Once Upon a Time in China

The beginning of a new martial arts series, Once Upon a Time in China, takes an old character of Chinese legend and gives him a new audience.  Wong Fei-Hung is an honorable man who is left with the task of training a militia and healing the people who come to him for help.  He is the white hatted sheriff of his domain.  But when this story takes place the Brits and the Americans are pushing their way into China to take what they can get and lure people to the new world with streets paved in gold.  There is so much action, led by a baby Jet Li in his second film.  There is a little romance, and the period costumes and sets are well worth it.  The Criterion disc has great interviews with the director and actors, including Jet Li.  A sweeping epic with many sequels if you want to dive in.

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