Birth of the Dragon

Pop culture introduced me to Bruce Lee before I took a Hong Kong cinema class in university. I thought that I saw "Enter the Dragon" as part of that class but it turns out I was shown "Fist of Fury" and "Way of the Dragon" (I may have forgotten the name of the latter movie but I will never forget the epic fight between Lee and Chuck Norris). I had never heard of this showdown previous to this movie but I will admit that the trailers and ads for this film portray "Birth of the Dragon" as more serious than it actually is. The story also ends up not being what you expected from the marketing. Having said that, the film shouldn't be dismissed entirely because it is modeled after the kinds of films that came out of Hong Kong and/or were made by Lee.

The fight that took place between Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man is controversial because it was a private match and resulted in two differing accounts. This movie appears to follow the account of Wong and other witnesses as interviewed by a student of Wong's: Rick Wing. I am betting that the reason for this was that the real Wong Jack Man acts a consultant for the film. Lee's account was quite different. My favourite character in the film however is not Lee but Wong. Because he is a monk as well as a teacher, Wong has wisdom and shows restraint where as Lee is prideful, flashy and aggressive. I really began to respect the story when Wong implies that his goal is to defeat Lee not physically but mentally. Wong knows that Lee limits himself but Wong also knows that Lee can overcome this if he is "reborn". Although Bruce Lee admitted in real life that he started to develop "Jeet Kune Do" after his bout with Wong, he said it was because his fists suffered too much and not because the fight inspired the style. I was impressed by the cinematography and use of slow motion during the cinematic showdown. I was happily surprised but the fun climatic fight. It was resolving. As a side note, the Karate championship demonstration with Vic Moore actually happened but in 1967 instead of 1964. Also, I have heard of the "One inch punch" before but didn't know that Lee made it famous.

"Birth of the Dragon" takes a lot of fictional license and I bet that is what took many who saw the film aback. Many are critical that a fictional story was built around this controversial fight. I would argue that such critics should watch more Hong Kong films. I immediately saw the story similarities between this film and the Hong Kong movie genre. Anyone who went to this movie expecting an epic should understand that the majority of Hong Kong movies or Kung Fu movies do not appeal to western audiences. Others who saw this film are upset that the character of McKee assumed the role of protagonist. For me, I disagree with that assessment because I felt Lee and Wong were the stars of the film collectively. Also, while seeing the show, I was comparing it to "The Forbidden Kingdom" starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. That film also features an American protagonist so the story of "Birth of the Dragon" was nothing new to me. The film did not make as much money on its opening weekend as was hoped for and there are some good reasons. First and most importantly, as mentioned, a majority critics and moviegoers were indifferent towards the show. Secondly, the overhyped boxing match between Mayweather and McGregor was the Saturday of the film's opening weekend. Finally, Hurricane Harvey closed many theaters in Texas that same weekend.

I think the reason why critics rejected this movie is because they had expectations but did not take into account the genre the film is paying tribute to. To those who were let down by "Birth of the Dragon", I ask you: What movie star is this film about? Next, I ask if you really expected something serious from a film about Bruce Lee? The marketing for this show could have been more honest and I also know that the average moviegoer does not possess my level of my exposure to Asian cinema but despite all this, this film could have been cheesier than it actually was. This is a modern take on a classic Bruce Lee/Hong Kong film and as the film's story progressed, I picked up on that. The movie concludes with Lee desiring to become a legend as opposed to a star. In my opinion, Lee became a legend but only because he died tragically young.

3.5 Stars out of 5