Ye xing xia Chen Zhen 2010

Mike Hale, New York Times: It's generally fun to watch Mr. Yen move and not much fun to watch him act, and "Legend of the Fist" is no exception. Read more

Nick Schager, Time Out: Legend of the Fist primarily functions as a rah-rah nationalist fable, and other than the sleek choreography during a WWI prelude and a ferocious finale, it's largely devoid of creative combat. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: There's too much lustrous-hued loitering and too few martial-arts set pieces. This isn't another disposable B movie, though. Read more

Doug Knoop, Seattle Times: It's all a big cinematic jumble and, quite frankly, an expensive-looking mess. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: For those who wished Ang Lee's 2007 historical romance Lust, Caution was instead Lust, Caution, Ass-Kicking, here's some good news. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: Although "Legend of the Fist" is slick, stylish and assured, it is also bloated and hollow, and seemingly without much sense of what actually is working. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Using not one but two world wars as backdrops, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen is an exhilarating kung fu romp. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: The result is disappointing. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Anyone who's seen a martial-arts picture expects a certain amount of thumb-twiddling between the big numbers, but director Andrew Lau's handling of exposition is markedly poor. Read more