In remembrance of the late Bruce Lee, this film is part biopic and part fantasy. This made for an interesting in-depth look into how this late Martial artist legend left a legacy upon the world. Some of this film is accurate to events that happened, and some of it is Hollywood adding in bits here and there to appeal to a more mainstream audience. I personally have great respect for the Lee family; they have been through many things in their lives. As time has passed, even Brandon Lee (Bruce’s Son) has left us as well due to a tragic accident which happened March 31, 1993 on the set of The Crow (1994) which was his last starring performance.
There have been many crazy stories about the late Bruce Lee, everything from him hiding out on a remote island somewhere, to him being frozen in a block of ice. One can only ponder the possibilities people have rumored over time.
Director Rob Cohen certainly did a nice job with this film, I enjoyed everything about it. He has directed other films such as DragonHeart (1996) and The Skulls (2000). Aside from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) he also has another upcoming film titled xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (2011) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Vin Diesel. The screenplay for Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was written by Robert Clouse, John Raffo and director Rob Cohen. The material for this film was based upon the books written by Robert Clouse “Bruce Lee: The Biography” and “Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew” written by Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee’s wife).
The film begins where Bruce is living from his later teen years in Hong Kong which is done in a montage stylish sort of way. Bruce was schooled in the Martial arts early on throughout his childhood. This later helped him deal with different situations including maintaining discipline. In one of the first scenes, you see him first encounter confrontation with a group of sailors harassing a young Chinese woman. You get a first glimpse of his brilliance and unique combat fighting style. From then on you know what to expect from his Fist of Fury (1972). This was one of his 33 known performances on screen. Bruce Lee has also directed and written a few of his own films as well.
What is so impressive and really added to this film was the outstanding performance by Jason Scott Lee who portrays Bruce Lee. I can’t say enough good things about his performance; it really is ashamed he didn’t win an Oscar for this because in my opinion he deserved it. He physically got into shape for the role and really captures the essence and spirit of Bruce Lee. Lauren Holly also delivers a wonderful performance as Linda Lee.
There are more appearances in this by Robert Wagner playing Bill Krieger, Michael Learned plays Vivian Emery, Nancy Kwan plays Gussie Yang, Kay Tong Lim plays Philip Tan, Ric Young plays Bruce’s father, Luoyong Wang plays Yip Man, Sterling Macer Jr. plays Jerome Sprout, Sven-Ole Thorsen plays The Demon, John Cheung plays Johnny Sun, Ong Soo Han plays Luke Sun, Eric Bruskotter plays Joe Henderson, Aki Aleong plays Principal Elder and Chao Li Chi plays the Elder.
Bruce Lee also appears in the television series “The Green Hornet” back in 1966 playing the role of Kato. There is a new film on the way starring Cameron Diaz, Seth Rogen, and Jay Chou with the same working title due out in 2011 based upon the series.
I highly recommend seeing this film sometime, it is one of the better real life stories put on screen over the years. Absolutely fantastic film-making keeping you entertaining throughout the entire length of the film.
The tagline used for this was: “The Mystery. The Life. The Love. The Legend”
