S P O T L I G H T

Jet Li

He's been a teen martial artist champion, he helped Tsui Hark reimagine the legendary Wong Fei Hung, he's played a modern-day cop, hitman, and vigilante. Jet Li may have lost his way with his recent forays into Hollywood, but as his Hong Kong film work demonstrates, that wasn't always the case.

Where available, longer reviews with comments on DVD quality can be accessed by clicking on the title. Li's first few films are well-regarded for the martial artistry on display, but I haven't had a chance to see those yet.

Buy

Fong Sai Yuk (1993)
A great movie. The wire fu work can be extremely silly yet is extravagantly fun to watch. It's also nice to see the interplay between Li and his mother.

Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
Li was born again as a true movie star amidst Tsui Hark's beautiful recreation of legendary hero Wong Fei Hong. A very good performance and an important film.

Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
Truly spectacular filmmaking. Director Tsui Hark fashioned a sequel better than the original, a considerable achievement, with an even better performance by Li.

Swordsman II (1992)
The plot is incomprehensible, the subtitles are unreadable, and the gory violence is extreme. Yet the whirling dervish action is amazing to watch, and eventually the characters develop strange lives of their own.

Rent — Highly Recommended

Fong Sai Yuk II (1993)
A good film with several solid and enjoyable action sequences, yet it feels a bit like "paint by numbers," perhaps suffering from "sequel-itis."

High Risk (1995)
In every way that counts, this action thriller beats out its inspiration, Die Hard. Jet Li provides the heart, Jackie Cheung supplies the comic relief, and Wong Jing revs up the pace.

Hitman (1998)
I liked it way more than I should. It's really not that good, story-wise or action-wise, but the humorous tone and the silly chemistry between Li and Eric Tsang is hard to resist, not to mention a good turn by Simon Lam.

My Father is a Hero (1995)
Li is an undercover policeman; his son worships him. Corey Yuen stages some action-packed, eye-popping, completely-unbelievable sequences.

Once Upon a Time in China III (1993)
Enjoyable with some colorful set-pieces, but suffers from comparison to the first two films in the series. Still very much worth watching.

Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997)
Wildly uneven but also madly entertaining in a goofy, b-movie sort of way. Sammo Hung's directorial style is clearly evident — the camera often veers crazily, whiplash fashion, not cutting within a scene, following the action. Rather than trying to imitate the first three films' style in an attempt to repeat their success, Hung seemed to do it his own way, with little apparent interference from Tsui Hark.

Tai Chi Master (1993)
Wow -- the first 60 minutes are thrilling in the variety of action portrayed and the strength of the fighting and filming. Derailed by the infamous and unwisely-long 'gone crazy' sequence, the concluding scenes nearly make up for it.

Rent - Low Priority

Black Mask (1996)
Black Mask is my least favorite film involving either Jet Li or Tsui Hark. What gave me a bad taste was the way the film seemed to revel in graphic and nasty violence.

The Bodyguard From Beijing (1996)
Christy Cheung is beautiful but bratty, and mainland Chinese bodyguard Li must protect her. A couple of dazzling fight sequences, but that's about it.

The Master (1992)
Widely considered the nadir of Li's career, lowered expectations for this Tsui Hark/Jet Li B-movie may result in greater enjoyment of a low-brow "kung fu in America" comedy.

New Legend of Shaolin (1994)
Several scenes display a wild sense of imagination, but overall this is not one of the better results from the teaming of Jet Li and Corey Yuen Kwai. It should be noted that I saw this on a crappy DVD, which may have influenced my less-than-enthusiastic response.

Still to come...

Shaolin Temple (1982)
Kids From Shaolin (1984)
Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986)
Born to Defence (1988)
Dragon Fight (1989)

Last Hero in China (1993)
Kung Fu Colt Master (1993)
Dr. Wai in the Scripture with No Words (1996)