Tags:china, film, jet li, kung-fu, martial arts
Rating: 
Jet Li’s Fearless is a historical epic without the epic, based on a true story of which little is actually used, and is, supposedly, Jet Li’s last martial arts film (so just what does he call The Forbidden Kingdom?).
The movie tells the life story of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese cultural hero. At the turn of the century Yuanjia is a little boy, the son of a wushu (martial arts) master. He desperately wants to learn wushu, but his father insists he do boring things instead, like learning to read and write. Luckily Yuanjia’s best friend, Jinsun, is a brainy kid who can forge Yuanjia’s lessons. But Yuanjia is disturbed when he sees his father hold back a killing blow in a match, resulting in his losing the fight. When Yuanjia’s father dies, he is finally free to practice wushu. He swears he will never lose a match to anyone.
The film jumps ahead several years; Yuanjia is now an adult, a widower with a spoiled daughter. He lives with his mother and, true to his childhood vow, is a famous local marital artist who has never lost a match. But his success has made him arrogant and unlikeable. He is heavily in debt due to his frequent lavish victory celebrations and is generally disliked for his rude manners. At a perceived slight from rival wushu master Chin, Yuanjia crashes Chin’s birthday party and, in the ensuing battle, kills him. In retaliation Chin’s nephew murders Yuanjia’s mother and daughter. Distraught, Yuanjia flees his home town. He travels aimlessly, eventually ending up in a remote valley where he is nursed back to the health by kindly villagers. Under their care Yuanjia slowly lets go of his anger and learns to live in peace.
