it’s been pretty boring nowadays. kung fu films are all the same these days and i really believe that if we still had this guy with us:
…then we wouldn’t be having this problem. bruce lee was a legend. just reading about what he did in his daily workout routine told you that. the movies he made in his prime were hits during his time and were he alive today, there wouldn’t be any competition between jackie chan and jet li.
there are, however, some pretty decent movies that i’ve found to be acceptable when it comes to being more than just your traditional kung fu movie. the best i’ve seen to date is titled “dragon tiger gate” and i still haven’t seen anything better.
dragon tiger gate is one of the best martial arts movies you will ever see, and i’ve looked around and trust me when i say that i haven’t found anything better. the cinematography is awesome. the plot is awesome. the fighting is awesome. it’s such a colorful movie. funny thing is that as you can see from the photos, dragon tiger gate is pretty much a 2-hour hair commercial starring donnie yen and jay chow.
jackie chan’s movies are some of my favorites. i grew up watching the guy and have grown accustomed to his usual adventure-style comedic martial arts. unfortunately, he’s simply getting too old. he’s definitely past his prime and you could see that in the movie rush hour 3. but that doesn’t mean he still can’t make great movies. over the past decade, i’ve witnessed the guy transition from highly-anticipated stunt movie to more of a mellow action movie style that relied specifically on it’s comedy. and you know what? to me, that’s ok. movies like gorgeous, rush hour 1-3 and around the world in 80 days, they don’t share the same high-action style as his earlier movies did such as the operation condor series and the like, but they still have something special. i guess they’re what you can call “feel-good” movies.
now what jackie chan doesn’t have is jet li’s temple training background. jet li was raised and trained as the type of person you would actually see in a martial arts/kung fu film. there’s no arguing which artist is better between the two. it was simply a matter of accepting the fact that you watched jackie chan if you wanted to laugh and you watched jet li if you wanted to watch a legend. there was no he’s better than the other. it was as simple as that.
donnie yen is one martial arts actor to look out for these days. his movies aren’t comedic like jackie chan’s movies, but they are definitely action-packed. just don’t mind the movies where his role is as a supporting actor. also note that he is also starting to get past his prime, so get it while it’s hot.
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everything here i completely agree with. i want to see that movie with the guys who have cool hair.