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Based on the true story of a popular martial art champion — do you get the mise-en-abime here? — this journey is less conceived as a historical biopic than as a succession of fights and tournaments, which fall into Bruce Lee — or Jean-Claude Van Damme — territory. I must admit I've never been a fan of Jet Li (who lacks potent charisma), but the guy certainly has spectacular skills. Unfortunately, these skills are not often exploited here and I got quickly bored watching a series of redundant fights. Built on the premise of more violence, this unrated cut of Jet Li's Fearless offers one great moment of chaos, the centerpiece fight between Li and his nemesis, the rest of the movie looking surprisingly tame. More interesting is the dark anti-hero angle, which is rarely seen in this genre, the lines between vengeance and sadism crossing paths, in the same way Clint Eastwood chose to close a chapter on his gun slinging character in Unforgiven. Unfortunately Jet Li isn't of Eastwood's caliber, and Fearless remains no more than a forgivable entry in the martial art actor's filmography.
 
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