Audience Member
good actioner but way too long
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
jesse o
I suppose it would be, somewhat, fair to call this the Korean version of Warrior. You know, the American film with Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy playing a pair of brothers who both join an MMA tournament. Granted, while this film is serious, it's not nearly as serious as Warrior was, maybe to a fault. It's also not as good as Warrior was. But the similarities are there, even down to the epic length. I watched this film in two sittings so I would not honestly know whether it was longer than it should've been. It probably was too long for its own good, but breaking it off into two parts probably helped a lot with the pacing and, overall, my enjoyment of it. The film certainly does a good job in making extensive use of flashbacks to show you the path these three classmates took in order to reach the point where they join this Legendary Fighter reality show/tournament. It's not that it's absolutely essential, but it does give you a little bit of backstory onto how Lim, Jae and Sang made it to this point where they have to go on this reality show for varying reasons. Again, it's not like it's absolutely essential, but it helps a lot with character development and getting into this concept and why it would be important for, say, Lim to win the tournament. Or even Sang for that matter. As far as the action sequences go, I wouldn't even qualify as a casual MMA fan, I've never watched a full show from beginning to end. Sometimes I watch clips of certain knockouts on YouTube, but that's it. With that said, I still do like to think that I have some basic knowledge of how MMA works. With that said, I did find the whole action sequences to be a little unrealistic. What I mean by that is the fact that almost every fight scene is a stand-up/boxing/kickboxing battle. MMA, if you've followed it for any period of time, is simply not like that. There's a lot of ground game, whether it is through wrestling or jiu-jitsu, working for submissions, getting in your opponent's guard, etc. This film pretends all of these things do not exist. That's what I mean when I say it's unrealistic. To someone who doesn't have any knowledge, upon watching this film, would conclude that it is a barbaric sport when there is so much more to the sport than just punching your opponents in the face repeatedly. I know that they only focused on stand-up because if they featured wrestling or jiu-jitsu that it would be boring to a casual audience, I don't think that's conjecture on my part. It's plainly obvious to see. With that said, and I was only talking about the lack of realism in ignoring other forms of martial arts in favor for the more entertaining one, I do think the fights themselves are believably put together. They're entertaining at the very least. It's not as hard hitting as some of the scenes in Warrior were, but I found them to be fun to watch. The main narrative arc of Lim overcoming his dark past and reconnecting with his daughter was certainly a good, if cliched, one. There's not so much effort put into Sang's narrative, past him finally standing up to his boss, also a former classmate, after years of being his henchman, so to speak. It's certainly good enough, but there's not a whole lot of time spent on it to truly develop it. There's also this subplot of Lim's trainer/manager that has an incredibly unsatisfying conclusion. Essentially, the manager went on the show to try and get his job back with the National Intelligence Service. He brings it up in almost every scene he appears in. That's all this character has going for him really. So how do they pay this subplot on? Remember that this is something they've spent considerable time on, maybe not a lot, but still a considerate amount. They pay this off by having the producer of the show say that this character, whose name escapes me, called him and thanked him for getting him his job back. Literally. That's it. There's no scene of him going to Lim and celebrating that he got rehired. There's nothing except this throwaway scene in the middle of one of the fights. Talk about anticlimactic and unsatisfying. Not to mention the character disappears after Lim loses his fight against Sang, before the tournament is put together. Talk about lame. The acting is good. I've always thought that Hwang Jung-min, the lead, is a really good actor and he has an every-man, likable quality about him in this movie that makes it incredibly easy to root for him. I think this review has gone on long enough. This isn't gonna win any awards for originality or its 'greatness'. It's really just a good film with good acting and solid action. Nothing to write home about here, but I would recommend it as a Netflix watch and if you have 150 minutes to kill. I do suggest taking a break near the middle of the film, just so the pacing does not become unbearable since the film is so long if you decide to watch it in one sitting. Still, good stuff here.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
aka Legendary Fist stretch too long with so-so MMA fight scenes plus unsatisfactory ending...3/5 stars
While Dante Lam's "Unbeatable" pleased the crowds with better choreograph MMA fight scenes and story that captured audiences heart...4/5 stars
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The poignant social messages of bullying, economic disparity, etc. aren't given the attention needed and focus easily comes in the form offight scene after fight scene.
Instead of driving home what seems like a message worth telling, Fists of Legend in it's very low budget looking fashion, muddies the waters with too many characters, flashbacks, an unbelievable television show, multiple storylines, etc. etc.
Had the film had more focus, you might be able to forgive the silly television show, but there's just too much going on to really sink your teeth into this film and root for any one person.
There are a few decent fight scenes but amateur fighters do tend to lend themselves to amateur fights.
Worth a "rental" if you're looking for some martial arts fare but most people wont find anything of interest here.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
sarfaraz a
Fists of Legend (Jeonseolui Jumeok) South Korean MM sports drama and semi-comedy film. Written by Jang Min-seok and directed by Kang Woo-suk. The film is based 'Legend Punch' by Lee Jong-gyu. Starring Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Jun-sang, Yoon Je-moon, Lee Yo-won, and Jung Woong-in. Film received several nominations but no win at Grand Bell Awards. Film's title refers to the television-program called 'Fists of Legend' which invites the middle-aged men in their 40s to show off their college-days muscles and power.
Three estranged friends from college-days now spending their lives separately and quite miserably - namely Deok-kyu (Hwang Jung-min - playing central role) is a noodle-restaurant owner with his estranged teen daughter who lives with her grandma. Sang-hoon (Yu Jun-sang) is a white-collar executive at a reputable company, where his job includes servitude to his boss. Jae-suk (Yoon Jea-moon) member of gangster group that is one of the most-feared in Seoul.
Tv hostess calls upon Deok-kyu to join the television program 'Fists of Legend'. Deok who was an avid fan of boxing in his college days, and dreamed about going to Olympics - but somehow he had to abandon the dream (explained in the mid); he finds this as an opportunity first to advertise his low-running noodle-restaurant and fund his daughter's studies.
Sang-hoon is manipulated by tv-hostess by influencing his boss to come to fight in the ring. He has no intention of returning to fight, but he has to obey his boss so that he could keep sending money to his son and wife.
Jae-suk life has changed nothing but miserable over the period - but somehow his ego has remained intact and always has had his trust in Deok-kyu to opt for goodness/honesty.
Film also holds flashback stories of three friends, first time meeting, and cementing their friendship - following codes of ethics, but stuck in the whirlpool of deception. How they sent waves of terrors with their fight skills - a record of beating more than 20+ gangster men in their own bar - saving each other from bullies - how some big sharks took their innocent away - how they withhold their principles and morals.
Fists of Legend is one of the great films from South Korea. Some should find its 2hrs33min length quite the limit but for me it arranged the stories, frequent flashbacks and momentum altogether quite beautifully. Acting is superb, the comedy and hilarious scenes deserve praise (of course it was my first time to experience comedy from South Korean cinema - and I am confident about this already). Please go ahead and see this great movie.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is a enjoyable fight movie, with a good plot and some interesting surprises.....
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
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