First things first, the Martial Arts and action in this movie is quite impressive at times, though all in all you won't see anything you haven't seen before in some other MA movie. Dramaturgically, you get what you expect. Nothing fancy, completely predictable... and that is more or less fine by me, as this movie isn't supposed to be another Tiger&Dragon or some similar high quality movie coming out of China to stun the western audience.
However, the thing that really bugs me is the not even subtle propaganda depicted in this movie. I was used to the general degree of Chinese propaganda thanks to Ip Man 1&2 as well as Zero. But this beast puts things to a whole new level. Not only are dialogs kept very simple at most times and we get 'interesting' lines like "See, Chinese are much stronger than Japanese" or "Chinese are real man" and similar ridiculous stuff but generally, throughout the whole movie almost every scene that isn't related to actual fighting literally screams "F**k the Japanese, F**k the white man, China uber alles!" But even that, I could accept at some level.
However, what I can absolutely not accept is the falsification of historical truth we can see in the beginning of the movie. Chinese fighting on the western front in WW1? Are you serious? The Chinese did declare war against Germany, correct. But did they send any troops to any actual battlefield? No! No Chinese troops fought outside of Asia during WW1. Just as a short side note, I think the Chinese film makers mixed up WW1 and 2, given the fact that the supposedly German soldiers in the opening scene had the equipment of a Wehrmacht soldier in the late '30s and not that of a German soldier fighting in WW1. Just take a closer look at the helmets and uniforms they're wearing. But that's the historian inside of me speaking. Also the main protagonist claims two or three times that China is a victory power of WW1. That again, is an outright falsification of historical truth. As a historian I simply cannot accept such outrageous propagandistic behavior by the film makers. Legend of the fist is just way to much polemical propaganda and to few actual fighting.
conclusion: A little above average Martial Arts, dramaturgically slightly below average even for a Martial Arts movie, to this point unseen degree of political propaganda and falsification of history...
1 point out of ten.
However, the thing that really bugs me is the not even subtle propaganda depicted in this movie. I was used to the general degree of Chinese propaganda thanks to Ip Man 1&2 as well as Zero. But this beast puts things to a whole new level. Not only are dialogs kept very simple at most times and we get 'interesting' lines like "See, Chinese are much stronger than Japanese" or "Chinese are real man" and similar ridiculous stuff but generally, throughout the whole movie almost every scene that isn't related to actual fighting literally screams "F**k the Japanese, F**k the white man, China uber alles!" But even that, I could accept at some level.
However, what I can absolutely not accept is the falsification of historical truth we can see in the beginning of the movie. Chinese fighting on the western front in WW1? Are you serious? The Chinese did declare war against Germany, correct. But did they send any troops to any actual battlefield? No! No Chinese troops fought outside of Asia during WW1. Just as a short side note, I think the Chinese film makers mixed up WW1 and 2, given the fact that the supposedly German soldiers in the opening scene had the equipment of a Wehrmacht soldier in the late '30s and not that of a German soldier fighting in WW1. Just take a closer look at the helmets and uniforms they're wearing. But that's the historian inside of me speaking. Also the main protagonist claims two or three times that China is a victory power of WW1. That again, is an outright falsification of historical truth. As a historian I simply cannot accept such outrageous propagandistic behavior by the film makers. Legend of the fist is just way to much polemical propaganda and to few actual fighting.
conclusion: A little above average Martial Arts, dramaturgically slightly below average even for a Martial Arts movie, to this point unseen degree of political propaganda and falsification of history...
1 point out of ten.