watched Jet Li's Fearless the other night. I've seen a few martial arts flicks here and there but hardly know the genre. years ago saw one in Chinatown, which somehow made the experience more authentic. the plot in that one centered on an invasion of China by Japan. it was alarmingly complete in its annihilation, only one character in the movie survived. armies, villages, royal families: everyone but the hero bought the farm. Fearless began with a prose prologue, something about the West coming to the East. as part of that, Jet fights various matches with Westerners. he fights and humiliates a guy with a lance, one with a sword, and a boxer in separate matches. what I don't care for in action films is the dramatic randomness of the affliction. combatants inflict 18 seemingly similar blows that merely distract the opponent, then one throws the same blow, which is the killer. and furthermore, no one gets tired. this lack of physical basis bothers me. I don't mind the impossible physics that occurs, tho the sweeping angles in which these acts are filmed are what carry the day. after defeating three westerners Jet enters an hour long flashback. flashbacks should last no more than 7 minutes tops in my universe, Coppola and Godfather 2 take note. the principle being that the longer the less flashy. so we go back to Jet as a child. he watches his father compete in the village matches. his father throws what would be the winning blow but holds it before contact. doing this in moral rightness. his opponent not so minded takes the reprieve and boffs Jet's father, who loses. this inspires Jet to fight the son of the winner, who thrashes Jet. Jet vows never to lose again. so he grows to a proud young man and is the young lion of village matches. he tries to goad the village champ into a fight but that fighter is too lofty to deign. but then one of Jet's many hangers on is killed by this Master Chin. Jet seeks hotheaded revenge. cue swirling crashing fight. Jet wins, Master Chin dies. next morning, after drunken victory night, Jet returns homes to find his mother and daughter murdered. he seeks revenge but reaching Master Chin's home finds cowering children and wife. Jet skips revenge. then he learns that Master Chin was defending his wife's honour against the hanger on's blandishments. Jet's dark night of the soul. he goes off on a boat, which sinks, and he's pulled ashore somewhere. befriended by a blind woman, he stays in the village for years. then he finally goes back to his old home to expiate his sins. learned his lesson. and with some effort, the flashback concludes. he has one more opponent to fight, a feller from Japan. I don't know if money's on the line or political power or what but a bad element wants Jet to lose. his opponent is honourable. the 1st round is a tie. Jet is fed bad tea. he's dying. the opponent wants to stop but Jet refuses. Jet's dying. they fight, full tilt. Jet's dying. it looks like Jet's dead then Jet throws a perfect blow, yet holds back. the opponent recognizes the moment and, despite the bad influences, concedes defeat. Jet dies, tho the last scene shows him cavorting in the moonlight with the blind woman. oh I forgot an extra match, in which Jet tangles with a steroided westerner named Hercules. same large person as was Achilles 1st victim in Troy. Jet saves Herc when, in knocking the big feller from the ring, Hercules almost lands on some spikes. honourable Jet.