MOVIE REVIEW - Legend of the Wolf (1997)

Aka The New Big Boss, Zhan lang chuan shuo

Director: Donnie Yen
Starring: Donnie Yen, Chi Wah Wong, Carmen Lee

With his directorial debut Donnie Yen wanted to do something different and on most levels he did succeed admirably. It is a movie that has been hailed by many as a masterpiece, unfortunately it seems just as many have denounced it as a mess sparking debate in the martial arts movie making community.

The story is relatively simple, but it received flak for being confusing in it’s use of flashbacks within flashbacks. I don’t see it myself. I understood the use of them as exposition especially for Yen’s character’s emotions. He is the Wolf of the title, a man who has lost his memory and arrives in a village threatened by bandits, local boy Wai (Wong), who offers to lead him to a temple for a small fee, assists him. After a run in with bandits in the jungle, showing the Wolf’s kung fu talents, the story is set in motion. Wai and Wolf tell all of this in flashback to a young man who is asking them to kill someone for him. They are telling the tale to set an example for him and show that his actions are not the right way.

Yen is a man at the peak of his psychical prowess and he loves to show this off. The fight scenes can be considered an ego trip of sorts. He is a one man killing machine, when the whole village is being beaten to death he seems to be the only one, other than Wai, able to defeat any of the bandits. Comparisons can be made to Bruce Lee with his use of sidekicks, in fact the UK title is New Big Boss referencing the Lee movie. What loses him points during some of his action sequences is that he likes to bring the camera in tight and you just see a blur of hands and feet in front of people’s faces. Although this does add a visceral feel to the proceedings, I prefer being able to see the punches and blocks connecting.

The acting is okay. Yen doesn’t emote that much, he is stoic and vacant. He speaks with his fighting. The other cast members are just there to help support the emotional impact of the fights. You feel for the villages just because you see them getting massacred not because you have connected with them.

This is a bold attempt at an artistic action film and a good choice if you are looking for something different than the average chop-socky kung fu. Kudos to Yen and this a great comparison piece is his latest work on SPL.

Overall: A dragon punch or two away from a masterpiece. 8/10