Thursday, November 09, 2017

'Birth of the Dragon' Gives B-Movie Treatment to a Controversial, Legendary Kung Fu Fight

Birth of the Dragon is a martial arts action film about the legendary closed-door fight that supposedly happened between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man.  This event was pretty controversial because it was unrecorded, and its reputation and details were limitedly hinged on Lee, Wong, and the handful of witness’ conflicting accounts.  Thus, this movie isn’t an attempt of a biopic.  Rather, taking some of the elements from those varying reports, it’s a fictional depiction of the motivations and catalysts behind the fight, the unfolding of the fight itself, the aftermath, and the resulting reflections.

Set in 1960’s San Francisco, the film follows young, up-and-coming kung fu superstar Bruce Lee (Philip Ng) as he challenges Shaolin master Wong Jack Man (Xia Yu) to a no-holds-barred fight that will determine the future of martial arts.  Amid this conflict is Steve McKee (Billy Magnussen), a young American who has fallen in love with Xiulan (Jingjing Qu), a Chinese immigrant being held by the local Triad.  He hopes that the kung fu masters may be able to help him free her.  At the same time, the Triad hopes to exploit the fight for profit.
When I was a kid, Hong-Kong-cinema-style action films used to be rampant, and I adored them tremendously.  As an adult, I really want this genre to have a renaissance in modern cinema, so I’m always in a lookout for the breakthrough film that will jumpstart this and introduce to the next Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or Jet Li.

But, despite the great premise, Birth of the Dragon is, unfortunately, not that film.
Actually, Philip Ng and Xia Yu – both the actors and the respective characters they play – are quite charismatic in this movie.  I liked their arcs and contrasting portrayals.  The flamboyant, ambitious, and enthusiastic Bruce Lee is keen of becoming famous and sharing his ultimate style of kung fu to the world; the self-effacing, wise, and reserved Wong Jack Man is more concerned with performing his penance and maintains a conservative philosophy about kung fu.  This reminded me of the dynamic between Ken and Ryu.  Moreover, their fight scenes are a lot of fun, too.  Unfortunately, there is less focus on them than what should have been.

It’s because a hefty amount of screen time is given to Billy Magnussen’s Steve McKee, who serves as the point-of-view character, and by being so, the narrative significantly revolves around him – the script’s biggest problem.  As a result, the story gets gets bogged down and less interesting.  The film’s other flaws are then, more or less, rooted on this.
Still, I would be lying if I say that I didn’t enjoy this movie.  I did.  Yes, it’s no masterpiece; it won’t end up as one of this year’s most notable films.  But its flaws are within the acceptable parameters of a B-movie.  When viewed as such, the flaws are somewhat forgiven, and the film can and will entertain, thanks to Philip Ng’s Bruce Lee and Xia Yu’s Wong Jack Man.

Nevertheless, there’s always this sense of being disappointment, for Birth of the Dragon could definitely have been done better.

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