Thanks to Disney’s increased stake in Hulu and acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the Mouse House’s streaming service is becoming a hotbed of R-rated content from Hollywood’s past and present, but it’s Chinese fantasy epic True Legend that’s become the latest unexpected breakout success on the most family-friendly platform of them all.
As per FlixPatrol, legendary stunt coordinator and filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping’s extravagant martial arts fantasy has been going down a storm with subscribers, having ascended onto the Disney Plus global most-watched list. A reasonably-sized success at the time of its initial release in 2010, the hand-to-hand combat is everything you’d expect from the unsung mastermind responsible for choreographing The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
The story is somewhat formulaic, though, with a former general retiring to a quiet life after deciding that the military was no longer to his liking, where he coincidentally happens to have developed his own unique fighting style. Soon, his jealous and vengeful brother descends on Su Qi-Er’s domestic bliss to kidnap his son, and there’s only one way to get him back.
Naturally, the method includes kicking incredible amounts of ass, with our protagonist being aided along the way by fantastical visions of gods, sages, and drunken boxers. Crazy in a good way, True Legend scratches any high-kicking itch you may have, one that plenty of Disney Plus customers have evidently been feeling looking at how the film has emerged from nowhere to make a surprising splash.
