Legacy of Rage (1986)
Brandon Lee was tasked with a hard legacy to live up to, his father Bruce was a legend, and trying to follow in that man’s footsteps would have been nearly impossible for anyone. In the end, Brandon left a legacy of his own, and it’s one that perhaps seems a bit more tragic than that of his father. Brandon’s life came to an end on the set of the movie the Crow in 1993, due to an accident involving a prop-gun. All of his movies were action oriented, but he depended more on his dramatic skills than he did on his martial arts prowess, and in that sense, he will be remembered very differently than Bruce.
Legacy of Rage was Brandon’s first starring role and the only Hong Kong movie that he ever made. Although there are some martial arts in it, it is mostly a crime drama, and a revenge movie. So, due to the nature of the story, most of the action relies on gunplay, and not kung fu. Although, there is one very memorable fight scene between Brandon, and Bolo Yeung, and that should serve as a minor treat to the multitude of fans that still worship his father.
The storyline revolves around a young man that is betrayed by his drug-dealing best friend and finds himself thrown into prison. While behind bars, Lee is comforted by the false impression that the friend that betrayed him (Michael Wong) will somehow find a way to get him out, and solve our hero’s problem. No such luck though, Wong uses the opportunity to put the moves on Lee’s girlfriend, and build his criminal empire. Once Brandon is released back into the civilian world, he seeks out Wong, and sets about on exacting his revenge.
Although thoroughly enjoyable, the movie is far from a classic, and it suffers from weak plotting. It also has several strikes against it in that the story is incredibly cliché ridden and the acting isn’t particularly very strong. All of that said, it’s still worth watching, and the movie is never anything less than fun to watch.
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