The Chinese title of Fearless is Huo Yuanjia, which is the name of the movie's real-life protagonist, played by Jet Li.  He was a martial arts expert who lived at the time of turn-of-the-20th-century China, a time when foreigners began to enter the country with ideas to assimilate and/or exploit it.  By challenging foreigner-driven notions of the Chinese as weak men, Huo would eventually become the primary booster of national morale. 

Li and director Ronny Yu have taken this story and given it the modern mythical treatment; i.e., this movie is pretty much a martial arts version of a comic book superhero movie. Fearless covers Huo's life, inner struggles, and lessons learned as if he were Spider-Man, with the melodrama and character archetypes one would expect from that kind of depiction. 

Is this a shallow treatment of a historical figure, or a bright new delivery of a popular legend? Yu and famed fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping make the case for the latter, as Li's fight scenes are just fun to watch -- Yu shoots them well enough so we can see what's going on, while Yuen's staging remains quick and spirited, all to best display Li's always impressive physical skills. 

Yu does get cute here and there with jump cuts, sound effects, and slow-mo, but mostly the movie feels crisp and concise in its action scenes.  Meanwhile, its hero's journey story is conscientiously structured and neatly, sincerely delivered, tempting one to use the word "traditional" rather than "corny" to describe the tale's telling. (Capsule review.)

(Released by Rogue Pictures and rated "PG-13" for violence and martial arts action throughout.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.