Once Upon A Time In China is a good and ambitious movie with generally good performances. However, it also has boring parts and is, I think, generally a bit overrated. I rate this movie a 7 out of 10, and I have to say it is not as good as, say, Last Hero In China, or even Fong Sai Yuk.
I am certainly a big fan of Wong Fei Hung (not to mention Jet Li and Yuen Biao!), but the problem with this movie is that it tries to be both a history movie and an action movie, and because of the disturbing influence of each of these elements upon the other, it doesn't quite succeed in being either one or the other. There isn't enough kung fu in it to be a really good kung fu movie, and the history is not quite treated seriously enough for it to be a really good history movie.
I'd recommend watching Tai Chi II (a.k.a. Tai Chi Boxer, from 1996) for a movie that extremely successfully blends humor, history and brilliant kung fu. It is far superior to this one.
I am certainly a big fan of Wong Fei Hung (not to mention Jet Li and Yuen Biao!), but the problem with this movie is that it tries to be both a history movie and an action movie, and because of the disturbing influence of each of these elements upon the other, it doesn't quite succeed in being either one or the other. There isn't enough kung fu in it to be a really good kung fu movie, and the history is not quite treated seriously enough for it to be a really good history movie.
I'd recommend watching Tai Chi II (a.k.a. Tai Chi Boxer, from 1996) for a movie that extremely successfully blends humor, history and brilliant kung fu. It is far superior to this one.