Director: Wei Lo
Writer: Wei Lo
Starring: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, James Tien
Chen Zhen is furious. He also has fists. That’s why they
call him ‘the Furious Fist’. No, they call him the Fist of Fury. That was an
awful joke but I really had no idea how to start the review so I thought I’d
just write something silly. I hoped it would be funny but it really wasn’t. I
suppose I’m well and truly into the review now. It wasn’t good but here we are.
Let’s go!
The teacher of Chen Zhen’s martial arts club spontaneously dies
in a manner a little too suspicious to have not been caused by the Japanese.
The Japs lovingly create a sign calling the Chinese ‘Sick Men of Asia’. Chen
Zhen is none too pleased and proceeds to punch and kick every person he sees.
This begins an awful feud between the two martial arts clubs.
Fist of Fury is GREAT! In Enter the Dragon, there are so
many protagonists that Lee never truly displays his prowess as an action hero.
The story is one of revenge (as with the majority of Asian martial arts films).
This setup is a perfect platform on which to stage some incredible fight
scenes. Having Bruce Lee as the protagonist of your film is a sure-fire way to get
the audience behind him. There is not a point during the film when I wasn’t
routing for him… even when he literally murders people and hangs them from a
lamppost – it’s brutal but justified. Unlike his other films, Lee is given room
to shine outside of fight scenes. There is a particularly fantastic scene in
which Lee goes undercover as an electrician, fooling every member of the
Japanese dojo. It’s an absolute joy to see Lee actually act for once rather
than just being cast as the awesome guy who can kick things. He still does kick
things very well. Make no mistake.
 |
| Look at him! He's fantastic. I'd love to be kicked in the face by him! |
Unfortunately, there are some scenes and sub-plots that I
didn’t particularly like in the film. Namely, Lee is given a romantic interest.
Sure it humanises him but he is plenty human already and it forces extra scenes
into the film, which drastically slow the pace. The scene showing Zhen’s more
tender side was the only one that didn’t have me with a massive smile on my
face. To me it just felt entirely unnecessary. I was never thinking ‘I hope
Zhen doesn’t die now or he won’t be able to run away with his girlfriend.’ I
really just wanted him to get revenge on some dirty racists.
Perhaps the most important about the film is that it is
supremely satisfying. At the beginning, the Japanese martial artists are shown
as detestable slime balls. You are never not on the side of Zhen. This makes the ending all the more beautiful.
The final fight with both the Russian and the leader of the Japanese is a
double whammy of both fantastic martial artistry and a pre-established hatred
of the enemy.
I have not watched a more entertaining martial arts film in
a long time. Bruce Lee excellently portrayed what is likely his most complex
character of all time, (that’s not particularly hard) not only providing
wonderful action but also some comic relief. While there are some moments I
would omit, I still enjoyed Fist of Fury an enormous deal.
Fist of Fury receives an: 8/10
This film is sometimes referred to as 'The Chinese Connection'. Don't be confused. It's actually 'Fist of Fury'.
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