Jackie Chan's last good movie?

Submitted by Ebbemonster t3_11ditek in movies

Jackie Chan has been around forever, and he is now approaching 70. He has been in an insane 138 movies over the years! Unfortunately it has been a while since he has been in any good movies, probably because he cannot do the stunts he used to. So...

Which is the last Jackie Chan movie your really enjoyed? And, which is his best movie of all time?

Let me start... While The Foreigner was OK the last "real" Jackie Chan movie I had fun with was Skiptrace.
My favorite Jackie Chan movie has to be Rush Hour 2, with Mr Nice Guy, Armour of God and The Legend of Drunken Master as close seconds ❤️

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MrTattyBojangles t1_ja8uou5 wrote

The Foreigner is probably his last good movie, or Kung Fu Panda 3 if that counts.

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UnrelatedTree t1_ja8v97b wrote

The stand out film for me was Wheels on Meals. I quite enjoyed Police Story as well.

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Mintyxxx t1_ja8wbh6 wrote

Hard to choose, I'd say Drunken Master 2, Wheels on Meals, Armour of God and Project A are his best films. When he teams up with Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung are when we see Jackie at his best.

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Hier00 t1_ja8x4bz wrote

Chinese Zodiac (2012) was pretty good.

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AmusingMusing7 t1_ja8y97r wrote

The last time he was truly relevant for me was probably Shanghai Knights, which I enjoyed, but wouldn’t say is a great movie.

The best I’ve personally seen of him since then was his part in The Karate Kid, where I thought he gave a really good performance.

I haven’t seen The Foreigner, so can’t speak to that one.

I’d say his best movie of all time is Legend of Drunken Master… OR Rush Hour 2.

Honorable mention to Rush Hour 1, Rumble in the Bronx and the Operation Condors. And Police Stories.

Mr. Nice Guy is really good too.

And Shanghai Noon is actually one of my favourites.

OH, and Twin Dragons!

Fuck it, he’s got a LOT of great movies. I can’t pick a best.

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FloridaFlamingoGirl t1_ja8z8do wrote

One of the best Reddit comments I've ever seen was that there should be another Shanghai Noon sequel, called Shanghai Seas. Yes please. The world needs pirate Jackie Chan.

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DiskO272 t1_ja8zu7a wrote

The Lego Ninjago Movie was better than people say it was, it’s a fun Lego movie with a Ninjago theme. Not saying it’s the best but I enjoyed it.

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BranWafr t1_ja91s3a wrote

> He has been in an insane 138 movies over the years!

While impressive, it is amateur hour compared to James Hong who has 456 acting roles listed on IMDB. No shade on Jackie, just went on a James Hong deep dive after his fun antics at last nights SAG awards.

But, to tie it into Jackie Chan, the first version of Everything Everywhere All At Once was written with Jackie in mind. It was going to be him as the main character and Michelle Yeoh as the mild mannered spouse. But they decided it was just another action movie with little new to add, so they swapped it to have Michelle Yeoh be the main character and make it more about the mother/daughter relationship.

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PaleFig t1_ja93gmd wrote

Battle Creek Brawl (1980)

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[deleted] t1_ja93nwf wrote

I feel like after the early 2000's, his attitude really became "I'm making an American film because it be high paying" as a means of funding his projects in Hong Kong. While I have no issue with that tactic, it became apparent that what he was putting out was likely going to be terrible and seemed to desperately try to draw on his 1995-2002/3 fame after he really exploded in the us with Rumble in the Bronx (yes, I know there was a ton of english dubbed films, but Rumble is when he really broke through).

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Blue--Cat t1_ja94r4y wrote

The Foreigner was not only his last good movie but arguably one of his best performances in terms of acting.

Otherwise I'd go with Little Big Soldier.

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Martipar t1_ja97kt4 wrote

Jackie Chan film or film with Jackie Chan in?

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TussalDimon t1_ja9e0o5 wrote

I haven’t seen Foreigner, so for me the last Jackie movie I enjoyed was The Karate Kid. Although it should’ve been called The Kung-fu Kid.

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hombregato t1_ja9g1wu wrote

Rush Hour

It was the first movie he wasn't allowed to do all his own stunts, even though the stunts were 100x easier than what he usually did. Before that, the rule was "If you see Jackie do it, Jackie did that".

But Rush Hour was still a fun movie for people who like real Jackie Chan movies. We were able to enjoy it because we thought it was a side bit of Hollywood fun before Jackie would return to the real work.

By the time Rush Hour 2 came out, it was clear that one little bit of compromise for the Hollywood producers and lawyers had transformed Jackie into something else. His golden rule was broken, and thus so was his career as an action star.

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hardgeeklife t1_ja9h4u1 wrote

The last Jackie Chan film I thought he was really great in was Police Story 2013, although it's not really a "typical" jackie chan film as it's quite melodramatic rather than comedic. Still, he's in decent shape back then, and the younger generation he has in the ensemble are competent, so the stunt work is excellent in imo.

A lot of his crossover Western releases shifted their focus to just a small number of high profile set pieces (think the bamboo scaffolding scene in Rush Hour 2). While impressive, this meant less time was spent on intricately choreographed fight sequences, which is what I personally really dig, and Police Story 2015 is the last one I remember with a healthy balance of the two

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aresef t1_ja9jk6o wrote

I actually really liked The Foreigner, even if it was a bit derivative. Best, I’d say Police Story. Supercop and Who Am I are up there.

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DonnerMcgregor t1_ja9jv9y wrote

Skiptrace was such an amazing surprise, even at his old age he’s still got it

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HoraceKirkman t1_ja9k9nm wrote

Drunken Master II was the last GREAT Jackie movie - Rumble in the Bronx was the beginning of the end. Best Jackies:

Project A, parts I and II
Police Story I-III
Dragon Lord
Dragons Forever (a personal fave because it's got the 3 brothers in it)
Drunken Master I & II

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josephgordonreddit t1_ja9kan9 wrote

If you're looking for standard fun JC with great fight choreography, then it would probably be Rush Hour 3 even if the movie didn't stand up to Rush Hour 2's quality.

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rahmelemory t1_ja9mhf5 wrote

Still Police Story is for me the ultimate Jackie movie. Comedy Romance revenge and obviously the stunts. I still shudder at the poor Stuntmen during the bus sudden break scene

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Ok-Structure-1494 t1_ja9n4ht wrote

It's The Foreigner. Which surprises me because that movie didn't take super long to film.

Wish Dragon was pretty good.

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ZombieJesus1987 t1_ja9nnw3 wrote

I don't know about it being his "last" good movie, but 2009's The Shinjuku Incident was really good.

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AfternoonCouncilor t1_ja9nv20 wrote

I love the Shanghai Knights/Noon movies. I quite liked Around the world in 80 days. Tuxedo was so dumb but fun at the time, not seen it in ages.

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Curse_ye_Winslow t1_ja9o7bd wrote

It could have been Everything Everywhere All at Once if he had accepted the role, though I think Michelle Yeoh was a ringer for the role.

btw, Rush Hour 4 is on the way...

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Worthyness t1_jaa6wfc wrote

Replying to JohnnyJayce (#2,071,966)

still pissed that the one movie that we get Jackie Chan to fight Jet li in a Hollywood film and it's in a movie about a fucking white kid who has a dream about becoming a kung fu master and hooking up with a hot asian chick.

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BenjaminRCaineIII t1_jaakmbp wrote

Replying to Worthyness (#2,079,412)

Yeah, it's kinda a shitty deal, but I'll take what I can get. Apparently they're not especially fond of each other, and I know Jackie doesn't really think highly of Hollywood in general. I've wondered if Jackie agreed to do Forbidden Kingdom, because it didn't really "count" as a real movie in his eyes.

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BenjaminRCaineIII t1_jaala1b wrote

Replying to DonnerMcgregor (#2,072,766)

Yeah, it's crazy how nimble old man Jackie still is. I recently watched Kung-fu Yoga. It was overall an unfocused mess of a movie, and the fight scenes were quite toned-down in comparison to his early-to-mid Hong Kong days, but damn if they still weren't some fun, engaging fights.

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ZackyZack t1_jaamxdb wrote

I absolutely adore the chinese one in which he is a monster "hunter" with a magical paintbrush

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boyd_duzshesuck t1_jaane8y wrote

Replying to HoraceKirkman (#2,072,884)

This man speaks the truth - I really wonder how many people here actually watched JC's pre-Hollywood output.

I would even go farther even Drunken Master II was a bit iffy. I mean, the Andy Lau story went nowhere, Jackie Chan being clearly too old for the role he was playing, and the strange thing with Anita Mui being his...stepmom.

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Moidahface t1_jaap9vn wrote

Dragon Blade is not good by any means, but I really wish more people saw it for the madness of a Chinese-produced movie about Ancient Rome fighting Ancient China with John Cusack being terrible in the co-lead, Adrien Brody chewing the scenery as an insane Roman Emperor and a whole shit-ton of Australian extras.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_jaatb7j wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,068,348)

I think that this statement didn't really become true until Jackie became political in his old age. He use to love Hong Kong and be against the communist party, until he suddenly wanted to become part of it. Strange.

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Onelove914 t1_jaatc17 wrote

What was the last movie he made? That one.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_jaauh26 wrote

Replying to HoraceKirkman (#2,072,884)

It was the end of his Hong Kong era, and the beginning of his Hollywood era. I love a bunch of his Hollywood movies:

Rush Hour 1 + 2
Shanghai Noon + Knights
Mr Nice Guy
Who Am I?
Rumble in the Bronx.

But before he also nailed it
The Legend of Drunken Master
SuperCop
Twin Dragons
Armour of God 1 + 2
Police Story 1 + 2

I wasn't the biggest fan of his earliest stuff with the trio and Project A, but I did love "Wheels on Meals".

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Ebbemonster OP t1_jaavuqp wrote

Replying to boyd_duzshesuck (#2,084,331)

I think that in pre-Hollywood Jackie had many of his best single moments because of his insane physicality, but he for sure didn't have his best overall movies. I have watched most of his movies with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and thought they were too silly, and took away from Jackie's stunts to leave room for the less interesting guys. I have watched most of his historical movies, and just don't care much about all that, I want insane stunts. In some of his first solo movies he used to have awesome training montages, like in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", "Drunken Master" and "The Young Master. But much of those movies were just Jackie goofing around acting overly silly on bad fake-looking sets. The early stuff isn't always automatically the best.

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Ebbemonster OP t1_jaawn8n wrote

Replying to FloridaFlamingoGirl (#2,067,127)

Then just watch the Project A movies, they are quite piraty 😊 I would have liked a Shanghai Sea, but unfortunately he was starting to get old at this point. We wouldn't have wanted another Rush Hour 3, where everyone just looks old.

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MaleficentTrainer281 t1_jaaxgpk wrote

The Foreigner, interesting story, good acting. A change of pace from the garbage they call entertainment these days.

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AmusingMusing7 t1_jaaydfk wrote

Replying to Ebbemonster (#2,086,988)

I’ve seen both of those. Armour of God is “Operation Condor 2” in the west, and Supercop is the third Police Story. So those are included in my honourable mentions.

The release of the Operation Condors in particular can be quite confusing. In China, Armour of God is the first one and Armour of God II: Operation Condor is the second one. In the US, they were switched, with the second one being released first as “Operation Condor”, and then Armour of God being released second as “Operation Condor 2: Armour of the Gods”. I tend to refer to them as “the Operation Condors” because they’re kind of interchangeable in my mind and I never remember which one is which. It doesn’t help that it’s been a while since I watched them. I feel like “Operation Condor” (US first release) is the one with the wind tunnel, and then “Operation Condor 2: Armour of the Gods” is the one with the monks and crazy savage women and balloon ball.

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Caiur t1_jab0jx7 wrote

Replying to Worthyness (#2,079,412)

Well... don't get mad at the people who made The Forbidden Kingdom, get mad at the Hong Kong film industry executives who had a good 10 - 15 year period prior to 2008 where they could have put Jet Li and Jackie Chan into a film together, but no one actually bothered to capitalise on the opportunity

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Ebbemonster OP t1_jab1be2 wrote

Replying to AmusingMusing7 (#2,087,604)

Ah true, I missed the Operator Condor mention in my eagerness to comment 🤣 The dumbest naming convention ever, but I guess they didn't want to launch a sequel in the US after Jackie had just had his breakthrough. I love the fight with the amazon women 😂 And the main monk is so over the top!

Many years ago I actually did a Top 10 on YouTube that got way more attention than it deserved 😂 But it had Armour of God as number one. I even enjoyed The Protector and City Hunter back then 😂 https://youtu.be/SU-wW19uJ7I

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Nellrose0505 t1_jab4own wrote

Forbidden Kingdom is my favorite Jackie Chan movie.

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rhymes_with_candy t1_jab608q wrote

His last good American movie, Kung Fu Panda 3.

His last good HK movie, The Shinjuku Incident.

His all time best, Drunken Master 2.

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HoraceKirkman t1_jab6fem wrote

Replying to Ebbemonster (#2,086,826)

Snake in Eagle's Shadow is the weakest of the three you mentioned. I have a soft spot for the "you killed my master so now I must grow up fast" movies like Young Master, Drunken Master, Dragon Lord et al, but he really put it together in the Project A and Police Story movies. Plus - young Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh!

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CardinalCreepia t1_jabpovu wrote

Replying to Ebbemonster (#2,085,938)

If you asked someone what Jackie Chan is famous for they would say 'actor'. Sure he has made a name with all the physical stuff, but that isn't everything he does.

You are putting him into a lane and are effectively typecasting the guy. Shame on you.

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EntertainerOrk t1_jacax49 wrote

Sometime around Rumble in the Bronx or so. Though I enjoyed Rush Hour 1 and 2 and Shanghai Knights. After that I really tuned out. I was there for the 80s and 90s movies all up to Police Story 3.

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LittleBullBoy t1_jackvp1 wrote

Rumble In The Bronx is my favourite. Mainly because the stunts impress me the most.

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Moffee t1_jacs1nx wrote

I haven't kept up with any of his films outside of Hollywood - but while rush hour series is good, I think three is a step down and also Shanghai Noon and Knights are far better.

Don't compare to police story, meals on wheels etc but Shanghai is so good!

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Mediocre_Analysis_54 t1_jad036u wrote

I've seen pretty much all of his movies, and I'm drawn to "Vanguard" the most.

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mrmechsale t1_jad47o9 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,068,348)

watch any behind the scenes and Jackie was super frustrated working with western directors cutting up the action/hits, and various other bits of staging action (like why Jackie might want to handle the guy with a gun first)

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