TRUE LEGEND (Yuen Woo-ping). 115 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (June 17). See listing Rating: NNN
Handsome kung fu flick True Legend mixes classic Shaw Brothers style and contemporary action techniques in the service of a fun story that feels like two different movies stitched together.
In 1851 China, successful general Su Can (Man Cheuk Chiu) gives his governorship to his adopted brother and retires to family life. Ten years later, the brother turns up to steal Su Can’s son and leave him for dead.
For most movies, this would suffice, but True Legend is an origin story, bent on demonstrating Su Can’s transformation into the famous Beggar So, who is the old guy who teaches drunken boxing to Jackie Chan in the original Drunken Master. He was played then by the father of Yuen Woo-ping, who directed that movie and this one.
Yuen knows how to stage action so it’s always meaningful and clear. He’s also got a sense of humour and an eye for fantasy settings. The battles on the giant statue are an elegant hoot.
As the adopted brother, Andy On makes a memorable villain. With his sunken eyes, blackening skin (an effect of his five venoms kung fu) and perverted love, he’s the very image of a rotting soul.
