Bruce Lee We Miss You

Rating:
Summary: Movies such as this really make me miss the real Bruce Lee
Review: The spate of "Bruce Lee" movies released after the one and only legend's death can get confusing to anyone on the outside looking in. The important thing to know, of course, is that the real Bruce Lee does not appear in any of them. Bruce Lee We Miss You stars Bruce Li, who is not to be confused with the other (and in my opinion much better) pseudo-Dragon Bruce Le, even though Li's name appears on the credits here as Lei Hsiao Lung (and, if that's not confusing enough, I don't think even this is his real name). Both actors changed their names to Bruce Le and Bruce Li, respectively, after the real Bruce Lee's death; it's called exploitation, people. Still, even these movies offer some entertainment value, despite the fact that Bruce Lee's skill pretty much forever spoiled my enjoyment of any lesser man's martial arts skills.

This particular film walks a fine line because it dares make Bruce Lee's death a cog in its rather rickety story machine. Bruce Le plays a guy named Stone, a martial arts teacher and big fan of the real Bruce Lee; when he finds out that his hero has just died, he goes into a drunken tailspin, during which he is visited by the spirit of Bruce Lee and wakes up determined to learn the truth about Lee's death. He goes to the temple to seek advice and wisdom, is tested by four martial artist monks, and has another vision of Bruce Lee during meditation. He then sets out to find Betty Tin, in whose apartment Bruce Lee died, and there is one moment in which Betty almost swoons thinking that Stone is actually Bruce Lee. This is important for later on; even though I look more like Bruce Lee than Bruce Li does, his character is supposedly a dead ringer for the legend. Anyway, Stone soon finds himself tailed by some guys, gets in some fights, gets his brother in some fights, you get the idea. The bad guys are scared he will find out too much, even though it's never clear what these people have to do with Lee's death and Stone is by no means a natural born detective.

The movie is going along pretty well until two-thirds of the way in; suddenly, the whole thing becomes quite laughable - I won't reveal how this comes about, though, as you have to see it for yourself. The most ridiculous scene of all, though, involves a flashback via Betty of Bruce Lee's death. Lee arrives at Betty's apartment, shedding his coat and shirt to reveal a nasty bruise on his abdomen, and roils around in pain for several minutes; basically, it appears as if he is being thrashed by an invisible opponent, and I must say that this Bruce Lee fan was not overly amused by the sight of "Bruce Lee" throwing himself all over the bed in such a ridiculous fashion.

The ending of this film leaves something to be desired, mainly because the plot point of learning the truth about Lee's death falls by the wayside a little earlier in the film. I must repeat myself here and say that Bruce Li looks nothing like Bruce Lee, and his martial arts prowess is decidedly below that of the Dragon. There are plenty of fights in this film, but they all just look staged; there is no fluidity or sense of reality to them at all, really. Worst of all, the sight and sound of the fights often go their separate ways; you might, for example, hear a guy being rabbit punched in the gut a couple of seconds after he has already hit the ground. If it's martial arts you want, though, you've got a lot of material (albeit of a mediocre quality) to entertain yourself with here. Just don't expect to see or learn anything about the real Bruce Lee in this film; Bruce Lee fanatics may even find this particular film a bit offensive.

Rating:
Summary: Movies such as this really make me miss the real Bruce Lee
Review: The spate of "Bruce Lee" movies released after the one and only legend's death can get confusing to anyone on the outside looking in. The important thing to know, of course, is that the real Bruce Lee does not appear in any of them. Bruce Lee We Miss You stars Bruce Li, who is not to be confused with the other (and in my opinion much better) pseudo-Dragon Bruce Le, even though Li's name appears on the credits here as Lei Hsiao Lung (and, if that's not confusing enough, I don't think even this is his real name). Both actors changed their names to Bruce Le and Bruce Li, respectively, after the real Bruce Lee's death; it's called exploitation, people. Still, even these movies offer some entertainment value, despite the fact that Bruce Lee's skill pretty much forever spoiled my enjoyment of any lesser man's martial arts skills.

This particular film walks a fine line because it dares make Bruce Lee's death a cog in its rather rickety story machine. Bruce Le plays a guy named Stone, a martial arts teacher and big fan of the real Bruce Lee; when he finds out that his hero has just died, he goes into a drunken tailspin, during which he is visited by the spirit of Bruce Lee and wakes up determined to learn the truth about Lee's death. He goes to the temple to seek advice and wisdom, is tested by four martial artist monks, and has another vision of Bruce Lee during meditation. He then sets out to find Betty Tin, in whose apartment Bruce Lee died, and there is one moment in which Betty almost swoons thinking that Stone is actually Bruce Lee. This is important for later on; even though I look more like Bruce Lee than Bruce Li does, his character is supposedly a dead ringer for the legend. Anyway, Stone soon finds himself tailed by some guys, gets in some fights, gets his brother in some fights, you get the idea. The bad guys are scared he will find out too much, even though it's never clear what these people have to do with Lee's death and Stone is by no means a natural born detective.

The movie is going along pretty well until two-thirds of the way in; suddenly, the whole thing becomes quite laughable - I won't reveal how this comes about, though, as you have to see it for yourself. The most ridiculous scene of all, though, involves a flashback via Betty of Bruce Lee's death. Lee arrives at Betty's apartment, shedding his coat and shirt to reveal a nasty bruise on his abdomen, and roils around in pain for several minutes; basically, it appears as if he is being thrashed by an invisible opponent, and I must say that this Bruce Lee fan was not overly amused by the sight of "Bruce Lee" throwing himself all over the bed in such a ridiculous fashion.

The ending of this film leaves something to be desired, mainly because the plot point of learning the truth about Lee's death falls by the wayside a little earlier in the film. I must repeat myself here and say that Bruce Li looks nothing like Bruce Lee, and his martial arts prowess is decidedly below that of the Dragon. There are plenty of fights in this film, but they all just look staged; there is no fluidity or sense of reality to them at all, really. Worst of all, the sight and sound of the fights often go their separate ways; you might, for example, hear a guy being rabbit punched in the gut a couple of seconds after he has already hit the ground. If it's martial arts you want, though, you've got a lot of material (albeit of a mediocre quality) to entertain yourself with here. Just don't expect to see or learn anything about the real Bruce Lee in this film; Bruce Lee fanatics may even find this particular film a bit offensive.