The Master

An utter failure. With Hark behind the camera and Jet Li in front of it, and also taking the production year into account, this should've been at least pleasant and easy filler. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Apart from a half-decent finale, this is one of the biggest disappointments in Hark's entire oeuvre.

Tak is an old kung-fu master who moved away to the US. A former student wants to kill Tak to prove to the world that he is the strongest fighter. Tak wants his best student to protect him, but he has never set foot outside of Hong Kong and when he finally makes it to the US, he has trouble getting used to the American way of life.

The US actors are laughable, and the fight choreographies are dull and uninspired. Even the finale feels like some mid-film fight sequence inserted to add a few minutes to the overall runtime (it's still the film's best scene, though). Hark's presentation is cheap and even Li appears defeated by the lack of quality in this production. For true Hark fanatics only, others shouldn't worry about skipping it.