BIRTH OF THE DRAGON. (2017) DIRECTED BY GEORGE NOLFI. WRITTEN BY STEPHEN J. RIVELE AND CHRISTOPHER WILKINSON. STARRING PHILIP NG, XIA YU AND BILLY MAGNUSSEN. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
'You only have one limitation... You.'
'Kung fu does not exist in the fists. It exists in the soul.'
'Kung fu is not a way of fighting. It's a way of living and thinking.'
'You fight from ambition and pride. You do not fight from your soul.'
'After this, kung fu is gonna be bigger than hula-hoops, bigger than Coca-Cola, and I'm gonna be the CEO.'
'If you know yourself and you know your opponent, you need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles.'
This film could not be cooler. Even if it put on a leather biker jacket and a pair of mirrored sunglasses and started smoking Lucky Strikes, it simply could not be one iota cooler, because it's cool to the max as it is, lol. It's so cool it should be packed in ice.
It's a highly enjoyable and entertaining film and while I was watching it, I ignored three phone calls, a slew of texts and a pizza delivery, and I never ignore pizza. It's true, you can ask anyone who knows me. I gave a battered sausage the cold shoulder once, but I never, ever ignore pizza.
Okay, so Bruce Lee is in San Francisco and he's making a name in kung fu for himself, with his classes and his devoted followers. He's even making a movie, although ENTER THE DRAGON is still a few years away yet, and he's being considered for a television show as well. Things are on the up-and-up for him, which is just as well as he's deeply ambitious and wants the very best for himself.
Into his life comes Wong Jack Man, fresh off the boat from China and looking to atone for personal sins. Wong takes a small apartment and a job washing dishes in a restaurant where a cousin of his works, and does his gloriously graceful 'sunset exercises' in full view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in the light of a dying sun. Sigh. How lovely.
A student of Bruce Lee's, a young American fella called Steve McKee, is curious about Wong Jack Man and goes out of his way to get to know him. He's a nice quiet likeable chap, is Wong, and the two men become master and student, much to Lee's annoyance and even jealousy.
There's no denying that the handsome, talented Lee has a massive ego in this film. He thinks that Wong has come to America specifically to spy on him because he disapproves of Lee's teaching kung fu to 'whites' and Westerners.
Certainly Wong thinks that kung fu was 'born amongst the Chinese people. It belongs to the Chinese people.' After all, Wong reasons, countries don't share atomic secrets, do they, so why should they share ancient arts like kung fu?
But, contrary to what Lee thinks, Wong's reason for coming to America is genuinely to 'humble himself in order to restore the balance in his soul,' and is nothing to do with Lee at all. Try telling Bruce Lee that, though!
Bruce Lee is extremely antsy about Wong's presence in 'his' city. He tells Steve McKee to arrange a fight between himself and Wong, but Wong's not interested. He's up to his elbows in the Fairy Liquid at the restaurant and he's just not interested.
Lee continues to fume and think that Wong is angry with him for bringing the ancient art of kung fu to the West. He thinks that Wong 'wants to keep it (kung fu) bottled up in the monasteries of China.' While Lee is cooling his heels, some rather frightening stuff is happening elsewhere...
Steve McKee is in love with a beautiful Chinese girl called Xiulan who was brought to America under false pretences by the Triads, and is now being held against her will in a Chinese restaurant owned by the tough-as-nails Auntie Blossom.
It could be worse for Xiulan, Auntie Blossom warns her. With Xiulan's extraordinary looks, she could easily be put to work in one of Auntie's brothels instead of in the restaurant. The fact that this is a film is probably the only reason why she isn't. She's a proper little stunner, she is.
Steve miraculously gets to arrange that fight in the end between Lee and Wong because, if the two kung fu legends fight and people can place bets on it, Auntie Blossom will release Xiulan and the other prostitutes. It's a bit unbelievable, but this is what happens. In the film anyway, I don't know about real life. This is a fictionalised version of events, remember?
The fight will take place in a deserted warehouse (where else, lol) and there will be no fewer than a handful of witnesses. Whoever wins, Auntie Blossom and her cronies will cash in. The rumble in the (urban) jungle is on. Will the two lads who have so much to learn from each other actually swallow their pride- and I mean, really swallow it- and do so...?
The fighting in this film is magnificent. Choreographed as meticulously as any ballet, the two lads, whether grappling with each other or the burly Triad pimps, bring the house down with their fantastic, must-be-seen-to-be-believed air-kicks and air-chops and whatnot.
There isn't a single dull moment in the whole film. Armies of opponents are brought low by kung fu, although if a single one of them had only thought to pull out a gun or a knife... Well, apparently the Chinese Mafia of the day preferred to go gun-and-knife-free, lol, so as not to have an unfair advantage over any kung fu-practising intruders who happened by. Yeah, that must be it alright...
'Wong's a saint. I'm the street. Never bet against the street.'
'His attitude is irreverent and his style is inadequate.'
Xiulan to Auntie Blossom: 'You are still a bi nu (slave). A bi nu in silk, maybe, but your soul belongs to others.'
Auntie Blossom to Xiulan: 'You better hope I get my winner, or your BODY will belong to others.' I'd say that's a bloody big zing on Xiulan, wouldn't you guys?
'This is one scene you don't see in the chop-sockies, the one where the kung fu cats get their heads blown off.'
'You know how water takes the shape of anything you put it in, but it still stays strong and pure? That's gonna be my style (from now on).'
'Kung fu must be given to the world. Bruce Lee can do that. And if he doesn't, I may have to come back and kick his ass again.'
BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is available to buy now on DIGITAL HD from ALTITUDE DISTRIBUTION. It will be available to buy on DVD and Blu-Ray from June 4th, 2018.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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