Wu Xia

2011

1h 55m

Action

Crime

Drama

List

85%

27 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A martial arts master with a dark past wants to start a new and tranquil life. His tranquility is wrecked when a determined detective and his former master track him down.

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Sean D

Perfect mix of thriller , mystery and martial arts. This film really exceeded my expectations . The writing and execution is spot on. Ide definitely say it's up there with Donnie Yens best films. There's an older guy at my work who i would talk to about films. And i borrowed him a few with wuxia. And told him not to be put off by the martial arts and subtitles as its a really great movie. And I didn't think he'd actually watch it but he did. And he couldn't stop raving about it the next time I saw him. He didn't even mention the others lol

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Overall very well done martial arts movie, great cinematography scenes and breakdown of info with a compelling story. However, the decision to bring in the has-been veterans and lack of attention to the script just was a tad too much. Even if I didn't know Jimmy Wang, his acting was horrific. The delivery was almost to the point I wonder if he was senile or just lost his marbles. Action wise, Jimmy and Kara tmight as well have acted as the village elders. It's is a martial arts movie, stop bringing in senior citizens if you insist they physically still gotta pretend like their ability to do action is anywhere near watchable. Would have been better if they actually use some CG beam or something like that.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What an amazing movie this was. Part martial arts, part thriller, each chapter adding another layer as the story develops. There are wonderful performances from Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro as their own journeys to the present are explained before an amazingly vivid final section. The action, used sparingly, is outstanding and added to the sublime photography we get a film that asks a lot of questions and leaves quite an impression.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's a really interesting movie. I couldn't breathe during the forest scene. I've never been so scared of Donnie Yen. That intensity was insane. So my problem with this movie is how the detective is just suddenly ok with Donnie Yen's character at the end. I still don't understand why he would help him.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great movie! I can't believe I didn't hear about it till now. An awesome mix of fight scenes sprinkled with old school film noir sensibilities. I really enjoyed it. Good concept, good execution.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good acion sequences and a nice story. This is a kung fu film that almost anyone can watch as it's not that ridiculous. Good quality acting, good script and a decent sense of grittyness that many in the genre lack -i.e not eveyone is a beautiful, elegant personality. The detective character was a little odd, a good inclusion but cant help but feel that someone must have seen Sherlock Holmes and thought "yes lets put that in". Liu was too one-dimensional for the rest of the film, We see the villains change and the Doctor even change his heart however the same can't be said for the protagonist. I couldn't feel for a stone-faced babyface.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Director

Donnie Yen

Liu Jin-Xi

Takeshi Kaneshiro

Detective Xu Bai-Jiu

Kara Wai

The Master's wife

Wei Tang

Ah Yu

Jimmy Wang Yu

The Master

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

There are good action sequences but it has been ham-fistedly cut for UK distribution.

Rated: 2/5

May 3, 2013

Full Review

Mike McCahill

Guardian

Yen again proves one of the few martial artists equally adept with subtler emotional beats.

Rated: 3/5

May 2, 2013

Full Review

Chris Blohm

Little White Lies

Dragon roars.

Rated: 3/5

May 2, 2013

Full Review

Katie Smith-Wong

Flick Feast

Action-packed and beautifully choreographed, Dragon is an immensely enjoyable film with Donnie Yen in a brilliant lead performance.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 21, 2019

Full Review

Stefan Pape

CineVue

This is no pastiche, and not as exemplary of the wuxia genre... Instead this feels as though Chan is doing something different, and isn't attempting to appeal to a US market quite so much, avoiding the patent conventions of the genre.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 25, 2019

Full Review

Daniel Kasman

MUBI

...Chan's film is a glut, casting a wide, glossy net through its mash-up of martial arts, detective story, period film, parental-domestic drama, and philosophical inquiry.

Nov 16, 2017

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Synopsis

A martial arts master with a dark past wants to start a new and tranquil life. His tranquility is wrecked when a determined detective and his former master track him down.

Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Screenwriter: Oi Wah Lam
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 24, 2019
Runtime: 1h 55m