this is quite a good movie, at least for the past few years it has to be one of the best kong fu/ fighting movies. however it is quite subtle, and the relationships are complicated, i'm afraid the foreigners may not understand this, if you are only looking for some action scene then...well , this is not that shallow.

A Wing Chun master (Fan Liao of "Black Coal, Thin Ice") has to defeat eight martial arts schools to open his own school. At the same time, he has become a chess piece in the local power dynamics.Right off the bat, anyone who loves good cinematography is going to appreciate "The Final Master". Director of photography Tianlin Wang brings with him a rich color palette that makes even the opening credits appear sharp and vibrant. The hues and crispness bring to life this time period in ways that only a great man behind the camera can. Accompanied by an interesting score composed of horns and strings (thanks to Wei An), we almost have a noir or mystery feel.There is a fascinating mix of Asian and European cultures, with the Chinese embracing certain elements of upper class British culture. For those in the West, it is usually the American or Englishman in a story who wanders into the foreign land ("the Orient")… seeing things from the Chinese perspective is a nice switch. The inclusion of Belarusian dancers is also a nice touch, adding in a third component of cross-culture. Not only is there the dominant East-meets-West aspect, but a Soviet bloc piece, as well, which fits in neither one side or the other.While the reviewer's knowledge of martial arts and its history is admittedly limited, there is something strange about the film referring to our hero as the last of the Wing Chun masters. Today, Wing Chun is known as the martial arts variant of Ip Man, Bruce Lee and even Robert Downey, Jr of all people. Perhaps this was lost in translation, but it defies belief that the ancient art was known by only one man in 1930 before becoming the most popular form of "kung fu" today.Those looking for a classic, Shaw Brothers-style movie should be aware that the hand-to-hand martial arts is limited in this picture. However, the blade-on-blade action is intense and more than makes up for it. Every possible variation of sword, axe, dagger and more is utilized, including some that seem impossibly large to wield. In an era (1930s Tianjin) where guns were plentiful, it is fascinating that there is some level of honor about what is allowed in combat.Historical nitpicks aside, this is a great film with beautiful cinematography and plenty of action. We also get a great supporting character in Madame Zou, played by Wenli Jiang ("Farewell My Concubine"). The movie was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 52nd Golden Horse Film Awards, as well as Best Supporting Actress and Best Choreography. It rightfully won in the latter category. North American audiences now get a chance to see the picture, as it screens July 16 at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

...before i say anything about this fine movie..i like to say something about the first review which is also used by IMDb. Is this guy a communist agent under a false name? Obviously the person has so much hate towards the movie that one can fel the venom. Hahaha..we know you are a communist schmuck trying to undermine a good movie. What was wrong with this movie? you wouldn't know a good movie if it hit you in the face...Morrisstang..hahaha.Obviously you are a state paid stooge trying to undermine a very good movie. Unfortunately...i don't think your efforts are going to hurt this movie...because it was a very good movie.Now about this fine movie...beautifully shot...story was intriguing...actors n actressess were in fine form. Ohhh...the fights scenes were beautifully choreographed..n..for kung fu lovers..there was plenty of fights in this movie.Although its nothing we have not seen in a Chinese kung fu movie, evrybody was in fine form n overall it was a fine watch. Loved that Shaw superstar..Chen Kuan Tai had a nice cameo fight scene in this movie. Morrissatang compared this to old bad Shaw Brothers movies..hahaha..plenty of people are admirers of those movies you schmuck.By the way this is Shaw Brothers multiplied by 100..it was that much better then.you wouldn't know a good movie if you got hit in the face by one. Keep watching the old commie b/w movies portraying fake heroes..hahaha.Thats all i am going to write...people don't let morrisstang influence your decision on a very good movie. its won awards..just not in mainland china...thats all. Watch the movie and make up your own mind. If you are a fan of good kung fu movies n good movies in general...you'll be glad you watched it.

This film have signed up several famous actors and actresses to play the key roles in it. For these actors, acting on such poorly crafted, so pretentious, laughable screenplay were no fun at all. The laughable dialog of this film controlled their acting and have forced all of them to become poor actors through and through. The whole movie just looked so extremely pretentious that you have to force yourself going back to the laughable Shaw Brothers' Kung-Fu martial art era to watch this similar film like watching a Shaw Brothers' product in complete 'Emperor's New Clothes', the only difference is new stunt choreographs, new settings, new costumes and new pretentious characters and worst of all, nudity that almost never appeared in Shaw Brothers' Kung-Fu films.The fighting scenes in this film was exactly like what we have seen in those Shaw Brothers' shallow and superfluous martial art films, the fights between or among those roles were extremely choreographically staged, all the participants, leading or not leading in this film were trying so hard to look dramatically cool, yet at the same time unavoidably and inevitably became so pretentious and poor in performance since every movement including their facial expressions were guided under one of the worst screenplay and dialog that every appeared in a major budgeted films.The screenplay was just horrible, the characters created in this film were just terrible, albeit absurd. Since the lousy dialog controlled the flow of the moronic scenario and plot, everybody just became poor actor. My heart went out to the female young actress who had to expose her naked body and flesh so unnecessarily, those scenes were required by the screenplay, the director and the investors to make her signing-up money worthy. The crab eating habit was another stupid and meaningless arrangement. As long as the stupid screenplay and plots went, it just became more and more pretentious and ridiculous. The only benefit of shooting and producing this film was so many background supporting actors made some money to pay their bills, and nothing more.In summary, this was one of the most pretentious and laughable films added to the Chinese martial art genre. Still watchable, but first, you have to put yourself in a numb and trance-line self-hypnotized condition like trying to read the high school textbooks.