Tuesday, August 29, 2017
MOVIE IN REVIEW: BIRTH OF THE DRAGON
I wasted 89 minutes of my life watching this stupid movie.
For anyone with even the slightest admiration of the great martial artist Bruce Lee, this movie will piss you off. His daughter, and former students and friends that knew him, have all gone on record and criticized this piece of Hollywood nonsense.
Bruce Lee is portrayed as an arrogant and thuggish bully, whose only goal is teaching his students how to properly brawl in street fights. Lee ridicules everyone, including his own students and other martial artists; has a vast paranoia bordering on psychosis; and seems incapable of logical thought. His paranoia leads him to the fight with Wong Jack Man, and he barely manages to get out alive. He later teams up with Wong to save a girl, and the two of them take down the entirety of the local Chinese criminal syndicate.
Nothing in this whole film has even the remotest connection to reality. Lee was a cultured, polite, well educated, and highly intelligent man. His students loved and respected him, and he in return respected them. He had good relations with all of his fellow martial artists, and he did NOT engage in random street fights.
Do yourself a favor and don't watch this movie.
Here is a link to Lee's Wikipedia page, for anyone interested in learning about the great master.