Movie description
Based on the life of Martial Artsmaster Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910), this biopic is set during the late 1800's to early 1900's, a pivotal period in China's history, when the whole country is shrouded under increasing internal turmoil and the imminent threat of foreign invasion.Huo Yuanjia begins the story as a cocky, young Martial Arts practitioner with only one thing in his mind, to become the best at his craft at all costs. His quest eventually leads to a tragedy when he mistakenly kills an opponent whose disciples consequently slaughter Huo's whole family for revenge. A distraught and heartbroken Huo flees to the countryside, determined to abandon everything he ever wanted and believed in. He then spends considerable time in a remote mountain village anonymously, where he relearned all the things that matter in life while taking refuge with an old lady and her half blind granddaughter. He returns to the city to make amends with his turbulent past, and gets swept up in a violent, fight to the death Martial Arts tournament to defend China's honor against foreign aggressors. Fearless (or Huo Yuan Jia in Chinese) is the latest and perhaps his last Wushu film by Jet Li. The motivation for Jet Li behind this film production came about from the recent high suicide rates among the youth in China. Feeling dismayed about how little regard the youth have of their own lives, Jet Li set out to inspire the youths to live their lives with a stronger spirit, very much like what the legendary martial artist, Huo Yuan Jia, did in his lifetime. Huo Yuan Jia was the famous Chinese martial artist who defeated foreign martial artists in highly publicized matches during when China was "overwhelmed" by the European and Japanese's -invasion. It was during this time when many foreigners labeled Chinese as the "Sick Men of Asia" and through the highly publicized matches that he won over the foreigners, Huo Yuan Jia helped to instill the confidence and pride back to the Chinese citizens. The reveled man went on with the foundation of Jing Wu Men or Jing Wu Athletic Association in Shanghai, which aimed to spread the concepts and virtues of Wushu to his countrymen. His name saw another bout of revival when Bruce Lee played one of his disciples in "Fist of Fury" which made him one of the better well-known personalities among the Chinese. Jet Li (The One & Unleashed) together with Director Ronny Yu (Freddy Vs Jason & Bride of Chucky) and action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (The Matrix franchise & Kill Bill) had all returned from their tour of duties in the USA to create the movie Fearless to bring the life of this legendary man life back on screen again.The results from the trio was a rather mix bag.