Review of The Brave Lion
Two Japanese prisoners are sent to manage a Chinese labor camp during World War
II. The workers begin to revolt when the new Japanese managers push them too
far. Wei Chi-Wan, Wei Tze Yung and Lee Hzu star in this movie, directed by Ng Yu
Chen, also better well known as John Woo.
The movie exemplifies an anti-Japanese feeling commonly apparent in Chinese
films. During the film one of the bad guys actually becomes a good guy, although
it should be noted that he is killed before the end of the movie. One of the
best things about this movie is that it doesn’t tend to be as incoherent as many
of the other martial arts films out there but like most martial arts films the
standard bad editing and direction is present along with plenty of out of focus
photography shots. If you happen to like Wood as a director, this is a good
movie to see, especially if you like his action sequences; which tend to be
quite extraordinary in this movie.