Jet Li plays a 19th century Chinese fighter. Braught up at a time when the West was first reaching their shores, it shows the transition of traditional ways to the New world.

Initially a poor fighter the main character (whose name I can't pronounce cos its Chinese) vows to never lose a fight again and seeks to get honour for his family. We flash forward a few years and he has become a phenominal fighter, but his arrogance and love of alcohol lead him to make some rash decisions. His young daughter and mother end up paying the price.

Then he leaves town and almost drowns himself, only to be rescued by the residents of a small village (not unlike the one in The Last Samurai). There he learns many lessons, as is usually the case in these kinds of films.

Initially I was worried about the amount of seemingly meaningless fights, but it soon became clear that this was, in fact, the point. The character was fighting for the sake of fighting. The latter portion of the movie, has almost no fighting at all until the very end and this fighting is far more meaningful.

This is hailed as Jet Li's last martial arts movie, and I must admit the only one I have seen. The film could also be giving us a message about Martial Arts for the sake of martial arts, perhaps a message from Jet Li to his fans - There is more to life than fighting.

see also:
Die Hard 4.0, Limitless, Taken, The Sum of all fears

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