Tokyo Ghoul to Get a Live Action Film Adaptation
After my first Stalker guide to Jackie Chan, I am writing about another Chinese martial arts star. And who’s better than Jet Li to bring to light?
A Stalker's Guide to Jet Li
Jet Li was one of the first foreign actors I ever knew, I spent my childhood watching his martial arts films. I own all of his film DVDs (no joke) and I find an extreme pleasure in re-watching them from time to time. It’s not a secret that martial arts is one of my favorite genres when it comes to film industry so having Jet Li in the top 5 of my favorite martial artists list is not a surprise. You see I truly love Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu and the rest of the greatest martial arts stars because they’re legends after all and no fan of the genre would question them, but for me Jet Li always held a special place.
Jet Li started as a martial artist specializing in Wushu; a famous style in China. He won several medallions and defeated many older opponents despite his young age. He was in fact a five-time Wushu champion of China. Jet Li’s film career started in mainland China before spreading to Hong Kong and eventually to Hollywood. His big breakthrough was due to his role in The Shaolin Temple when he was only 19 years old. Jet Li always used his impressive martial arts to portray his roles and shine in the film industry, and I doubt if there’s anyone in this world who hasn’t heard of him.
Once again I found extreme trouble in picking only 10 titles from his huge filmography as I would love to write about all of it, but the lack of space always ruins things. I will focus on his diversity and films made in China or Hong Kong. As for Hollywood films, I only mention three, because most of those are already famous and I would take his HKC films over his Hollywood works any time because he shined more in those.
China/Hong Kong:
Let’s start the HKC journey with a quote by Jet Li:
“I can feel very brave through all the action scenes in front of the people who are on the set, but when a girl comes close to me my face turns red because I'm so shy.”I mean, isn’t he cute or what?
Shaolin Temple (1982), Shaolin Temple 2 (1982), Shaolin Temple 3 (1986): The trilogy that started it all.
Before Shaolin Temple, Jet Li was part of the "Chinese National Wushu Team" and he won several trophies. That made Chinese film producers interested in his talent and high potential of becoming a martial art film star. (And God, they were so right!) Jet Li retired from the sports career and pursued acting instead.
The first Shaolin Temple was Jet Li’s debut in the world of cinema and the first Chinese martial arts film where the producers decided to use Kung Fu champions instead of normal actors. Jet Li’s co-stars in the film are his colleagues from the Chinese National Wushu Team, so you are bound to expect excellent fight scenes. This film is a pure martial arts film: there were no special effects, no stunts, no camera tricks and no fake moves, just pure Kung Fu without much talking. The plot was unoriginal and over-used in the action/martial arts films industry, but that doesn’t really matter, because Jet Li’s debut was pure gold Kung Fu.
The second film Jet made was Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin; once again produced in mainland China. I can understand that some were disappointed with this film, because there wasn’t as much Wushu as in the first Shaolin Temple. However, this film was good. It’s a lighthearted version of Kung Fu, but the fighting was never absent and once again Jet Li’s comrades from the Chinese National Wushu Team took part in the film and we had a chance to see some amazingly real Wushu moments.
The third and the last part of the trilogy Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin was a collaboration between China and Hong Kong and for the first time Jet Li worked with a crew that didn't come from mainland China. The film was better than the second one and falls a little behind compared to the first one. Jet Li as usual displayed great martial arts skills in addition to some hilarious moments, especially when he cross-dressed as a girl.
Once Upon a Time in China (1991), Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992) and Once Upon a Time in China 3 (1993):
A classic folk hero Jet Li
Once Upon a Time in China series are without doubt one of the best martial arts films ever made and they’re also the films that stamped Jet Li as one of the best martial artist in film industry.
The director of the trilogy is no one but the genius Tsui Hark which I consider one of the best action directors, not only in Asia but also worldwide. The man needs more recognition, how come people know John Woo very well and haven’t even heard of Tsui Hark? What a weird world.
Anyway, the trilogy that Jet Li took part in spoke about the famous Chinese folk hero “Wong Fei Hong”, a traditional Chinese doctor who also happens to be a great expert in martial arts, but unlike Jackie Chan’s films based on the legendary figure, this is not a humorous telling of the story. It has more serious vibes with some of the problems that occurred in the pre-Communist China. However, although the characters are named after real people, this film shouldn't be taken as a historical reference.
Some people call this “the best martial arts film ever made” and “a masterpiece” and it probably is, but I dislike exaggerating things that way. However, I would absolutely classify this as one of the best martial arts/action films ever made; there’s no amplification in that statement.
Once Upon a Time in China was absolutely great with one of the best Kung Fu sequences ever made, beautifully shot and quite alluring. Once Upon a Time in China 2 was equally enjoyable also with impressive Kung Fu scenes and Donnie Yen's great part - many people like it better than the first part. As for Once Upon a Time in China 3, the story was good, but it was a little disappointing when it came to fighting sequences. However, Jet Li amazed us as usual.
So yes, you should absolutely watch it as a whole. There’s also Once Upon a Time in China 4 and Once Upon a Time in China 5 where Zhao Vincent took over Jet Li’s role, so you cannot expect them to be as good as the original trilogy, but they are still watchable. Later on, Jet Li reprised his role in Once Upon a Time in China and America and it was a welcomed comeback. This time around, there was a comical telling of the character instead of the usual “serious Jet Li” works. Maybe that was due to Sammo Hung being on the director’s chair this time around.
The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (1993), The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk 2 (1993): An unusual Jet Li at his best.
Maybe you are familiar with Jet Li’s ways of making films. He’s not a slapstick humor actor and he doesn’t usually star in carefree or player roles. Most of the time he is firm, serious and bad-ass in a hurtful way. This time around, it’s different; Jet Li played a carefree, humorous character and you can sense that he was completely into it. I like serious Jet Li but a change once in a while is appreciated.
In The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, Jet Li enters a competition of marriage more or less. As usual, plot in outstanding Kung Fu films doesn’t actually matter and it never will. The action, the comedy and the well-made Kung Fu scenes make this one of Jet Li’s best works. At the matter of fact, Fong Sai Yuk portrayed in this film is another Chinese folk hero and Jet Li revived many of them in his Hong Kong/Chinese career.
I also have to give Josephine Siao a big credit for this film; she plays Fong Sai Yuk’s mother and every single scene she has with Jet Li is pure pleasure. I mean where else can you watch a martial arts’ expert calling his mama to beat up the enemy? That was hilarious!
As for The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk 2 (or The Legend II), it was great sequel for an amazing prequel. It may not have been as splendid as the first one, but I am sure it couldn’t be any better than this. The second part of the film has a darker tone and it’s not as light as the first part, but the humor didn’t disappear. Overall, it was very enjoyable and it still counts as one of Jet Li better films with all that absorbing Kung Fu skills and use of weapons.
Fist of Legend (1994): Jet Li’s Martial Arts Epic
Fist of Legend is in fact a remake of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury and while no one in this world can question Bruce’s astonishing skill and legendary films, for me Chen Zhen role was made for Jet Li and Fist of Legend outclasses Fists of Fury when it comes to politics, characters and general setting depth.
This is an “anti-Japan” film, when China was under Japanese occupation and while I don’t like to watch those type of “hate” films, I still consider this film one of the best martial arts films ever made. At least, there wasn’t so much hate; only anger and revenge, which is quite great. Jet Li was at his best in the most beautifully choreographed Kung Fu scenes and only few of them were wired, so it was a genuine martial arts piece with the most terrific fighting sequences.
Hero (2002): A beautiful haunting Wuxia tale
“Usually action films have a formula: good guy gets in trouble, his wife dies, friends have problems, so he goes to the mountain, learns martial arts, comes back, and kills the bad guy. But on this film, we talked about a totally different angle to see my character.”
Before this, the world only knew Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon from the Wuxia genre. After Hero and House of Flying Daggers came out, the genre was finally acknowledged.
Directed by the master and one of my favorite directors Zhang Yimou, Hero tells the story of swordsmen, politics and love. People call this a Chinese masterpiece and I wholeheartedly agree. It has been 10 years since I first saw this and I still can’t get over how wonderfully it was shot. It has one of the best cinematography I’ve ever seen. But that’s not everything about this film. The plot was quite intriguing and the martial arts were just splendidly shot even if they didn’t look realistic.
And no, I didn’t forget that this is Jet Li stalker guide so I have to talk about him more. Jet played an absolute key character who is against the king. He also met other skilled swordsmen who shared his belief. Jet Li martial arts were great and gorgeously shot. However, Jet Li isn’t the only one who owns this film. His co-stars Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, Zhang Ziyi, Maggie Cheung and Daoming Chen were equally impressive. Nothing less from HKC top actors.
Fearless (2006): Jet Li last folk hero film.
“I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Fearless (2006) is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star.”So there you have it, Jet Li didn’t and will never make another Wushu martial art epic ever again. He still makes action Wuxia and uses martial arts but not in the way he used to.
Once again, Jet Li brings another national folk hero to lights. This time around, it’s Huo Yuan Jia a Chinese martial artist and the co-founder of “Chin Woo Athletic Association”; he was known for challenging many foreigners and reviving nationalism in the late Qing Dynasty. Of course Fearless is loosely based on Huo Yuan Jia’s real life but there are similarities that were worth the praise.
Jet Li did really great in this film. I was so glad that he decided to come back to China with his Hollywood fame. But after all, I rarely loved Jet Li’s Hollywood works the way I admire his HKC films. Jet plays a playful character at first, the he transforms into a serious figure afterwards. He did great with both and Kung Fu was present in both sides of the story. Ronny Yu (the director) made beautifully shot and well-crafted martial arts sequences with a lot of movement. My absolute favorite fighting sequence was the one with weapons against the Japanese Samurai; that was highly exciting.
The Warlords (2007): A war-time Jet Li.
Jet Li was one of the three brothers who fought war together and went through hell to keep their brotherhood. The other brothers were played by Andy Lau and Kaneshiro Takeshi -a powerful combination. This film had action, but it was sword and sparring, so there wasn’t much martial arts involved. However, that wasn’t all what Jet Li did in this film; he once again shows that he can be good when it comes to acting! Andy and Kaneshiro aren’t martial artists so all they can do is rely on their acting skills, but in Jet’s case, he has all the martial arts’ material and yet, he refuses to be only a martial artist without actual acting skills to display and I always respected that about him.
The film’s story was pretty involving and deep in a way that will make you think about it even after it ends. Without spoiling things, there’s one character that I wanted to kill because I am sure if she/he died then everything would have been perfect. And no, she/he is not exactly an evil character but for me it was way worse than any evil character.
Hollywood:
As I mentioned above, Jet Li HKC films are way better than his Hollywood works. Maybe he gained worldwide fame through Hollywood and his films there had better budgets, but most of Jet masterpieces were made in Hong Kong or China.
I am not saying that his Hollywood films are totally bad, I like most of them, but since they’re already too famous and in no need for further explanation, I only chose three of them to write about.
Kiss of the Dragon (2001): Hollywood Jet Li in full force.
Jet Li first Hollywood debut was through Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998, in which he played the villain role for the first time in his career, because the director promised him the main role in his following film. He did keep his promise and made him lead the 2000 film Romeo Must Die which was, from my dedication to martial arts films and following Jet Li since childhood, a pure disappointment. Americans just can’t give a brilliant martial artist the chance to show what he's got. The excessive use of wires and CGI was almost disrespectful for us - martial arts and Jet Li's fans from earlier days. Then, Jet Li did The One in 2001; it was a little better than Romeo Must Die but still far too unsatisfying for Jet Li’s weight.
After that, Kiss of the Dragon showed up and I consider it Jet Li’s best work ever since he went to Hollywood and one of the better ones he made there. Finally, Americans understood that Jet Li is a martial artist who didn’t need their special effects to do his thing. The fighting sequences in this film weren’t wire-aided - there was hand-to-hand combat, real jumps and flips that made Jet Li show his great skills and shine in the most realistic, believable and stylish way.
Unleashed (2005): Jet Li’s best Hollywood film to date.
This is a somewhat atypical Jet Li film; there’s more plot and more meaning in it. It also has an intriguing somber tone. This is a dramatic storytelling of a grown man who has a child’s brain and has been raised as a fighting dog. Of course there have been impressive fights from Jet Li’s side and his martial arts skills have been properly put to use, but that’s not everything about this film. Jet proves that he can also be a good actor and he can work great plots, in which action isn’t the main focus. Don’t get the wrong idea, I love action but if there’s also an impressive plot involved then it's perfect!
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008):
Jet Li + Jackie Chan: the two lords combined.
“I have met Jackie Chan about 6 times up 'til now . . . and even though many people think we are natural enemies, I personally think he is a cool bloke and would honestly love to work with him in a film one time, that would be a well, brilliant movie!”
It was in 2001 that Jet Li announced that he will be doing a film with Jackie and you can only imagine how excited I was about these wonderful news, but they kept me waiting for too long - the actual film came out 7 years later.
You see, just the two names of Jet Li and Jackie Chan on the film would make any martial arts’ fan jump of happiness and count days until this one comes out. I wasn’t any different, I am Jackie and Jet Li fan and you give me a film that both of them co-star in it? It can be garbage and I will still watch it nonetheless.
But The Forbidden Kingdom wasn’t garbage, just like it wasn’t a masterpiece either. I know that the weight of the two martial artists’ stars could have been used in a better way but this was good enough. And yes, I was one of those people who were bothered by adding the western dude to the leads, Jet and Jackie could have been more than enough. I do know his role is part of the story’s development and that blah blah blah but his role could have been easily cut short.
This is a Wuxia fantasy more than a pure martial arts story and it’s based on the famous Chinese story of “The Monkey King”, Jet plays the role of a monk and Jackie is once again a drunken master. There were humor and light moments, but the martial arts and fighting sequences were also there and Yes! we got to see the historic moment of Jet Li and Jackie Chan sparring.
Other remarkable films:
As usual, I just can’t leave without mentioning these titles, in which I truly appreciated Jet Li. If it was up to me, I would have describe in detail his whole filmography.
The Master (1989): It’s a low budget action film and the acting can be quite terrible, but it’s absolutely worth seeing for action and great Kung Fu. Jet Li has to go against a wicked martial arts school that always cause troubles for Kung Fu masters. Once again, Jet’s amazing Kung Fu and kicking skills were put to use.
Last Hero in China (1993): It can almost be considered a part of the “Once Upon a Time in China” series since Jet Li plays the role of the folk hero Wong Fei Hong in the most hilarious way ever. As I mentioned above, it’s rare to see Jet play a humorous role and it’s always a pleasure to watch him when he does. The fighting scenes were greatly made even if it was wires-aided.
Tai Chi Master (1993): Oh man! This seriously deserves a spot in the detailed titles above since it’s one of my favorite martial arts films but I couldn’t give up on any of them. Jet Li stars in another Shaolin martial arts film and leaves a deep impression…again! Jet Li does more than 15 different amazingly made martial arts scenes that I will never forget no matter how long I live. My favorite was the one with Gorden Liu, another martial arts’ legend that I appreciate watching from the bottom of my heart.
The Evil Cult (1993): It’s an old Jet Li Wuxia packed with martial arts scenes. Many would find this weird and on the first watch as a kid, I thought so as well, but on the second watch I realized that this fantasy Kung Fu film is actually pretty great even if I don’t consider it one of Jet’s best.
Legend of the Red Dragon (1994): If you want to watch this film then you need to keep in mind that you’re watching it to see Jet Li beat people (and sometimes things) to pulp in a great way, not for the plot. It’s a fact that martial arts films aren’t done for the plot and that will never change.
The Defender (1994): Having watched this as a 7-8 Year old kid with my family, I was asked to leave the room, because this isn’t what kids should watch and I was “But it’s a Jet Li film you evil family!” I sucked it up and left. Years later, I watched it and I realized that this was the HK version of The Bodyguard, only with martial arts and I would take this version over the American one any day. I still think my family was evil for depriving me from watching it.
The Enforcer (1995): Jet Li in an interesting mixture of crime thriller, family drama and martial arts. It’s a little different from his other films and pretty much one of his better works in Hong Kong cinema.
Ocean Paradise (2010): This is a slice of life, yes you didn’t read that wrong. This is without doubt an atypical Jet Li film and his first and almost only dramatic production ever (if we don’t count the little role he had in Founding of a Republic). Ocean Heaven and Danny the Dog proved me that martial artists can also have great acting skills hiding somewhere. Jet Li did so great with his acting in this film and the father-autistic son relationship was so heartwarming. That is coming from someone who doesn’t even like those types of storylines.
And here are links for some other films without description because there is no space left. The ones listed above are better than these though. I’ve seen them all and you can ask me about anything any time:
1) Meltdown (1995)
2) Dr. Wai in the Scriptures with no Words (1996)
3) Black Mask (1996)
4) Hitman(1998)
5) The Emperor and the White Snake (2011)
6) Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)
Upcoming films:
The Expendables 3 and The Expendables 4.
That would be it, I apologize for the length but I just couldn’t make it any shorter. I just wish this Jet Li's stalker guide can be helpful for those who want to seek deep in Jet Li’s huge filmography. You’re free to mention your favorite Jet Li films and comment on the ones mentioned above.
I will leave you with this quote by Jet Li:
"Wushu is a philosophy of life. It is designed for defense and not offence, it is a way to bring your mind and body into focus"
If there is an actor or an actress that is worthy of a Stalker's Guide in your opinion, and you have watched enough dramas of his/hers to prove it, contact Elisabetta about it.
