After the enormous success in 1971 of "Tang Shan Da Xiong" ("The Big Boss") in 1971, Martial Artist Bruce Lee's career as an actor reached never before seen levels of popularity in Hong Kong cinema. With his unparalleled skill in the Martial Arts, his unique style for choreography (based on his Jeet Kune Do philosophy) and overall, his great talent for acting, Lee quickly became the icon for Martial Arts films, and the biggest star at Golden Harvest Studios. The follow-up for "The Big Boss", was a more traditional martial arts film: "Jing Wu Men" ("Fist of Fury"). A period piece directed again by Lo Wei, "Fist of Fury" would take Lee's star even beyond.
Set in 1908, the film is loosely based on the story of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, and the mysterious death of it's founder, the legendary Martial Artist Huo Yuanjia. Located in Shanghai, China, the Chin Woo school faces big problems now that their leader has died, as the Japanese occupation of Shanghai makes life very difficult for the Chinese. This makes Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) furious, as he suspects the Japanese are behind the death of his master. As his investigation proves him right, Chen goes on a murder spree in order to avenge the death of Huo Yuanjia.
Written and directed by Lo Wei, the film is a more straight forward Martial Arts film that follows almost to the letter the classic style that was dominating Hong Kong cinema at the time, with one important difference (add without a doubt Lee): the film favors a weaponless style of combat. Lo Wei's story, focuses mainly on the difficulties suffered by the Chinese with their land occupied by foreigners that used and abused the law for their advantage, and the rise of a hero to challenge the occupation. Many elements of the plot are centered around this nationalist pride, to the point of being overtly racist against the Japanese (this and other differences made Lee to decide to never work with Lo Wei again).
While the story is definitely the one of a typical revenge story, it's in the execution where the film truly excels and shows why is considered a landmark in Hong Kong Action films. Now familiar with his star's abilities, director Lo Wei gives Bruce Lee enough freedom to direct and choreograph his own stunts, resulting in a better, more realist way of portraying Kung-Fu than in their previous film together ("The Big Boss"). Sadly, this also allows Lo Wei's flaws to be obvious when compared to Lee's directing style. Lo Wei focuses on telling a patriotic action-filled story of revenge, while Lee wants a stylish drama with lesson on Kung-Fu included (Lee would do this in his next film, "Men Lung Guojiang" or "Way of the Dragon").
To Lo Wei's credit, the discovery and eventual exploitation of Lee's natural talent for acting is one of the film's best characteristics. Bruce Lee finally gets a chance to show a lot more depth in small but significant scenes where he does comedy and melodrama in a remarkable way. While the rest of the cast is not as refreshing or surprising as Lee himself, there are two exceptions: the beautiful Nora Miao (Lee's regular collaborator), and the excellent Ping-Ao Wei, who delivers a great performance as the treacherous Wu.
Like in most Hong Kog films of its time, "Jing Wu Men" suffers from a really low-budget (although not as bad as "The big Boss"), some amateurish acting and an awful dubbing. However, this movie is one of Bruce Lee's most important films, as despite its flaws the legendary Martial Artist shows his best moves and his natural talent in an excellent way. Sure, Lo Wei's plot is not the most original and suffers from a lot of problems, but it also features some of Lee's best scenes in his tragically short career.
Raw and gritty, yet somewhat stylish, this movie became a huge success and consolidated Lee as a major Action star. Personally, I prefer "Way of the Dragon" and "Enter the Dragon" over this film, however, "Jing Wu Men", the "Fist of Fury" is an excellent Martial Arts film that set the standard for the explosion of Kung-Fu cinema that would follow it. 7/10
