Enter the Dragon (1973)

 

Before today, the only Bruce Lee movie I had watched was The Way of the Dragon (1972), which I did not enjoy as much as the later kung fu movies from the 1980s and never went back to check out the rest of his filmography. However, one can outrun one's responsibilities as a kung fu movie fan for only 20 years. So here we are. 

Although the first 45 minutes had very little action, excluding a short one with Angela Mao (who could really fight), and felt slow and cheap, the hour after that became increasingly tense and even riveting. Well, OK, I have forgotten the opening fight between Lee and a very young Sammo Hung with nothing on but bikini shorts and gloves, which is supposed to be the original inspiration for MMA.

While one could argue that Shih Kien's knife claw was derivative of the 1960s 007 franchise, the final battle in the mirror room was thoroughly iconic, even if not necessarily the best vehicle to show off Lee's fight choreography.

My original impression holds true. Lee's choreography is unlike anything else before and since, despite his enormous popularity, which seems inexplicable. Surely people have tried to imitate his style but ... something prevents them from succeeding. 

I never worry about the stuntmen or costars' health and safety as much as I do watching Lee's movies, even though in reality Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung were probably more dangerous to work with. Somehow Lee's fight scenes just seem more brutal and vicious, largely because of the speed of his movement. At some point, Hong Kong movies began to shoot in 22 frames, giving the fight scenes a faster look, but that was later and did not have the same effect as truly fast hits. One can tell Lee's fight scenes were shot at regular speed, and all his movements are natural ... except the kick or the punch. They are not only unnaturally fast but at least appear to be incredibly heavy and powerful, which never fail to startle me. I still cannot think of any actor who could do it with the same visceral impact, no matter how good (or better) they are in other ways.

Lee's fight choreography is not my favorite type, purely from an entertainment point of view. When he worked on the first movie after returning to Hong Kong in 1970, the director and cinematographer found his moves unshootable. He wouldn't do the conventional long takes and rehearsals and just did one or two flashing kicks to end each fight. The scenes were too short and unwatchable. The director begged him to slow down and put on some more moves. Over time he modified his style for the benefit of the camera. And yet still there are too many kicks and punches that 1, do not have enough visual variety and 2, too fast to see clearly. I also prefer the sense of safety and assurance infused in Chan's movies. Chan hardly ever kills anyone, not even the baddest baddies. 

Nevertheless, the fight scenes in Enter the Dragon that involved Lee, which were choreographed by Lee himself, contained some rather intricate (but still minimalist) moves that I had to rewind a couple of times to see clearly. He could have made them more audience friendly if he had wanted to, but he seemed more interested in conveying the speed and the deadliness with as much realism as possible. Now I have to admit his style is thrilling, but it still makes me somewhat uneasy. Even the more violent and bloodier modern action movies (see Evans, Garrett) cannot quite achieve the same sense of lethality as he did with bare hands (and feet).