He
was played by Jet Li in the Once Upon a
Time franchise and Jackie Chan in the Drunken
Master series. Other actors taking on the role of Wong Fei-hung include
Andy Lau, Gordon Liu, and David Chiang. If you take on the part, you’d better
bring you’re A-game, because there are plenty of predecessors to be compared
with, going back to the 1940s. Eddie Peng Yu-yen assumes the mantle in a highly
fictionalized account of the martial artist’s early years, nicely exceeding
expectations in Roy Chow’s Rise of the
Legend (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Abandoned
and ailing on the streets of Guangzhou, Wong is nursed back to health by his
soon-to-be adoptive father, Wong Kei-ying, a respected physician and martial
artist in his own right, with help from his brother (adoptive and sworn), Huo,
a.k.a. Fiery. Soon, they form an inseparable foursome with fellow orphans Chun
and Orchid, until the latter girl is ripped away by the city’s criminal
element.
That
would be the rival Black Tiger and North Sea Gangs. Led by the imposing Lei
Gong, the latter outfit is probably the more formidable, so Wong temporarily
joins their ranks a dozen or so years later. As a reward for dispatching the
head of the North Sea Gang (and bringing said head as proof), Lei anoints Wong
as his fourth “godson” (in a very “Godfather” kind of way). However, Wong is
secretly coordinating with the righteous new Orphans Gang, led by Huo and Chun,
relying on Orchid (now a courtesan) as their go-between.
Rise has a reasonably
sweeping narrative, but it all boils down to Wong Fei-hung putting fist to gang-member
face. Fortunately, action director Corey Yuen keeps things appealingly gritty
and old school. He lets them get it on, which is what we want to see.
Peng
also deserves serious props. Some viewers might know him more for his romantic
comedies or as the dandyish villain in the Tai Chi Zero/Hero films, but he exhibits hitherto unseen steeliness and legit
action cred as the early twenties Wong. He really rises to the occasion.
Of
course, Master Sammo Hung makes a larger than life villain as Lei. For extra,
added gravitas, “Big” Tony Leung Ka-fai dispense wisdom and flashes some moves
as the good doctor, Wong Kei-ying. Wang Luodan shows poise and sensitivity as
Chun, but Angelababy’s Orchid gets all the juicy dramatic bits, which she makes
the most of. As Fiery, Jing Boran also demonstrates some considerable skills,
but he is largely overshadowed by flashier characters (nickname
notwithstanding).