Oct 21

Once upon a time in china and america is the 6th and final film in the series.

I was a little disappointed in this one despite the return of Jet Li. Its effectively a martial arts western and some of it works and some of it doesn't.

I like it but do not love it, not quite up to the standard of Once upon a time in china 1 to 5.

7 out of 10.

As this film opens Wong Fei-Hung and his fiancée 'Aunt Lee' are travelling through the American West in a stage coach, they stop to pick up Billy, a man lost in the wilderness, but they don't really get a chance to get to know him as their group of wagons is attacked by Indians as they stop to eat. They survive the ensuing fight but Wong Fei-Hung hits his head in a river and when he comes to he is with a group of Indians and has no memory. Aunt Lee and friend Seven join up with friends who have settled in America then set about finding Wong Fei-Hung; who has become friends with the Indians after helping them beat a rival tribe… he is now particularly close to one of the women. When his countrymen finally find him he still doesn't know who he is so Seven must fight him till his memory returns! That isn't the end of their worries though; the mayor of the town is making life difficult for the Chinese population and frames them when the bank is robbed; to prove their innocence they will have to survive hanging and fight the real robbers!.

If you are looking for a serious western then this isn't the film for you; however if you want some laughs and over the top kung-fu action then this is a lot of fun. Cliché is piled on cliché as we have marauding Indians, amnesia, corrupt officials and diabolical villains; the leader of whom just happens to know kung-fu! The action scenes are well choreographed for the most part although occasionally they look hilariously fake… the early wagon crash being most notable. When I watched this I had no idea that it was actually the sixth instalment in a series of films but that doesn't really matter; the cast are introduced in a way that means you don't have to have seen earlier instalments; the only real confusion was the title as we never see them in China! The Chinese cast do well; as one would expect Jet Li's action scenes are great as are those of Xin Xin Xiong, who plays Seven, Rosamund Kwan is also likable as Aunt Lee. The western cast aren't so great though; they aren't terrible but it is of no surprise that none of them are well known… or known at all for that matter. Overall this is a lot of fun if you want plenty of action and plenty of laughs… sometime unintended laughs!.

These comments are based on watching the subtitled version of the film; strangely everything is subtitled including the English dialogue… which sometimes doesn't match what is said!