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It occurred to me last night that I never posted about Jet Li's Fearless.
It was a good movie, but an oddly unsophisticated one. The acting -- especially at the very beginning -- was curiously broad. (I saw Unleashed, I know Jet Li can be more subtle than that). The story arc was SUPER predictable, and at one point during the "pride" part (before the fall), I sighed and whispered to Mark that I didn't know if I wanted to spend the next half hour watching him be a jerk and go down in flames.
All the same, there's a reason these things are archetypes -- they *work*, and his final redemption was very affecting. The relationship between Jet Li's character and his best friend was wonderfully depicted -- VERY emotional (slashy, even!). The movie also had an interesting political subtext -- the last 20 minutes are a barely-disguised plea for pan-Asian unity, with the Japanese and Chinese fighters even sitting down to drink tea together.
It was a good movie, but an oddly unsophisticated one. The acting -- especially at the very beginning -- was curiously broad. (I saw Unleashed, I know Jet Li can be more subtle than that). The story arc was SUPER predictable, and at one point during the "pride" part (before the fall), I sighed and whispered to Mark that I didn't know if I wanted to spend the next half hour watching him be a jerk and go down in flames.
All the same, there's a reason these things are archetypes -- they *work*, and his final redemption was very affecting. The relationship between Jet Li's character and his best friend was wonderfully depicted -- VERY emotional (slashy, even!). The movie also had an interesting political subtext -- the last 20 minutes are a barely-disguised plea for pan-Asian unity, with the Japanese and Chinese fighters even sitting down to drink tea together.