But when the fights do break out, even when Jackie is actually involved, this isn't the almost cartoonish, balletic violence we see in his other movies. There are several of them pointlessly interspersed throughout the tedious plot development, and one big one at the end that *almost* makes the rest worthwhile. This isn't to say there aren't fight scenes. well, I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say it's incredibly abrupt and surprising. Besides which, most of it simply becomes irrelevant by the second half of the movie, when everything hinges around a straightforward martial-arts-school showdown. Jackie doesn't even start to learn kung fu until the movie is nearly over, for pity's sake! This would be forgivable, I guess, if the resulting plot were at all interesting. A kung fu movie is about kung fu, not lots of boring. The entire first half of the movie is apparently dedicated to the development of the plot. Unfortunately, New Fist of Fury fails even to meet that modest standard. And, of course, his incredible stunts and fight scenes. So, if you're anything like me, you were expecting this movie to be like the rest of Jackie Chan's early career: silly, unrealistic, and largely nonsensical, but fun nevertheless just because of Jackie's sheer force of personality. 1970s kung fu movies have never exactly been known for outstanding (or comprehensible) plot.
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