The film takes itself a bit too seriously and reshuffles the deck of plot tropes instead of inventing its own ideas.

For every moment when director Liming Li successfully balances stunts and storytelling, there are dozens more where Kung Fu Master succumbs to its broader elements or its pull towards nationalist cinema.

But where in "Grandmaster" the superhuman feats were related with cinematic poetry, this one's ambitions are expressed in the funny-pages vernacular of a superhero one-knee landing (which does occur in the film).

Less biopic, more a muddled if entertaining fever dream of Donnie Yen's finest moments