Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Running at 128 minutes, this movie had a tendency to drag on and become slow-paced at times. And that made it somewhat difficult to sit through the entire movie and keep the interest and attention on the screen.The story is the tale of legendary Wong Fei Hung (played by Jet Li) in a time where China is under Imperial rule.The action sequences in "Once Upon a Time in China" (aka "Wong Fei Hung") were quite good and there is a lot of showcasing of martial arts skills. But the story was a bit too strained and forced onto a period of over two hours.Despite most of the wardrobe was quite simple, then it worked out quite well, and came off as believable. Well, aside from twice where shoes from the 20th Century could be seen. The first was where the Western priest scaled a wooden fence, and the second was where the Chinese doctor with buck teeth went down a ladder on a ship.Hopefully parts two and three have more to offer. At least they are not as long as the first movie.While "Once Upon a Time in China" was entertaining, it just wasn't extraordinary.

Review: I quite enjoyed the first movie in this massive franchise. Its good to finally see a Jet Li film were there not flying in the air and fighting on strings. Anyway, the movie is basically about Americans trying to take over China. Some of the gangs buy into the Americans policies and attack the people that are trying to keep China the same. Its quite a simple storyline, but there are other aspects to the story, like the down and out fighter who wants to fight Jet Li so he can prove that he is the best and open his own fighting school. The fighting scenes were quite impressive and the different disciples who are working for Jet Li, we're quite funny. Aunt Yee, who was the lady character, did become annoying after a while but the showdown at the end was brilliant, mainly because it reminded me of the old Kung Fu movies and the ladder work was amazing. Anyway, the film does seem a bit long but it's an enjoyable movie which is worth a watch. Enjoyable!Round-Up: You can tell that this film had quite a big budget because of the epic scenes but it still looks unAmericanised. Personally, I think that there is a hidden message behind the movie, from a Chinese point of view, which is why this franchise was so big overseas. The added wit to the script made the movie original and interesting but it's the action that's second to none. I just hope that the rest of the movies in this franchise, are in the same calibre as this one. Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: HK$30millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their Jet Li movies about a doctor trying to stop China from becoming Americanised. 6/10

I think this is both troubling as a film and revealing of Chinese character. As a standalone, it is I suppose fairly enjoyable, the cinematography is nice, the story long but intimate in spots, the fights some of them amazing. But, this is not just a standalone, it has a rich context - the protagonist is a popular folk hero, the times of foreign oppression and inept administration it depicts were real and left punishing scars in the Chinese soul.Something else bothers though. As a student of the Chinese model, I encounter this elsewhere, I believe it does a lot of bad, and turns away as many people as it brings in. What they Chinese do usually has both hard and soft aspects, Confucius and Tao would be on opposite ends of this, kung fu and meditation. When Western people are exposed to it, say with a film like this, unwittingly we register it as one picture. It endears, it's a scented romance. What isn't so easy to appreciate though is that to get that single harmonious picture the Chinese obsessively flatten their multifaceted experience, this is evident in the continuous reinvention, passionately undertaken, of both their political and martial arts narratives, and of course their penchant for opera. Naturally, corners have to be cut in the name of a tidy narrative.And this carries over in (cinematically) packaging these things in ways that eliminate subtler levels in what they do. Because the harmonizing effort is forcible, it can't help but take out of these things their soft wind, which is their real power in both the Taoist and creative sense. If you accept as I do that wisdom is tolerance and capacity for cognitive dissonance, this artificial harmony wherever encountered dumbs us down.In the film, you have the good sifu vs evil sifu, the good-natured but bumbling disciples, the evil street gang, the cruel army bureaucrat and foreign officials - all of them 'hard' stereotypes from the Boxer era, acted in a hard (external) manner. And I believe the point at some stage was to contrast soft 'chi' based awareness in the Jet Li character with hard 'iron body' kung fu in the rival master as the difference in karmas they set in motion. This has been flattened in favor of more or less the same kung fu.So hard politics, hard acting (mirrored in the opera stage and two 'fake' actors), hard martial arts in the service of mythmaking. Is there anything soft here, internal? The woman. She has come back from the West, straddles both worlds. She has come back with a camera, which she uses to snap pictures.Her eye is 'soft', stills motion, caresses the shadow of the one she loves. Too bad they didn't make more room for this, using it to cultivate dissonance, reflection, innate capacities for clarity and beauty, which could then transfer over to the fights.The music is marvelous though. And the camera glides as though on wires of its own.

When most people thinks of martial arts movies, the immediate thought will be either a Bruce Lee film, or one of his countless imitations that filled the screen through the 70s and part of the 80s. And while it's true that some great films were made in those years, it's also sadly true that most were of average quality, due not only to their low-budget, but also to the fact that most were cut and awfully dubbed when shipped overseas. Being a patriot and a nostalgic, Hong Kong's legendary director Hark Tsui decided to resurrect the martial arts genre in the 90s, using one of the most respected Chinese national heroes: Wong Fei Hung. Hark's retelling of the life and times of the legendary healer and martial artist became one of the best epic stories ever filmed, the series of films known in America as "Once Upon a Time in China".In this first chapter of the saga, we are introduced to Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) and his China, a land who by the late 19th Century is discovering the Western civilizations and is forced to open to the world. Made leader of a team of militia warriors, Wong Fei Hung discovers that a group of Americans are kidnapping women to send to America as prostitutes. To make things worse, another Kung-Fu master, "Iron Robe" Yim (Yee Kwan Yan), arrives to town and is decided to defeat Wong Fei Hung to prove his martial arts are better. Soon the skilled warrior Wong Fei hung will experience first hand the pros and the cons of the clash of cultures his people and the newly arrived Westerners.Written by Hark himself and his usual team of collaborators, the movie is at first sight an overtly nationalistic story of patriotism and Chinese pride, however, "Wong Fei Hung" is not only about China, as it's more about changes and adaptation than about traditionalism. Through the character of Wong Fei Hung, we see a man that is at the same time intrigued and repulsed by changes, but that has to make up his mind about if he wants to be the leader and the hero his people needs. Sure, at its core it is a tale of the adventures of China's most representative hero, but the way the story is written make the story a more complex and interesting one. Literally, a story that transcends its own film genre."Wong Fei Hung" showcases Hark at his best, with his defined style (influenced by comic books and the cinema of his youth) reaching its full potential and enough creative freedom to make whatever he desired. Hark delivers a film that can not only be seen as another martial arts film, but also as the epic journey of a hero facing his most difficult challenge: an inner battle with himself. With amazingly choreographed scenes and a great vision for cinematography (by a great team lead by Arthur Wong and David Chung), Hark creates an epic film on the level of Sergio Leone or John Ford. "Wong Fei Hung" is a film that surely proves that Hark Tsui is more than a mere director of action films, and that the films he did in the U.S. ("Double Team" and "Knock Off") are not really a display of his talent.Jet Li excels at playing Wong Fei Hung (one of the most portrayed character in movie history), in a performance that captures the essence of the film without making it over the top. While not exactly faithful to the real Wong Fei Hung's fighting style, Jet Li's skills showcase his enormous talent and ability as a fighter and choreographer and every move of his is perfect. Rosamund Kwan plays Siu Qun, a young woman who falls in love with Wong Fei Hung, but only creates more confusion as while not blood-related, she is technically her Aunt (he calls her Aunt 13th). She adds good humor to the film, and makes a great supporting actress to Jet Li.Humor is indeed an important characteristic of the movie, and Biao Yuen (who surprisingly, has little chance to show his fighting skills), Jacky Cheung and Kent Cheng make great comedic performances. While not exactly a perfect cast, it's safe to say that overall they give a good job, although the dubbing for the Westerners is remarkably bad. "Wong Fei Hung" is probably one of Hark's best films, and it's hard to find a flaw in it, as it's also one of the best martial arts films ever made. Sure, it may feel overlong at times, but the film takes advantage of its runtime as almost every detail is of importance and very few scenes feel unnecessary."Once Upon a Time in China", or "Wong Fei Hung", is a must-see for every fan of martial arts films, and a very recommended movie to those who dislike them. The way it transcends its own genre has proved to be influential now after the releases of "Wo Hun Cang Long" ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and "Ying Xiong" ("Hero"), two films that reinvigorated the old Wu Xia genre in the same way this movie did for the martial arts genre. After this, Hark found a difficult time in the U.S. (and the flops of his two films done there), but what he did in this film (and its first sequel) remains an accomplishment rarely equaled. 8/10