The most anticipated Hong Kong movie of 2006, “Jet Li’s Fearless” features Jet Li (issuing a well-timed statement that this would be his last wu shu movie), Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), director Ronny Yu (“Freddie vs. Jason”), and action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping (“The Matrix”). It seems like an unbeatable brigade of badness, and not the kind of “badness” that tastes funny but the kind of “badness” that Michael Jackson sings about. Right before it was released, 40 minutes and Ms. Yeoh were cut from the film, but it went on to open big at the box office across Asia and people jumped up and down and cheered.

But is it any good? Well, yes and no. “Fearless” is a go-for-broke throwback to Hong Kong moviemaking of the early 1990s. This was the era when Jackie Chan was releasing his last good movie, “Drunken Master 2,” Mr. Li was making his landmark “Once Upon a Time in China” series, and Mr. Yu was turning in “The Bride With White Hair,” a martial arts fantasia that makes “House of Flying Daggers” look lead-footed.

For a few years Hong Kong seemed to wield an unbeatable fighting stance, making populist cinema that satisfied audiences, resonated deeply, was technically accomplished, and profoundly entertaining.

“Fearless” is one of those movies with a limp. For production values it can’t be beat. The fight scenes throw down so hard you can’t get back up again, and the camerawork and technical credits are slicker than teflon. Mr. Li has turned into a much better actor since he played a human dog in last year’s “Unleashed” and his performance as Hua Yuan Jia is melodramatic and magnetic.

The movie itself tells the life story of a turn-of-the-century folk-hero, Hua, a Chinese martial artist who mopped the floor with a variety of foreign fighters until, as the legend goes, he was fatally poisoned by a Japanese opponent.

“Fearless” adds some backstory: Hua was an arrogant young champion who killed another master, which in turn led to the revenge killings of some family members. So he went into seclusion in Thailand, learned to love the earth and a particular young lady, and came back as an even tougher customer just when China needed him most.

But the downside of early 1990s Hong Kong cinema is apparent in “Fearless” as well. From the whiny child actors to the substitution of half-baked sentimental indicators for real emotions, “Fearless” reminds the viewer again and again that even at its best Hong Kong cinema ran hot and cold.

Mr. Yu has a pretty clear idea of his place in the world. “It’s my duty to entertain people for two hours in a dark cinema,” he has said. And the flaw of “Fearless” is that it fearlessly goes over-the-top in its desire to serve up entertainment. The emotions, the action, the acting — all of them are as rare, bloody, and broad as a juicy piece of steak.