I
always say, “If you have to steal, steal from the best”. Well, The Legend of the Red Dragon opens with
a scene that directly rips off Lone Wolf and Cub! That right there was a clue this movie was
going to kick some ass.
Jet
Li returns home and finds his family murdered. The only survivor of the slaughter is his
little baby. Knowing he’ll be on the run
from his enemies for the rest of his life, Jet gives the kid a choice: The sword or his toys. If his son chooses the toys, that means he’s
too young to follow him on his adventure.
If he chooses the sword, that means the kid is ready for a life of
violence and mayhem.
He
wisely chooses the sword.
Almost
immediately, they are jumped by Ninjas. An
all-out badass brawl ensues, culminating with an awesome fight scene where Jet
squares off against the villain, who is brandishing a giant flaming timber. It’s truly an applause-worthy sequence and a
heck of a way to kick off a Kung Fu flick.
After
that, Jet takes the kid and hides out from his enemies. Unlike Lone Wolf and Cub, he doesn’t push the
tyke around in a booby-trapped, heavily armored baby carriage. Instead, a few years pass, and he and his son
(who has religiously trained with his father over the years to become something
of a Kung Fu expert himself), travel through the countryside incognito. Facing starvation, the proud Li lowers
himself by accepting work as a bodyguard for a rich braggart as a way to put
food on the table. His new boss is about
to marry a woman who only wants to steal his riches. Naturally, she and Jet
kind of develop a thing for each other.
Before long though, Jet’s enemies show up looking for him and his kid,
leading to more Kung Fu madness.
The
Legend of the Red Dragon contains many wild, energetic, and memorable fight scenes.
Among my favorites, Jet’s fight with his
master’s fiancée (who uses knitting needles, thread, and measuring tape as
weapons) and his son’s brawl with a bunch of streetwise brats. The villain is also something else. He rides around in a metallic death machine
that looks like something from Wayne Enterprises. There’s even a scene where he rips a dude in
half. LENGTHWISE. WITH HIS BARE HANDS.
Unfortunately,
the movie starts to run out of steam as it enters the third act. I mean it couldn’t possibly maintain the energy
of the early action sequences, but it certainly tries. Also, the action in some sequences is so hectic
that it becomes a bit numbing after a while.
A lot of the humor falls flat too (like when the master’s future mother
in-law accidentally doses herself with aphrodisiac). Those qualms aside, The Legend of the Red
Dragon is a rip-snorting buffet of asskickery.
Any Jet Li fan worth their salt should check it out.
AKA: The New Legend of Shaolin. AKA:
Master of Shaolin. AKA: Legend of the Future Shaolin. AKA:
The Legend of Red Dragon. AKA: Legends of Shaolin.
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