Almost 25 years have passed since Wu Jin (aka Jackie Wu) made his debut on Hong Kong screens in 1996 in the film "Boxer Tai Chi" (“Master Tai Chi 2”), after which they saw him as a new Jet Li partly due to the fact that they are connected by participation in the Beijing Wushu team. Although it is debatable what criteria must be met to confirm a prediction about a new Jete Li, but what is undeniable is that Jin reinvents himself almost every 10 years. The mix of his own ambitions was equally matched by the atmosphere of the time, the reasons for each rediscovery ranging from commercial to political, making him one of the most intriguing members of what can be considered China's last group of martial arts stars.
At the time of writing, Jin is one of the biggest box office stars in China, headlining two of China's highest-grossing films of all time: "Battle on the Lake" 2021 in first place, followed by his own "War of the Wolves 2" 2017. Having conquered China, he's set to take a stab at Hollywood this summer by starring Jason Statham in "Meg 2", teasing the prospect of seeing kung fu against Megalodon.
For someone who for many years was considered a guy who just couldn't catch the chance he deserved, on his 50th birthday it's safe to say that things have gotten better. The most interesting aspect of the climb Wu Jin to the box office's glory is that it happened in a rather different way than many fans who discovered it in the '90s and 'XNUMXs might have expected. In this article, we'll look at what I like to call "the three seasons Wu Jin"Why only three? Jin's fame is not going to fade yet, so the chances of a fourth are far ahead.
Winter: beginning - from 1996 to 2004
With Hong Kong just a year away from being returned to China, most of the territory's biggest stars had jumped on the ship to Hollywood, and traditional kung fu films had long fallen out of fashion. Then the director Yuen Woo-Ping decided to debut my latest discovery - Wu Jin in film "Boxer Tai Chi" 1996 (which, in particular in some territories, was released as "Tai Chi Master 2", promoting it as a sequel to the 1993 film with Jet Li starring). Casting an unfamiliar face to star in a genre that was no longer as popular may have been a risk, but there's no denying that as the leading man, 21-year-old Jin showed a likable charm, topped with impressive on-screen fighting skills, showing that he's worth something. Vivid fights against the “new blood of Gwailo” - the British Darren Shahlavi and always reliable Billy Chow choreographed by Woo-Ping, each gave a top-notch action performance.
No matter how solid a kung fu movie is "Boxer Tai Chi", it wasn't destined to be a big box office success, so it's no surprise that it didn't. Despite this, just like Woo-Ping was responsible for launching the career Donnie Yen in the previous decade (and continued to work with him just a couple of years before "Boxer Tai Chi" with the film "Wing Chun" 1994), at some point it seemed that the legendary choreographer was going to do Wu Jin as his new muse in the 2000s. A couple of years after Boxer, when the kung fu film genre was no longer marketable, the couple reunited for a 28-episode martial arts drama on mainland television. "Tai Chi Master" (which was released in a re-edited feature-length version in the US on DVD by Tai Seng). Aside from the decidedly poor made-for-TV quality that characterized mainland series of the era, Woo-Ping once again provided a solid representation of Jin's skills, even if both of their talents in this series were reduced to working in the mainland arena television, which, of course, did not look attractive enough. It so happened that this misunderstanding turned out to be unfounded, but, unfortunately, only for one of them - and it was not Wu Jin.
Relatively unknown Hollywood director duo Wachowski brothers invited Woo-Ping to go to the USA and not only choreograph a film called "Matrix", which they were working on, but also put the cast through an intensive on-screen combat training program before filming. This was a unique opportunity and Woo-Ping understandably said yes, and as a result Jin was left out.
Unable to establish the same strong relationship with the legendary choreographer that he was awarded Donnie Yen, and apparently unable to return to Hong Kong, Jin pursued a career in martial arts series on mainland television. Throughout the 2000s, he played the lead or one of the lead characters in eight series (and supporting roles in several more) with titles such as "Shaolin King of Martial Arts" (2002) "The 36th Room of Southern Shaolin" (2004) and "Wu Dan" (2005). It was only when Woo-Ping returned to Hong Kong after production was completed "Matrices", Jin returned to Hong Kong cinemas again, however he is no longer in the lead role, but as a supporting character in the sequel "Legends of the Warriors of Zu" Tsui Harka 2001 - in the film he fought against his compatriot from Beijing Zhang Ziyi.
The role of Jin was one of those rare instances of grounded action in a production full of special effects, with Woo-Ping choreographing a sword fight between Jin and Ziyi (whom Woo-Ping also reunited with after working together last year on the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). Although such an author as Tsui Hark over the previous decade, created some of the significant works of such martial artists as Jet Li (“Once Upon a Time in China I–III”) and Vincent Zhao ("Blade", "Green Snake"), it seemed that Jin's appearance was most likely due to Woo-Ping rather than Hark. In fact, it took them 20 years to collaborate on a film again "Battle by the Lake", and next time the megastar will already be Jackie Wu, and Hark will find himself co-directing a mainland-focused war film with Chen Kaige и Dante Lam.
In the early 2000s, it might have seemed like Jin was destined to become a mainland TV star with only supporting roles in Hong Kong films, but in 2003, fortune smiled on him again. The legendary Shaw Brothers studio not only hoped to resume film production for the first time since "Hero" with Takeshi Kaneshiro 1997, but it was also announced that the legendary Lau Kar-Leung returns to both directing and appearing in front of the camera for the first time in nearly a decade. The project was named "Drunk Monkey" and was intended to be a throwback to the traditional kung fu films of the 70s. All they needed was a star who could carry out the choreography without the need for camera tricks or CGI - meet Wu Jin! Taking on the lead role and supported by Shaw Brothers legends such as Gordon Liu и Chen Kuan-Chun, Jin essentially stepped into the role that Xiao Huo played in "Mad Monkey Kung Fu" 24 years ago, which made him an obvious choice for this role.
I'm sure the distributors and marketing team did their best to hide the fact that although Kar-Leung had not been active in the film industry for almost a decade, his last performance was disastrous. "Drunken Master 3" 1994. Unfortunately, "Drunk Monkey" was much closer to Kar-Leung's final outing than any of his '70s classics. Jin delivers a commendable performance, but Kar-Leung's old ways of filming in the director's chair are evident as he fills the entire run with edgy comedy and a generic plot that struggles to hold the audience's attention. Subsequent failure of the film "Drunk Monkey" at the box office scared the Shaw Brothers out of filmmaking almost as quickly as they returned, and now, 7 years after Jin's debut in "Boxer Tai Chi", seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of hopes that he would finally get the breakthrough his talent deserved.
Spring: revival - from 2005 to 2014
It's often said that if you want a different outcome, sometimes all you have to do is look at the problem through a different lens. After seven years of good guy roles, 2005 gave audiences a new look at Jackie Wu - the one who saw him as a villain. "SPL" director Wilson Yip (The Killing Zone, as it was renamed in the US) proved to be a significant Hong Kong film in many ways. After vegetating in minor roles in the past, "SPL" will be for Donnie Yen his first leading role in the Hong Kong industry since he directed three films himself in 1997 and 1998, and the star's comeback showed him as a man on a mission. After the 2003 Thai phenomenon "Ong Bak" had destroyed Hong Kong's once famous action cinema, Yen wanted to make a film that would bring him back into the game, and "SPL" should have become him.
Despite the fact that the three stars of Chinese astrology, which "SPL" refers in the title, presented Donnie Yen, Sammo Hoon и Simon Yam, it is Jin, as Hong's character's right-hand man, who is involved in the most memorable scene - the alley fight against Yen's character leading up to the finale. The fight, involving Jin's brandishing knife and Ian's extendable police baton, is considered an all-time classic. Fast, brutal and containing moments of spontaneous choreography, it was only possible thanks to two martial artists demonstrating the pinnacle of their skills. The image of Jin in a white suit and his shock of blond hair was a real action reveal. The fight itself was parodied 15 years later in the Donnie Yen film "Enter the Fat Dragon"Where Philip Ng played the role of Jin, he is guaranteed to be part of any discussion about the greatest fight scenes to grace the screen.
Jin's role proved to be the breakthrough he was looking for, and over the next nine years, he appeared in a total of 16 projects between 2006 and 2014 (not counting his television work). Property developer turned self-proclaimed director Dennis Lowe was the first to notice Jin's potential, and immediately entrusted him with the status of the leading role in the film "Fatal Contact" 2006, which, it is worth noting, was his first collaboration with frequent fight choreographer (and former member of Jackie Chan's stunt team) Nikki Lee... Despite the fact that "Fatal Contact" was low budget, it was nice to see Jin starring in a modern film, and the choreography successfully framed and made his wushu blossom into Lee's signature modern style of kickboxing with the addition of ropes.
But "SPL" revived not only Jin's career, Sammo Hung also enjoyed a resurgence, spending the first half of the 2000s starring in one box office bomb after another. Filmmakers drew attention to their partnership in "SPL" and sought to recreate these dynamics with varying results. They first reunited as a pair of Shaolin monks tasked with looking after a magical talisman in the film "Mission of the Twins" 2007, which, as the title suggests, is actually a benefit performance by the popular Cantopop duo twins (Charlene Choi и Gillian Chun, who are not actually twins, but play twins in the film). Quite an embarrassing event for everyone involved, but much more effective was Jin's reunion with the director Dennis Lowe and choreographer Nikki Lee for the film "Fatal Step" 2008. Reworking what was originally supposed to be a prequel to "SPL", Lowe still managed to convince Sammo Hunga и Simon Yam return as other characters and created a story that clearly echoes "Stars of Destiny". AT "Fatal step" Hong returns as the triad boss, only here he is about to retire, with gang members Jin (his blond hair here replaced by a blue comb over one eye) and Yam as potential successors. As with Low and Zin's previous film, Lee's choreography gives Jackie plenty of opportunity and freedom, usually with a sword in her hand. The only flaw is Lowe's decision to splatter each fight scene with buckets full of unconvincing CGI blood.
However, the main advantage "Fatal step" is that, unlike "SPL" и "Twin Missions", here Jin and Hong will fight each other in the finals. The reason for this is typical of Lowe's shortcomings as a storyteller, who has created a scenario in which the gang finds themselves surrounded by cops, so instead of being arrested, the pair decide to fight each other to the death to see who comes out victorious. This duel pits Hong swinging a steel pole against a sword-wielding Jin, despite not reaching the heights of Jin's or Hong's fights against Donnie Yen three years earlier, looks quite satisfactory.
Indeed, 2008 turned out to be the most significant year in this era of Jin's filmography, as well as his busiest: he starred in four projects in total. In addition to "Fatal step" he also played a supporting role in the Hong Kong comedy "L is like love, L is like lies", however, there will be the next few projects that will showcase his ambitious side. Paired with Nikki Lee he made his directorial debut with the film "Legendary Killer", in which he also played a leading role. Playing a killer who is stranded on one of Hong Kong's outer islands by an approaching typhoon after committing a murder, it's clear that directing is not a talent that Jin or Lee come naturally with, but they still manage to create a fairly solid action film . The story revolves around how Jin gets involved with a local policeman, played by Selina Jade, - she finds herself in danger when gangsters come to take revenge for the murder of their boss. Interestingly, the ending seems to refer the viewer to "Matrix Revolution", where Jin is forced to fight dozens of identically dressed attackers during a rain-soaked night, choosing to rely more on his kicking skills than wushu, giving it a completely different feel than his usual approach to action. "Legendary Killer" certainly didn't explode at the box office and was far from being a strong debut from a director's standpoint, but these factors led to Jin remaining in front of the camera for the rest of the decade.
It was during the promotional period "Legendary Killer" Jin became embroiled in some controversy with the Hong Kong martial arts community, especially with Wing Chun practitioners. When asked about the ongoing dispute at the time over whose project should have the right to be named "Ip Man" - Wilson Yip or Wonga Kar Waya: Both had films about the lives of wing chun masters, which (in reality, Kar Wai's film would take another 5 years before release) were supposed to be released in 2008, Jin replied: “I first learned this name from the press about the conflict over filming about the life of Ip Man. I thought: “Who is this person who is causing such a fuss?” His apparent ignorance of Ip Man offended the producer and Wing Chun master Sin Kwok Lama, who challenged Jin to a fight with either a kung fu master Dennis To (who, ironically, would play Ip Man himself two years later) or Vivi Lee - Wing Chun expert.
Ultimately nothing came of the challenge, and Jin's insult to certain sections of the Hong Kong melee community may have been well-timed. In the late 2000s, as mainland China experienced an economic boom, the cinematic landscape began to change: hundreds of multiplexes were built thanks to a growing middle class that loved going to the movies. Hollywood soon woke up to the fact that the box office potential of films could be greatly increased by appealing to Chinese audiences and this is where China-Hollywood co-productions began. These late-2010s and mid-XNUMXs projects, made before relations between the two countries deteriorated, typically looked like big-budget Hollywood productions on the surface, but had significant Chinese investment in their budgets. The compromise meant that Chinese stars usually appeared in supporting roles, and usually parts of the film found an excuse to be set in China, all of which meant box office gains for both sides. This happened with the third part of the franchise "Mummy" called "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". While Brendan Fraser and company spend most of their time dealing with the emperor, played by another wushu luminary Jet Li, here Jin gets a brief role as an assassin, offering his first appearance in a big-budget Hollywood franchise. By the way, in 2013 Iron Man 3 Marvel was also a Hollywood-China co-production, and Jin filmed an action scene that was supposed to be featured in the China-distributed version of the film, but ended up missing from all known copies. Call it a scene in your head Jackie Wu!
Until 2008, Jin returned as a villain in Benny Chan's action film "Invisible Target". It was a big-budget film starring the then-star trio Nicholas Tse, Shawna Yue и Jaycee Chan, and it gave Jin his widest exposure in terms of prominent roles. Again, paired with a choreographer Nikki Lee, the choreography wisely pays homage to his martial arts talents by requiring all three protagonists to team up to defeat him during an action-packed finale. "Invisible Target" will mark Jin's appearance in several projects Benny Chan, usually in memorable supporting roles including "City under Siege" 2010 years and "Shaolin" 2011 year.
In particular, with regard to "Cities Under Siege", although this is perhaps the most unbearable film in the entire filmography Benny Chan, couple Jin and Zhang Jingchu as mainland police mutant hunters is the only reason to watch it. Their scenes give an idea of what the film should have been: agents with superior kung fu skills ready at a moment's notice to use them against any unsuspecting mutant criminal, but in reality they play a supporting role in the horribly acted romance between Aaron Kwok и Shu Qi. On the other hand, while "Shaolin" offered not one, but two dreams of any budding martial arts star - choreography Corey Yuen and the opportunity to play with Jackie Chan – Jin's role seems largely formal in much the same way as it was 10 years ago in "The Legend of the Warriors of Zu" Tsuya Harka.
The rise of the mainland Chinese film industry gave Jin the opportunity to begin to move away from Hong Kong, and three years after his (unintentionally) controversial comments about Ip Man, he published a lengthy statement on the now-defunct website wu-jing.org in 2010 (the full statement can still be read in the Internet). In it, he expressed his concerns about working in Hong Kong, saying that he had been "hiding behind one new set of clothes after another for a long time, playing a nice Hong Kong guy, and I feel like I've lost my cool." Revealing that he had been offered the lead role of a soldier in a Chinese war-themed TV drama, he went on to explain his conflicts over "the differences between movie stars and TV stars", concluding that it was his "desire to be a soldier in his younger days, and now he has I have a chance to act as a soldier, why doubt it? Why worry about whether it's a film or a series when you have the opportunity to create the artistic image you want..."
The main role in question was in the film "Special Weapon" 2012, but even before taking it on, Jin had already begun appearing in more and more mainland projects with supporting roles in films such as "Vortex" 2010 (a rare mainland attempt at a Hong Kong-style action film) and comedy "Love Tactics". This trend will continue when he reappears with Jet Li in film "Rage Tokens" 2013 (co-production with Hong Kong) and in the film "Breakup Guru" 2014. In retrospect, Jin's presence in Hong Kong projects diminished noticeably around the same time, with extra roles in films such as "Kung Fu Cyborg" 2009 года, "Another Pandora's Box" 2010 years and "The Magic of Victory" 2011 is indicative of an actor who has lost the passion he apparently had during that golden period of 2005-2008.
By 2014 the rate Wu Jinseemed to be set: he found satisfaction in leading roles in Chinese action dramas on TV, married an actress Xie Nan (with whom he played together in "Breakup Guru") and continued to appear in supporting roles in local mainland projects. In the nearly 20 years since his debut, he has amassed a solid portfolio, even if many would say that he never got the big break he deserved like his contemporaries Jet Li и Donnie Yen. However, thanks to his roles in films such as "SPL" и "Fatal Contact"Jin is at least remembered as a tough on-screen fighter who always delivered, and the alley fight with Yen will always be remembered as one of the greatest fight scenes ever filmed. Jackie Wu, may have ended that era by turning his back on the Hong Kong celebrity lifestyle, but he left behind a solid body of work that we can always enjoy, and nothing can change that.
Summer: Rising - 2015 to present
From a purely kung fu movie star's point of view, reaching the peak of one's career after 40 years of age is practically unheard of, but Jin had other ideas. Initially, this period of Jin's career looked like he would not turn his back on the Hong Kong film industry, as 10 years after his iconic role in "SPL" he was offered the lead role in a themed sequel "SPL: Stars of Destiny 2". Paired with Tony JAA in a story with a Thai setting in which they confront a corrupt prison guard played by another wushu master Max Zhang, the sequel gave Jin his first leading role in a Hong Kong project since his self-directed debut "Legendary Killer" 7 years ago. The wait was worth it as the director Chin Pou-Soi showed Jin's figure on both the acting and fighting fronts, leading many to believe that his role could be the breakthrough fans have been waiting for.
But "SPL 2" proved to be more of a swan song for his Hong Kong era than a comeback, and although Jin continued to play minor roles, reuniting with the director Benny Chan in subsequent years "Call of Heroes" (as well as participating again with his wife in a co-production "Chinese Odyssey 3"), it seemed that his time in Hong Kong had truly come to an end. It was a double dose of bad news for his fans, as he not only turned his back on what many action fans considered the genre's spiritual home, but also shared photo from a hospital bed, revealing that he had surgery on both legs.
Despite how things looked, it turned out that several stars were aligned in the background. In 2014, President Xi gave his famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) speech in which he called on the film industry to make “patriotism the main theme of literary and artistic creation,” ushering in the era of the “core melody” genre. "Main Melody" is an expression used for projects created to extol the virtues of China as a nation, the Communist Party that rules it, and, of course, its military. After Jin's failures in Hong Kong celebrity culture and his inability to get a well-deserved break, the speech seemed like a rallying call and he decided to sit in the director's chair once again (this time on his home soil) to make what would become "War of the Wolves" 2015 year.
Although before "Wolf Warriors" There may well have been other projects released, in terms of popularity this film is considered by many to be the first "main tune" project that fully embodied the wishes of President Xi, essentially being a 90-minute commercial for the awesomeness of the Chinese military. Jin takes on the lead role, playing a soldier who is promoted to the Wolf Division and ends up fighting a group of foreign mercenaries who plan to create a virus to wipe out the Chinese people. The film itself is a rather weak work, including because Scott Adkins was wasted as a villain (helped by the fact that Adkins was injured at the time), however "War of the Wolves" became a project that transcended such details, becoming more about what it was than whether it was actually good or not.
The overtly jingoistic tone and complete lack of subtlety may have irritated many non-Chinese viewers (the film ends with an almost fourth-wall-breaking line: "Those who threaten China's resolve will have nowhere to hide!"), but in China the film became almost which is the personification of Chinese pride. Soon, China's confrontational style of politics came to be known as "Wolf Warrior Diplomacy," a nickname the politicians themselves were proud of, perhaps no more than Lu Shay, who became known as the wolf warrior diplomat for his controversial pro-China views. For Jin, after so many years of struggle in Hong Kong, he became the face of Chinese pride almost overnight.
The sequel was immediately greenlit, and with an almost tripled budget, it was released in 2017. Ironically, Hollywood talents were attracted to the work, such as Frank Grillo as the main villain and Sam Hargrave to help implement the action component. And it succeeded: "War of the Wolves 2" is an incredibly entertaining ride through Africa (the first of many Chinese films to refer to the continent as if it were a country). Not only was the action level upped, the jingoistic tones were also ramped up a notch, starting with the film's tagline, which literally read, "Whoever attacks China will be killed, no matter how far away the target is." At least they're honest. The sequel ends with a bizarre final scene that simply shows an image of a Chinese passport along with accompanying text: “People of the People's Republic of China: When you encounter danger on foreign soil, do not give up! Remember, there is a strong Motherland behind you.”
Scenes like these may seem similar to those seen in North Korean propaganda movies, and in fact this is not far from the truth. In March 2018, a division of China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), whose role is to approve any content shown on Chinese screens, was transferred to the CCP's Central Propaganda Department. While the move was seen as symbolic of what was already expected of China's film industry following President Xi's 2014 speech, the transfer reinforced the expectation that the primary goal of any film project should be to glorify China, and Jin's films set the template.
But what is most unexpected is that not many propaganda films were expected to make box office breakthroughs, but in China it was "War of the Wolves 2" did this, becoming the second film in history to gross $800 million in a single territory (the first was "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in USA). Later he knocked out from first place "The Little Mermaid" Stephen Chow was the final nail in the coffin of any trace of Hong Kong talent having an impact on the mainland Chinese box office, and in subsequent years there followed a spate of films praising China's military might. From big budget films like "Operation Mekong" Dante Lama and "Operation Red Sea", to films for online cinemas such as "Counterattack" (2021) with Vincent Zhao and action series "Wolves" (2022), if you want your action film to have a chance of success, a war film would be the ideal genre choice.
To say more about Jackie Wu said in a 2010 post: "Goodbye yellow-haired schoolboy, I want to see if I can summon the primitive impulse deep in my heart, can I become a soldier?" His wishes came true, and after 20 years of trying to become the next kung fu movie superstar, Jin instead finally found the recognition he was looking for, becoming the most recognizable face of Chinese cinematic propaganda. While immediately after "Wolf Wars 2" he played a minor role in the fantasy comedy "Faces of My Genes" (and while we're at it, it's also worth mentioning the Alibaba Group founder's bizarre vanity project Jack Ma - short film "Guardians of Martial Arts"), it quickly became apparent that Jin's role was to be the typical protagonist in big-budget jingoistic blockbusters.
In 2019 and 2020 alone, Jing played an astronaut saving the Earth in a sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth", Fan Wuzhou's heroic climber "Climbers", a minor role as a soldier in a film about the Korean War "Feat" and "shared" his name in a cameo in a sappy political film "My people, my homeland". Although all these projects were successful on Chinese soil, and titles such as "The Wandering Earth" even gained international popularity thanks to its release on Netflix, it was in 2021 that China did everything possible for mega-budget "Battles on the Lake". As in "Feat", the setting is once again set in the Korean War, this time focusing on the climactic 1950 battle in which Chinese forces pushed US Marines past the 38th parallel. Doesn't a movie about the Korean War at least need Koreans, be it actors or at least characters? Apparently not if you are in China.
Commissioned by the Central Propaganda Department as part of the CCP's 100th anniversary celebrations, the government allocated a staggering $200 million budget to bring the story to the screen, hiring a fifth-generation director Chen Kaige, action maestro Dante Lama and Hong Kong author Tsui Harka as directors. Typically a project led by one of the trio would be considered a cinematic highlight, so having all three of them in the same film was an exciting proposition. The fact that this was supposed to be a war propaganda film made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party understandably caused a lot of mixed feelings among the directors' fan base. Of course, there was only one choice for the main role - Wu Jin. As expected, "Battle by the Lake" broke all box office records in China, surpassing "War of the Wolves 2", and was immediately followed by a back-to-back sequel in 2022.
25 years after his debut in the film "Boxer Tai Chi" Jin happens to be the star of two of China's highest-grossing films of all time, meaning it's quite possible that audiences just discovering him are completely unaware that he was once one of the most promising talents in the Hong Kong kung fu genre. Success "Battles by the Lake" once again confirmed Jin's status as China's top star, and he will again helm the sequel in 2023 "The Wandering Earth", which is remarkable because I'm sure even Jin himself never thought that he would surpass his Hong Kong legend co-star Andy Lau in the fee. Jin's role in "The Wandering Earth 2" means he's in half the top ten highest-grossing Chinese films of all time (the other two being the original and "Battle by the Lake 2"), its appearance is practically a guarantee of success.
Almost becoming a ubiquitous presence in big-budget Chinese cinema, in 2022 he also appeared in a cameo in a thriller about the evacuation of Chinese citizens "Homecoming" (I hope the characters in this movie took note of the passport from the last scene of the movie "War of the Wolves 2") and starred in the supporting role of a coach in the 2023 sports drama "Chinese Ping Pong". Unexpectedly, but the drama with Jackie Chan starring "Kung Fu Stallion" offered Jin a rare non-jingoistic supporting role, perhaps as a nod to his bygone days in kung fu action. What happens next for Jing in the ever-changing world of Chinese cinema remains to be seen. In 2017, the final scene "Wolf Wars 2" assured us that a threequel is coming soon (Andy Lauby the way first in line into the project as an actor), but six years later there was no trace of him left.
One theory can be deduced by looking at the approach we have seen in films such as "Climbers", "The Wandering Earth" и "Battle by the Lake", where the one-man-as-hero approach seems to have fallen out of favor with the CCP. Now it's all about ensemble pieces, where victory is only guaranteed if all Chinese come together for the common good, meaning that the place for a solo Wolf Warrior is no longer viable in the current cinematic environment where the unified Chinese spirit is emphasized. Regardless, Jin has proven to be adaptable over time, perhaps especially this summer when he appears with Jason Statham in film "Meg 2", which pits the best forces of China and America against the jaws of a Megalodon (or several of them, if the trailer is to be believed!). Since this is Jin's first predominantly English-language role, I'm sure this will only lead to further growth in his popularity.
The text was translated by Aidos Nurgazinov
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Tags: Benny Chan, Jackie Wu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Nikki Lee, Sammo Hung, Yuen Wu-Ping
Tags: Benny Chan, Jackie Wu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Nikki Lee, Sammo Hung, Yuen Wu-Ping
In general, of course, an interesting acting career. The actor was not particularly successful in martial arts, but suddenly in his old age he became a favorite of the party and became a regular actor in Chinese patriotic blockbusters. It's not bad. “The Wandering Earth” and “Feat” and “Reservoir” are spectacular and cool films, but as an actor, Jackie is of course still average. Although when I watched Sammo Hung’s “The Bodyguard”, I suddenly realized that in his person the cinema may have lost a very strong actor
Agree. While Jackie Woo's drama is not very convincing