Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

callanvass Is it just me? Or does Jet Li do WAY too many of these time period films. I love Jet Li, and many of his movies, but I do notice he chooses to do time period films a lot. I didn't particularly care for this martial arts epic. It's never boring, and it does have some decent action scenes, but it's quite stupid at times. It has some atrocious dubbing, to the point where it annoyed me beyond belief. It takes away some of the enjoyment from the film. It alternates from being deadly serious to comedic at times. It felt very uneven and jumbled. It's like it was trying to have the cake and eat it too. You can't have both, and the attempt failed in my opinion. The thing that keeps this movie watchable is the relationship between Jet & his son. The kid has some ridiculously good abilities and had great screen presence for his age. They had a tangible chemistry with each other that felt real. I also enjoyed the comedic bits with Deannie Yip & Chigmay Yau as the Mother & Daughter. It felt out of place at times, but they were amusing as thieves. It has an OTT villain with burn scars all over his face. His "invincible" act got rather grating to my nerves, and I had trouble buying into him as a threat. The finale is disappointingly routine, but it does have a cool moment where Jet dives through a clock to save his son. I didn't care for this movie, but it does have its moments. I just think Jet is capable of much better than this stuff. 5.2/10

LtdTimeAuthor An entertaining Jet Li period vehicle, which Li co-produced. Li plays a Chinese folk hero, a rebel who battled a violent, repressive Manchu government. Li teams with 10 year old martial arts prodigy, Xie Miao, who effectively portrays Li's kung-fu fighting son. The duo have some similarities to the "Lone Wolf and Cub" team in numerous, more atmospheric, very gory Japanese movies of the 1970's. Li and son are joined by a sly mother/daughter con artist team to protect 5 young boys who each have a segment of a rebel map tattooed on their back.Fine photography and inventive action sequences, especially the opener, and one with a clever Trojan horse variant. Li's fight scenes are wondrous, as usual, but his part seems too stiffly written for a fluffy, child-oriented action film with much comic relief. Deannie Yip and sensual Chingmy Yau are energetic and funny as the kung-fu mother/daughter scammers.The English dubbed version, made in 2000, has excellent, witty dialogue and appropriate voices. Prolific Hong Kong writer/director Wong Jing cameos in the closing scene.

palace_master Definitely a movie worthy of watching. I have a complete set of all Jet Li's movies (Chinese and American made) and feel that it deserves a higher rating than others have given it. Reviewers must realize that kung fu movies are fun movies with lots of action and a weak plot. You can't compare them to Hollywood's finest productions, because people have to realize that they were meant to be released in Asia only and that they are to be compared to other Asian fighting shows. Now that I've finished ranting about other's reviews let's get back to talking about the show. Jet Li plays a different character than the usual Master Wong or Master Fong. Jet usually plays the master of the kung fu club or society, but in this case him and his son are rebel outcasts of the main society. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you, but it's the usual plot of a kung fu movie - he fights the true bad guys, picks up a sexy girl who falls in love with Jet, and he fathers and trains his son. By the way, I only watch the Chinese original movies because I'd rather read the sub titles and hear the original music and read the proper meaning of the show. I understand that influences my reviews because others may be seeing badly translated dubs with stupid voices in them.Rent or buy the proper versions if you can. The theme song for Fong Sai Yuk (Jet's character in the 'Once Upon a Time in China' series is an awesome instrumental song) If you're picky about production quality, quality of plot, etc. etc. then don't watch Chinese produced Jet Li movies. Some of my other favourite Jet Li movies are 'Last Hero in China' and 'Hitman'

dilbertsuperman I would classify this as a great action movie for kids that enjoy kung fu like dragonball Z. It is not realistic. It is very much like the movie equivalent of reading a comic book and if you suspend you disbelief and enjoy the movie for what it is, a chop suey kung fu flick.. then it is worth watching. There are 6 kids doing fantasy shaolin in this movie and that is bound to make the kids enjoy the movie more than anyone else. This is not a ground breaking film on any level, including the fight scenes, script and special effects. It is so bad it is entertaining to watch, once you understand it is a typical comic book style kung fu, complete with silly villian and kicks that defy gravity completely. Jet Li's other movies such as Kiss of The Dragon, Black Mask, his cameo in lethal weapon 4, and "The One".. they are much larger budget so have much more to offer. In any case, Jet Li has brought a lot to the arena of martial arts entertainment and I applaud that.