| |
|
|
|
Yuen Woo Ping |
| |
| Over the years I have watched hundreds of martial arts
movies. I must admit that I have spent a lot of money on renting and buying
movies that were nothing but disappointing. Millions of dollars are being
invested in martial arts movies that are simply not worth it. I have created
a small list of pros and cons that may help martial arts films producers,
directors and screenwriters create better martial arts movies. Here it is: |
 |
|
Michael Jai White |
|
1. Hire martial artists that can act and not actors that
cannot do martial arts. I know that with the use of technology, visual
effects and wires you can make a fighter out of Cameron Diaz these days.
Anyway it is not the same. Why spend millions of dollars hiring an actor
who can fight and still have to spend money on wirework, visual effects
and stuntmen? Actors like Donnie Yen, Michael
Jai White, Adrian Paul or
Billy Blanks come a lot cheaper and they are worth their money. |
|
| 2. If you hire martial artists, for God’s sake, use
them. Some directors are afraid that their martial arts actors that have
supporting roles may look better than the leading actors so they do not
let them do the stuff that got them hired in the first place. See “Blade
2” (Donnie Yen) or “Universal Soldier 2” (Michael
Jai White). I was so
excited when I went to see these two movies that had such skilled actors
in their cast and I was so disappointed. It takes a lot of Hollywood’s
arrogant actors and ignorant producers - directors to have such a
talented cast and yet produce so poor results. |
|
|
|
Billy Blanks |
|
|
 |
|
Samo Hung |
|
3. Talented and skilled actors can be buried by poor
action choreography and vice versa. Yuen Woo Ping did an amazing job in
“The Matrix”. I just could not believe my eyes. There was Keanu Reeves
fighting like Jackie Chan. Yuen trained the actors for more than 3
months in order to produce such magnificent results. On the other hand
Jean Claude Van Damme embodies the most boring fighting choreography in
his movies. No wonder the audience got bored with him. It is a pity to
see such a talent being wasted. The same goes for Cynthia Rothrock.
Compare the fascinating movies she worked on in Hong Kong with all those
boring US films. Action choreographers are very important and at this
point the best are Samo Hung, Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo Ping and
Donnie Yen.
Wesley Snipes’ crew is also very good. |
|
| 4. If you are a producer, use directors like Tsui Hark
that are experienced in this film genre. If you are a director, use
professional action choreographers and please, ask their opinion. They
usually know more about the right angles, the right pace and rhythm of
the fights. And please, do not repeat moves from different angles again
and again. It destroys the rhythm and it is so boring. At this point the
best directors capable of filming martial arts films are Tsui Hark,
Corey Yuen, Samo Hung and Donnie Yen. If you use a Hong Kong director
make sure you have a solid script and make them stick to it because they
have a tendency to exaggerate a bit. I also like Luc Besson’s work a
lot. |
 |
|
Corey Yuen |
|
|
 |
|
Tsui Hark |
|
5. Martial arts are a lot about rhythm and speed. A
director who has no experience in martial arts filmmaking should study
Hong Kong films. They can teach him a lot about the rhythm and the
duration of the fights. Most Hong Kong films use more than 70 moves in
every major fight sequence. Most Hollywood films do not use more than 10
or 20. A good film to start studying is “Meals on Wheels” with
Jackie
Chan. It is a masterpiece as far as action sequences are concerned.
6. If you can avoid it, do not use wires. Most people in the audience
hate them. I know that they are a fashion in Hollywood now but any
serious martial arts filmmaker should avoid them. I personally hate it
when the fighters fly. If you hire a Hong Kong choreographer like Woo
Ping, do not let him use wires. It is the main flaw of Hong Kong action
directors. That is mainly because they come from different cultures. In
China, the audience can accept that a hero can fly and fight in the air,
while western audiences will not. |
|
| 7. If you can, do not let martial artists fight non-martial
artists. The audience will know the difference and the outcome will not be
believable. Who would believe that Keanu Reeves could actually win against
Jet Li? The Mel Gibson/Danny Glover fight against Jet Li in “Lethal Weapon
4” is believable only because they face him together and still have a hard
time winning. |
| 8. No matter how good the action, if the story is not good,
without suspense, romance and all the right ingredients the movie will be a
failure. Try to make the script interesting even if it did not have any
martial arts action in it. We are tired of dull martial arts movies that are
produced by martial artists who know nothing about filmmaking. |
| 9. Do not exaggerate your main character’s abilities. A
single guy cannot fight alone against the gangs of Harlem and win. One also
cannot dodge bullets and fight unarmed against enemies that use machine
guns. Keep the story believable. The character should use tactics and his
brain in order to survive; he is not a superhero. |
| 10. Do not let your main character get beaten too much. It
is very unrealistic when Jean Claude Van Damme gets hit in the head 10 times
by a giant and suddenly gets angry, wakes up and starts winning. Nobody can
take that kind of beating. Create characters that exist in the real world. |
| 11. Martial arts training videos and true martial artists
can help action choreographers a lot. The Gracie family helped a lot in the
filming of “Lethal Weapon” as Mel Gibson used their now famous “triangle
choke”. I really like the way Wesley Snipes embodies such interesting and
effective techniques in his movies. He is clever enough to consult other
martial artists. However one should only hire martial artists as extra help
and not as action choreographers if they are not experienced. Choreography
is a lot different than fighting. |
| 12. Study fighting events like the “Pride FC.” They can be
very entertaining and thrilling, full of real life stories, drama, blood and
guts. After all Sylvester Stallone was inspired in writing “Rocky” by a true
boxing event. Sometimes life writes better scripts than we do. |
| |
| Ok, that is it. And if you are a famous producer with a lot
of money, here is a winning combination: Use Samo Hung as choreographer,
Donnie Yen as main actor,
Michael Jai White as the villain and Tsui Hark as the
director. Do not let them use wires. Add an interesting script full of
suspense, shoot in beautiful locations and you simply cannot lose. No need
for crazy stunts and expensive special effects. If you need advice do not
hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to help. |
