asc85 There are some really spectacular fight scenes in this film, and that's why I have to give it a decent rating. While some may criticize that there were multiple plots/stories in this movie (and there were), I kind of liked it...it gave me more than it should have, and I liked all the stories. Some of the acting is a bit over-the-top, but for the most part, I thought it was well-done. Yes, it is very similar to the Ip Man movies. The final scenes of True Legend are VERY similar to the final scenes of Ip Man 2.Sadly, the only major criticism I have of this movie is David Carradine. Glad this wasn't his last film...it would have been a terrible way to go out. His performance was completely over-the-top, and very unbelievable. The scenes with him almost ruined the whole movie for me, but overall, True Legend was a fun experience for me.

witster18 There are some great things about this film, and some things that definitely detract from what is otherwise a really good action flick for those who enjoy the genre."True Legend" takes one good story, and then decides that one story is not enough. This is basically two films. One about revenge against a brother turned evil - another about a forgotten warrior who becomes a drunken master.Both could have held up better on their own. Their combination gives us some of the films only weaknesses... it's disjointed, and overlong.The action sequences are pretty spectacular, and my only gripe is some unnecessary overuse of cgi.The film has some other ideas that are fantastic. An enemy with sewn in body armor(super cool), and the whole learning from amazing/classic kung fu masters that don't really exist. The scenes that featured those two elements are by far the strongest scenes in the film.It almost seemed as if the movie jumped from the first storyline to the second without filling in the middle of the story. While this would have made the film even longer - it would have made the film less disjointed.Don't get me wrong - this is an action blast for those in search of just that. The real crime here is that this film obviously had tons of resources to become the truly epic film that it wanted to be, but isn't.That said, I could watch this thing over and over again for kick-butt action value alone.If you like to nitpick - you'll hate it. If you just like some kick-butt kung fu - you'll love it. I'll eventually own this... but for the same type of reasons I own the movie ,"300".

sAfuRos Let me start off my review with the good part: the wushu and action is brilliantly choreographed. It's not particularly over-the-top or flashy, but a more classic take on martial arts, and one of the best i've seen in a while.However, the whole of the movie has no idea what the hell it is doing. There are, essentially, three arcs in this movie. 1) Short, builds up the character 2) The vast majority of the movie and with the real plot 3) What the hell?In fact, let me qualify. The first and second arc together would be quite good alone if the third was not a part of the movie. Su, respected soldier, declines an offer to become governor and instead settles down with his pretty wife and has a kid. He recommends his foster brother (Yuan) - also his wife's brother - to the post, and leaves hoping his foster brother will be happy (Yuan has always seen himself living in Su's shadow). A few years later, unfortunately, Yuan is a bitter man and comes to kill Su and his foster father after perfecting the evil Five Venom Fists, and kidnaps Su's kid. Su ends up on a mountain with his wife, training to right the wrongs. Nothing brilliant, but oftentimes wushu movies are not the most plot driven, so it's OK. And i'll admit that the plot actually had me interested, even though it was fairly corny; i was under the impression that it was kind of a feel good movie with lots of ass kicking.The problem arises with the ending of the second arc and the beginning of the third into the end. You would think the second arc would end in a certain way (to avoid spoilers), given the way the whole movie works. But it ends unfittingly dissatisfying for no particular reason. And i This was absolutely not a movie that should have had the ending it did (for the second arc). In fact, excepting the very ending and the third arc, the fighting and the acting were good enough that i considered giving this movie an 8, because it was simply very solid for what it tried to be (until it started to be idiotic). There were even elements of plot that could have been more interesting and explored further, i thought, but ultimately were cast aside lazily. Primarily, i refer to Su meeting one "God of Wushu" as he trains on the mountain. His encounter not only appears entirely ridiculous - it's made apparent that actually, Su is going insane, and instead of having found a master of martial arts, is instead getting extremely drunk and rolls around injuring himself. At the same time, however, you know that Su will eventually go to fight his brother to reclaim his son, so there's actually a bit of potential - the movie has definitive elements of the fantastical already, so i was willing to accept some sort of Wushu god plot line, or perhaps some sort of revelation/epic training thing - but no, apparently Su IS insane, yet apparently his drunken rolling has actually turned him into the master of kung-fu he was deluded about? It would work if there was some sort of element of the God of Wushu being NOT a total delusion, but in fact he was, and we are even shown Su rolling around like a drunk - so it really makes no sense.And that is really the crux of the problem with the movie - again, it has no idea what it wants to be. It's as if the screenwriter had a brilliant idea, but decided he didn't really give a damn about it making sense 4/5 the way through. I'll try and make an analogy: say you are skiing down a slope. It's a double black diamond - steep, mogul covered, all that jazz - and you have wrecked the slope, looking great the whole way down. At the end, as you enter the flat part of the mountain, just coasting to a stop, you suddenly fall down and break your leg - and then, deciding that you might as well, beat yourself to death. Really, it's an achievement in the sense that i have rarely seen a movie fall so hard on its face so quickly.Anyways, this indecision leads into the absurd third act. Aside from the fact that the movie should have ended prior, it has nothing to do with the first or second arc, plot-wise or thematically, and offers nothing worthwhile. It also indulges into stupid stereotypes, clichés, and just is all around terrible, as well as having this sort of strange "funny or serious or what the hell is this?" atmosphere. I wrote this review with the hopes that i could describe how bad the movie becomes, but I sincerely believe i could write a legitimate college thesis on it and am unable to do so in this review. This review probably sounds very harsh but again, it's really the last fifteen-twenty minutes that ruin the movie, and it's still boggling my mind. If you wanted to see the film already, don't let this deter you - see it - what's good is quite good, but simply be prepared for the awful conclusion. In fact, you may want to consider turning it off after the second arc and pretending the second arc ended the way it should have, because it doesn't.This review ended up being a lot more jumbled and unclear than i had thought it would, but i can only hope that my sense of confusion enlightens you as to the confusion that the movie will bestow upon you.

KineticSeoul This is one of those Kung-Fu movie where the plot isn't all that effective, but the fighting sequences makes up for it. From what I heard this is a Chinese folklore tale style of story and the direction and many different sequences make it seem like it. The fighting sequences makes the characters seem superhuman which is typical for these types of genre in china, but doesn't go all that overboard with it in most scenes although still not believable at all. It does feature typical special fighting moves in this such as the Five Venom Fists. I found it kinda funny however how you can tell who the good guys are and who the villains are right off the bat because of the way they look. It just seemed a bit too generic for example with the dark spiky clothes and pale skin. Despite the plot not being all that great and the pacing a bit off, the fight sequences are top notch in this and very entertaining to watch. The fight choreography is very well crafted in this and will make a lot of the audiences have there eyes glued to the screen. Yes, there is use of CGI in this but it isn't used way too much to the point it gets irritating to watch in this type of movies. On a negative note, this movie goes in a direction where it tries a bit too hard to look epic. Especially when it comes to the plot, it doesn't have to be slightly convoluted cause when it comes down to it, it's a simple story. But it tries to make it seem more than what it is, maybe because the plot is a bit too narrow, which isn't a good thing. Because it throws the good pacing off of the whole progression of the film. Also like some of the reviewers are saying the bit of incest is kinda awkward in this because the characters just seem to be fine with it. Anyways overall this is a good martial arts flick where there is hardly a dull moment and any fan of this type of genre should check it out. Like I said the plot isn't anything outstanding, but I am giving this movie a 6.5 because the entertainment value of it all is pretty darn high.6.5/10