. But what a surprise this Birth Of The Dragon was.

Right from the opening with the exhibition duel by two different factions, it caught my attention immediately as the two actors, one of them being Xia Yu who played Wong Jack Man, portraying their respective kung fu styles looked so realistic and beautiful. I would be surprised if you tell me now that they do not have martial arts background.

But I have to admit, the first hour into the story I could not find it believable that Bruce Lee - played quite accurately by Philip Ng - was as arrogant and self-centred as he was portrayed here. And that kind of left a bad taste in my mouth throughout, right until almost the end when I saw the character redeemed himself. That's when I understood that it was a form of storytelling for this movie.

So don't go into the movie expecting a real depiction of Lee's life in that period, because as the two showdowned in the abandoned warehouse, there were only no more than a dozen witnesses if this point was to be believed as factual. So who was to say what really happened in that showdown.

The movie was directed by George Nolfi as only his second feature after The Adjustment Bureau, and I thought he excelled. But the "lesson" that Lee was supposed to learn did not come through enough even though I understand that it was very philosophical and could not have portrayed well onscreen anyway.

The dialogue was the worst part for me as some continuity issues were sacrificed to move the plot forward. Lee would say one thing and then his student would interpret it as something else and that's where it frustrated me a lot as I could not tell what was truly meant.

But as an action movie, this was something special that I did not expect. It reminded me a whole lot of those classical Chinese kung fu movies from the 80's and 90's which nobody makes anymore today.

Even when the storyline was taken from one of those earlier movies plot by plot, to see it being done this well brought a flutter to my heart.

And, while whitewashing has not been an issue for me, I have to applaud that the entire movie only has one White character. Everyone else was Chinese. Maybe now I can begin to understand other people's frustration about how Hollywood only uses White actors. Here's proof that if the quality of the movie is good, it is then a good movie.

The only problem is, it would have made a lot more money had it came with a famous White actor in the forefront.