Born to Defense was the fourth movie Jet Li starred in, and the first one he directed. It's his first movie after the Shaolin Temple trilogy which rocketed him into instant fame. This movie is pretty awesome, I must say. Jet did a good job directing, and it's sad he hasn't directed more movies. I kind of like his directing preferences.
The main reason people will probably hate this movie is because of it's dark atmosphere. There are hardly any happy moments in the film, and the tone is constantly kept serious. However, I think the dark tone is perfect for the setting of the movie. The movie is about Jet returning home to China after World War 2 and finding out the American sailors are oppressing his home and his people. The plot was carried out well, as were the subplots.
Due to the injuries Jet received while filming, this was the last movie where he did pretty much all of his own stunts. It's also one of the last movies where Jet pulls out all of the stops in his fight scenes. He pulled off a good combo of kick-boxing, Kungfu, and grappling. There's also plenty of super flashy and aerobatic kicks in this movie. The scene in the final fight where Jet uses the chain in a WuShu type of technique could easily be a classic part of Jet's best action scenes. Action of this caliber and quality would not be seen by Jet again for about eight years until he made Fist of Legend. The majority of the fights are one-on-one, and they involve American sailors. One thing Jet Li fans may dislike about the action though is that Jet is not invincible at all. He receives several beatings in a lot of his fights.
Personally, I love this movie, but I can see why so many have hated it. This is one of those love or hate it type movies. I give it a 10/10. I highly recommend it to Jet Li fans or action fans.
The main reason people will probably hate this movie is because of it's dark atmosphere. There are hardly any happy moments in the film, and the tone is constantly kept serious. However, I think the dark tone is perfect for the setting of the movie. The movie is about Jet returning home to China after World War 2 and finding out the American sailors are oppressing his home and his people. The plot was carried out well, as were the subplots.
Due to the injuries Jet received while filming, this was the last movie where he did pretty much all of his own stunts. It's also one of the last movies where Jet pulls out all of the stops in his fight scenes. He pulled off a good combo of kick-boxing, Kungfu, and grappling. There's also plenty of super flashy and aerobatic kicks in this movie. The scene in the final fight where Jet uses the chain in a WuShu type of technique could easily be a classic part of Jet's best action scenes. Action of this caliber and quality would not be seen by Jet again for about eight years until he made Fist of Legend. The majority of the fights are one-on-one, and they involve American sailors. One thing Jet Li fans may dislike about the action though is that Jet is not invincible at all. He receives several beatings in a lot of his fights.
Personally, I love this movie, but I can see why so many have hated it. This is one of those love or hate it type movies. I give it a 10/10. I highly recommend it to Jet Li fans or action fans.