Birth of the Dragon

Charismatic martial arts legend Bruce Lee is at the center of this biopic set in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1964, a time when cocky Lee was trying to promote himself as a superstar. Filmmaker George Nolfi's Birth of a Dragon presents a fictionalized account of a mythic bout between Lee and Shaolin master Wong Jack Man, who resented Lee's determination to teach kung fu to Americans. “You fight for ambition and pride,” Wong told Lee, “but you do not fight with your soul.” Although Lee (Philip Ng) had been a strict practitioner of the Wing Chun method, following his encounter with the more spiritual, acrobatic Wong (Xia Yu), he changed not only his style of fighting but also his combat philosophy. Their infamous match was a private one, likely in a warehouse in nearby Oakland. Riffing off a 1980 article in Official Karate magazine by Michael Dorgan, screenwriters Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson have added an unnecessarily pulpy, East/West romantic subplot that involves Lee's struggling apprentice, Steve McKee (Billy Magnussen), and a young Chinese girl (Jingjing Qu) who is working to pay off her immigration debt while being groomed as a prostitute by the gangster Triad's Auntie Blossom (Jin Xing). Lee, who went on to become a movie star and guru to stars including Chuck Norris and Steve McQueen, died in 1973 after suffering a brain edema believed to be caused by an adverse reaction to pain medication. A disappointing film, this is optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes on “Becoming the Dragon” (2 min.), “Building the Story” (2 min.), “The Stunts” (2 min.), and “The Fight.” Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a lackluster biopic.] (S. Granger)