Film

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Donnie Yen returns as martial artist Chen Zhen in occupied Shanghai, fighting Japanese invaders with style and conviction. It's a stylish action-thriller that blends historical occupation with kung fu spectacle, grounded in real colonial-era tensions. For fans of righteous violence wrapped in period detail and charisma.

TMDb rating3.4

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Ip Man2008

Donnie Yen's other iconic martial arts hero role, set during Japanese occupation of China. Similarly balances brutal action with deeper questions about resistance, honor, and what violence costs. The fight choreography is phenomenal.

But If you want pure action without the philosophical weight, this can feel slow between set pieces. The drama occasionally gets melodramatic.

Ip Man poster

Once Upon a Time in China1991

Jet Li as Wong Fei-hung, fighting foreign invasion of China in an earlier era. The same DNA of patriotic action hero, stunning martial arts, and a country finding its footing. A kung fu classic that defined the template.

But The pacing is very 1990s—slower than modern action films. Some comedy touches haven't aged smoothly and can feel jarring against the serious bits.

Once Upon a Time in China poster

The Grandmaster2013

Wong Kar-wai's visually stunning take on kung fu legend Ip Man, with similar themes of martial tradition under threat. Every frame is painterly. The action is balletic and the sadness genuine.

But It's deliberately paced and meditative. If you came for constant fighting, you'll find long stretches of elegance and longing instead. Some plot threads feel unresolved.

The Grandmaster poster

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All About Lily Chou-Chou2001

Where Chen Zhen channels anger into meaningful violence against invaders, this asks what happens to that same rage when there's no clear enemy—how modern alienation breeds the same destructive impulses without purpose.

A Japanese film by Isao Yukisada that uses pop culture and fandom as a lens onto alienation and violence. It's formally inventive—blending narrative, animation, and found footage—and deeply unsettling in ways that linger.

But The violence is sudden and casual, tied to the mundane world rather than heroic action. It's slow, digressive, and emotionally punishing. Not a film that rewards or satisfies.

All About Lily Chou-Chou poster
More like this (7)

SPL: Kill Zone2005

A brutal Hong Kong action thriller with Donnie Yen and Simon Yam as cop and criminal, trading philosophical monologues between fight scenes. Visceral, intelligent, and utterly committed to its moral ambiguity. Raw filmmaking.

But The violence is graphic and degrading, not celebratory. It's a hard watch. Some may find the nihilism exhausting rather than enlightening.

SPL: Kill Zone poster

Bodyguards and Assassins2009

Another period action film set in early 1900s Canton with an ensemble cast. Blends history, personal honor, and intricate fight choreography. Big, messy, human stakes—similar energy to Chen Zhen's world.

But The plot is sprawling and occasionally confusing. Character introductions are rapid-fire, and you have to track many parallel stories at once.

Bodyguards and Assassins poster

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain1983

A modern wuxia film that honors tradition while being visually inventive. Martial arts, historical intrigue, and a moral core. Feels like a contemporary take on what Chen Zhen represents.

But It prioritizes style over clarity sometimes. The plot can feel secondary to the aesthetic, which might frustrate those wanting straightforward storytelling.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain poster

Fearless2006

Jet Li's final martial arts film, playing Huo Yuan Jia, another real martial artist resisting Japanese imperialism. Graceful, mournful, and visually elegant. It's about acceptance as much as defiance.

But The second half shifts toward spiritual resignation. If you want unambiguous triumph and heroism throughout, this will disappoint.

Fearless poster

The Boxer from Shantung1972

An earlier Shaw Brothers film about labor struggle and resistance in occupied China. Less polished than modern action films but rawer in its class anger. The fight choreography is inventive within its constraints.

But The picture quality is dated. The pacing is decidedly leisurely by modern standards, and the English subtitles can be cryptic.

The Boxer from Shantung poster

Martial Arts of Shaolin1986

Jet Li as a shaolin student fighting Manchu oppression. Early-career Li with solid action and a revenge narrative. It's earnest and well-intentioned, with genuine stunt work.

But It's formulaic—the plot follows the expected beats without much surprise. The acting is serviceable rather than memorable, and dubbing issues are noticeable.

Martial Arts of Shaolin poster

In the Mood for Love2000

Both films are set in the aftermath of occupation and displacement, but where Chen Zhen fights for liberation, this explores what people do in the quiet moments after—how trauma and history shape intimacy and silence.

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece, set in 1960s Hong Kong among people displaced by Chinese occupation. It's not action cinema—it's pure visual poetry about longing, restraint, and the ghosts that history leaves behind. Utterly ravishing.

But There is no plot and almost no dialogue. It's purely atmosphere and feeling. If you need narrative momentum and character arcs, you'll find this frustratingly static and oblique.

In the Mood for Love poster

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