Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Book (29 page)

When all was said and done, a reporter asked co-star Chris Rock
if
Lethal Weapon
4
was Rock’s breakthrough role. The talented comedian’s reply was: “I don’t know about that, but I do know it’s Jet Li
’s breakthrough role.”

Rock was right. After the original classic’s serious undertones about a grieving cop’s suicidal desire to take greater and greater risks,
Lethal Weapon
2
(1989) was that rare animal: a sequel as good as the original.
Lethal
Weapon 3
(1992), however, was beginning to show signs of wear. Although not as effective as the first two, it held its own through the stars’ charisma and chemistry. But then, sadly,
the crew chose to play the fourth installment like one big joke, imbuing every scene, even violent ones, with an off-putting and self-conscious “we’re only kidding” approach.

Every scene, that is, except when the camera was on Jet Li
. His intensity and refusal to take his role lightly made every eye in the theater focus on him. Despite the usual ham-fisted editing of his kung fu skills, and the inclusion of a superfluous garrote wire secreted in prayer beads (which disappears midway through the film without explanation), Jet stole the show simply by refusing to belittle his part. While everyone else was cutting up and wise cracking, Li played it straight, even when asked to lose the final fight to Gibson and Glover — a misconceived mess where the two previously smart cops just flail around until they win for no apparent reason. Thankfully, director Donner’s desire just to have fun served as the best possible introduction of America to Jet Li
.

Then it was up to the rest of Hollywood to fumble the ball.
Lethal Weapon
producer Joel Silver tried his luck first, making the same short-sighted, blinkered, standard-operating-racism decision tinseltown always seemed to make. Just as Americans had taken great Chinese cuisine and reduced it to chop suey, the American film industry took great kung fu films, lumped them in with karate
and samurai films, and dubbed them all by the patronizing term of chop-socky. And urban audiences liked “chop-socky” movies, so that’s who all “chop-socky” movies would be made for.
Romeo Must Die
(2000) was Silver’s first foray in Jet power, followed by
Cradle 2 the Grave
(2003).

Next, the inventive James Wong, best known for his contributions to
The X Files
TV, and the
Final Destination
movie, series, tried his luck with the sci-fi-flavored
The One
(2001), in which Jet got to play both hero and villain. Finally Jet teamed with French film mogul Luc Besson
to make
Kiss of the Dragon
(2001) and
Unleashed
(aka
Danny the Dog
, 2005). Each of these increasingly okay films served its purpose — making Jet more assured in both his performing and producing prowess. It helped that he had brought Corey Yuen Kwai
along to serve as choreographer and partner.

“If you want to do a more modern-day movie like
Romeo Must Die
,
Kiss of the Dragon
, or
Lethal Weapon
4
, choose Corey Yuen,” Jet told me. “He takes modern style and ancient style and mixes them together.”

But even Corey couldn’t help when Jet turned down the lead role in
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
. The official story was that he gave up the role to tend to his new wife, the beautiful Nina Li
, during a particularly difficult pregnancy. Unofficial stories ranged from a soothsayer warning him off the picture, to his being too insecure in his acting skills to take on such an important and prestigious role.

Whatever the reason, when renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou
(who also made 1991’s
Raise the Red Lantern
, 1994’s
To Live
, and 1999’s
The Road Home
, among other classics) came to him with the script for
Hero
(2002), Jet did not turn it down.
Hero
is not only one of film history’s best kung fu films, it is one of the great works of cinema, period. Zhang uses this chronicle of China’s first emperor to illuminate the nature of kung fu, as well as the art of movies.

Since it is a series of stories — each identified with a predominant on-screen color — told by an “assassin-killing hero” named “Nameless,” to the Chinese Emperor he supposedly saved, it’s a shame the title
Once Upon a Time in China
was already taken. Featuring a phenomenal cast including Tony Leung
, Maggie Cheung
, Donnie Yen
, and Zhang Ziyi
, kung fu is rapturously compared to music, calligraphy, literature, and nature, while romance, betrayal, love, passion, compassion, effort, and emotion are wrapped in brilliant mise en scene. And there’s tremendous kung fu too.

“Given that everyone was talking about the fights between Michelle Yeoh
and Zhang Ziyi
in
Crouching Tiger
,” Donnie told me, “Jet and I wanted to do even better. I mean, after all, we’re the ones who actually know kung fu.” Indeed, their confrontation in a rainy “chess inn” is a stunning fight scene between a sword and a spear, with special effects used to strengthen the symbolism, rather than cut corners.

For the rest of the gloriously beautiful film, Tony Ching Siu-tung
served as choreographer. “If we talk about a sci-fi, comic book, or wuxia
movie that’s more romantic and where people can fly in the air,” Jet told me, “I choose Tony. He’s the best.”

It’s only right, since all the kung fu in
Hero
is not only great kung fu, but always symbolic of the fighter’s state of mind or inner turmoil. It is also completely suitable in that the plot hinges on the more than a dozen ways to define the Chinese calligraphy of “sword,” ending, as the film does, with a new definition that declares that the most powerful blade is the one that isn’t used.

With that martial art monument making almost two hundred million dollars around the world (despite the delayed, fumbled, misleading American release), Zhang moved on to the season-based, kung fu allegory,
House of Flying Daggers
(2004), the color-crazed Chinese version of
Lion in Winter
,
Curse of the Golden Flower
(2006), and the Beijing Summer Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies — while Jet was ready to take his rightful place in the movie world.

“I think martial arts has many steps, like a building,” Jet told me. “You must climb to get where you want to go. Becoming a good martial artist and becoming a good actor is two different things. I started learning martial arts when I was eight years old, eight hours a day, six days a week, for ten years. Now, twenty-nine years later, I think the top level is ‘no action.’”

So, naturally, he wanted a “no action” action movie. He wanted a film to talk about what he called “martial arts in the heart. What is martial arts and what learning martial arts is really about,” he continued. “Not just the physical but also the philosophy. What martial arts can do to help you understand life. Many think that martial arts is only for use against someone else, for revenge. If you use martial arts only for the physical, you’re afraid a lot. You’re afraid you’ll lose your power, lose your name, lose what makes you feel special. So your biggest enemy is not from outside. It’s from deep inside your own heart. Who’s the enemy? The biggest enemy is yourself.”

To find his inspiration, Jet looked back on his career. There he recognized a character who had been there all along. Not
Wong Fei-hung or even Chen Zhen
. It was the man Chen Zhen had been fighting for. In Asia, the resulting film was named for that poisoned sifu:
Huo Yuan-jia
. In the English-speaking world, it was called
Fearless
(2006).

“This character,” said Li. “He fights a lot of people, and never loses. But he loses against himself. He figures out that he needs to fight and win against himself to understand life. That’s basically what I believe. You can use violence to control other people, but you will not change their minds. The most powerful thing is that, by caring about them, you can turn your enemy into a friend. That’s why I made
Hero
and
Danny the Dog
. Sure, if you’re powerful, you can knock down twenty people in three minutes, but if you don’t care about others and can’t control yourself, you’re no better than a mad dog. Physically you’re very strong, but mentally you’re very weak. So in my past three movies I tried to show a different angle, to show the audience a different view of martial art violence.”

To supplement his vision, he called upon the choreographer who had opened his eyes to the self-improvement powers of kung fu. “I think Yuen Wo-ping
is one of the greatest martial art directors in the world. He has a unique style by himself. He’s a real martial artist. He just loves making traditional Chinese martial art movies. Like
Fearless
. We had ninety working days, and out of that, he and I had sixty days working together. He loves it! We’re very close friends. For each movie we do together, we try to create something new. In the ‘90s, we tried to do it very fast for the camera. But now, for this film, we wanted to show the powerful physical side, but also we wanted to show what each character believed through how he fights. Wo-ping loves using martial arts to tell the story. Through the fighting, you can see the fighter’s spirit without talking. That’s his specialty.

“Huo tells his students, I don’t want to see revenge any more. Martial arts is not just about training your body, it’s about training your mind. That’s the goal. To show that kind of choreography is very challenging for Wo-ping and I. We used a lot of energy to let the audience see the action, keep it interesting, and show the power, but also, at the same time, show the motivation and character behind the action. To show the inner peace. That was the difficult part.”

Difficult, but not impossible. To find their way, Li, who also served as the film’s producer, signed Ronny Yu
to direct. Yu was best known in Asia for his lush romantic melodramas like
The Bride With White Hair
and
The Phantom Lover
(1995), while he’s best known in America for his horror films. Li wanted a bit of both styles for his masterwork.

“The whole intention of making this movie is that it could touch everyone, even if you don’t practice, study, or even understand martial arts,” Yu told me. “Before this, I was crazy about kung fu films. But they were all about revenge and winning at any cost. I don’t know if I should blame Bruce Lee
or the Shaw Brothers
who introduced us to the vengeance-filled martial art world. When I was growing up, I was a fanatic, but the only message I got was: somebody punch you? You learn martial arts and get even.

“So this is the one movie I threw in everything I learned, liked, and disliked from all the kung fu movies I’ve ever seen — from the old black and white Huang Fei-hong movies with
Kwan Tak-hing to all the bloody Chang Cheh
films … everything! When I was starting to prepare this movie, I had long talks with Jet and Wo-ping and said, ‘Why don’t we go back to the basics? Because we have an actor who’s actually a master in Chinese wushu, why don’t we forget about the wire-fu, the quick cuts, and all that? Why don’t we go back to long takes?’ That meant we only used wires when we absolutely had to, for safety’s sake.”

With
Fearless
, Jet, Yuen, and Ronny set the stage for the next generation of kung fu films. They also set the stage for both Li’s and Yu’s exit from that very stage. “After making this movie I realized that the better at wushu you are, the better peacekeeper you are,” Yu concluded. “The higher your level and ability, the more enlightened you are, the more you understand, and the more peaceful you become. So I don’t think I’ll ever do another wushu movie. What I wanted to say and convey to people on the subject is all in this movie. With
Fearless
, it’s all been said.”

Jet apparently felt the same way. During the American marketing campaign for the film, advertising announced that this would be Jet Li
’s final kung fu film. When I asked him about this, Jet smiled, and shrugged. “If that’s what it says, that’s what it says.”