Once Upon a Time in China and America by Sammo Hung (1997)
Three years before Jackie Chan ventured into the Old West with 2000’s Shanghai Noon, Jet Li — returning after a two-film absence — ventured there in this, the sixth and final Once Upon a Time in China film. Wong Fei-hung and his friends, including fiancé 13th Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), have traveled to America to visit a former student who’s opened a clinic in the burgeoning town of San Francisco. They’re attacked along the way by Native Americans, though, and in the ensuing chaos, Wong loses his memory and becomes adopted by another tribe. Meanwhile, the rest of his entourage arrive in San Francisco, where they find the local Chinese population oppressed by corrupt, racist officials. In its best moments, Once Upon a Time in China and America explores the various forms of prejudice facing the Chinese, including the prejudice that Wong experiences from Native Americans (who call him “Yellow”). At the same time, cultural sensitivity is not exactly the film’s strong suit, as evidenced by the decidedly non-Native actors and stuntmen dressed up in buckskin and war paint. I was looking forward to seeing what Sammo Hung might bring to the franchise as both director and action choreographer, but the film’s action sequences felt surprisingly stilted and disjointed. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Once Upon a Time in China film without a romantic triangle, this time between Wong, 13th Aunt, and a young Native woman who takes a shine to the amnesiac Wong. In the end, Once Upon a Time in China and America is an interesting mess, but a mess nevertheless.
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