Donnie Yen

Submitted by HuskyLove92 t3_zwy2sl in movies

Over my decades of watching TV and movies, I occasionally notice how some great actors and actresses get left behind. Recently, I've thought of Donnie Yen - likely because he's in John Wick 4 and I saw the trailer recently.

Good God.....I remember seeing him back in the 2000s in Hollywood films like Blade 2 and Highlander: Endgame (don't get me started on the horrible Highlander sequels). I also recall he as in XXX: Return of Xander Cage but I didn't see it because it looked terrible. I guess for me....I absolutely loved his martial arts. To the average Western viewer, there's no real difference (with Martial Arts) between people like him and Jet Li, Jackie Chan, etc who all had their limelight in starring roles in Hollywood productions. For me honestly, the difference was that his English language fluency was so phenomenal and that was the difference for me - you never really see this in movies but rather his interviews. And no, this is not a complaint against people who don't speak English well, but rather studios ignoring a potential star actor.

I really believe if some Hollywood producer had cast him in a starring role rather than supporting roles (some were even non-speaking), he would have had some measure of success. I'm glad he had success with his Hong Kong roles (loved the Ip Man movies), but I really feel like Hollywood missed the boat on him. Thoughts, opinions?

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newscumskates t1_j1xg8su wrote

I'm sure he's content with his success. He's one of the highest paid actors in Asia.

Asia is pretty much 1/3 of the world.

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uncultured_swine2099 t1_j1xl5ba wrote

Yeah, hes so successful these days that he just does western roles if hes intrigued by them. He was great in Rogue One, and Im sure he'll be great in John Wick.

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rattler1234 t1_j1xgtx3 wrote

Ip Man was easily one of my favorite film series. Donnie Yen perfectly encompasses “reserved yet deadly”.

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redisforever t1_j1yd14l wrote

Ip Man 1 and 2 feel like they don't belong in the same universe, the tone is so different, and after 2 they get progressively goofier. It's also very clearly propaganda about how amazing China is over every other country.

However, the series works, because of Donnie Yen. Not just the action scenes, but he's a damn good actor. It's hard to make the audience care about someone who's basically a perfect person with no flaws but he's just so damn good.

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rattler1234 t1_j1z7lsr wrote

I would consider the first film one of those near perfect ones. I watched the others because of Donnie Yens performance. Certainly didn’t enjoy them as much but they are leagues above many other films these days.

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redisforever t1_j1z8gn8 wrote

2 is goofy but satisfying. A lot of arcs from the first film finish there, and the characters are very fun. The story is kinda silly but satisfying. The final fight with Ip Man and the British boxer is a fantastic payoff. The movie is packed with amazing action in general. The fight at the market, the duels with the other masters, Sammo Hung fighting the British boxer the first time. Excellent stuff.

Very radically different from the tone of the first film but I enjoy it a lot. It's the one I go back to more.

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rattler1234 t1_j1z94ae wrote

I’ll preface this will saying I know nothing about fighting. I also don’t know anything about the history of martial arts meeting western boxing for the first time. It was only hard for me to accept that Ip Man was essentially God mode in film 1 but had trouble competing with 1 person in film 2. Perhaps actual fighters could explain why he could kick the shit out of 50 guys in one scene and get nearly KO’d by 1 other in another scene.

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infinite884 t1_j1zgs4n wrote

big IP man movie fan, didn't care for the fourth one. The only good thing about that movie is the ending and end credit scene with his son

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redisforever t1_j1zy5lj wrote

I haven't seen that one yet and honestly don't care enough to. Hey, maybe they'll finally go to space in Ip Man 5

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Badwolf_131 t1_j1xhx4n wrote

And if memory serves, Jackie Chan is quoted as saying Donnie has the fastest hands in martial arts. The man is near or at 60 and he looks half his age. Fucking astounding.

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cthd33 t1_j1xsrb9 wrote

I think it was Michelle Yeoh who said that, but perhaps Jackie may have have also said it.

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cthd33 t1_j1xufi0 wrote

He was originally considered for the role of Shang-Chi's father Wenwu. Curious to have seen how he would have been in that role. He is definitely the better martial artist than Tony Leung. But Tony Leung is probably the better actor and gave the role so much depth.

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DelboyLindo t1_j2083aj wrote

Tony Leung is a proper actor. Donnie Yen is a great martial artist but can’t really act. Imagine Donnie Yen in Hard Boiled or In The Mood For Love? Wouldn’t work.

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j4eo t1_j23dud8 wrote

Donnie Yen can't act? Sure he's not one of the five tigers but he's still a good actor.

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Workothon29 t1_j1zq1kd wrote

Tony Leung isn’t a slouch either, he knows Wing-Chun if I’m not mistaken. But yeah put next to Donnie Yen, 90% of other people’s martial arts experience completely pales in comparison.

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cthd33 t1_j1ztave wrote

Yes, they are definitely at different levels. Tony learned what he needed for the movies, but Donnie was a trained martial artist before he started making movies. And he is also the son of one the most famous female martial artist who pioneered Wushu in the U.S.

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JobberYuki t1_j20wc9i wrote

Tony being a phenomenal actor wasn't a good thing, because it was like he and simu were in 2 different movies given the level of acting skill difference

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BootyMcSqueak t1_j1xnm59 wrote

If you want to see him in another martial arts movie in the spirit of old king fu movies, check out Iron Monkey (1993). It was the first movie I ever saw Donnie Yen in and he made such an impression that I am always geeked to see him in other stuff.

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ETH_Knight t1_j1ykcck wrote

Same. Once I saw him in Iron monkey I have always been a fan

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PhilvanceArt t1_j1xsjef wrote

Iron monkey is a classic. Fantastic Kung fu film. Was lucky enough to see it in theaters!

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noeldc t1_j22asg1 wrote

Saw it the times in the theatre when it came out.

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DelboyLindo t1_j208axh wrote

I still remember his In The Line Of Duty franchise from the late 80’s.

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Rocky-64 t1_j1xkwue wrote

You really should ignore the reviews and check out the XXX sequel. It's a fine action film and Donnie Yen is great in it.

One big Hollywood film you didn't mention was Rogue One. Yen had the funniest line in the movie – "Are you kidding me? I'm blind."

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hetty3 t1_j1xv208 wrote

I didnt even know XXX had a sequel but I am now going to watch it.

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andbeesbk t1_j1xzny6 wrote

It has 2 One with ice cube as the new xXx One with vin diesel coming back (after he was killed off between the first and ice cubes one)

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sotommy t1_j1ymi27 wrote

I have no idea why XXX 3 is so badly rated. It's basically a Fast&Furious spin-off, with insane action sequences

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cthd33 t1_j1xsvi5 wrote

Loved the two fights he had with Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China 2 and Hero. They were awesome.

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noeldc t1_j22b0fv wrote

Yup. OUATIC2 was by far the best of the series, thanks to Donnie. "This is China, not Britain!"

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Henryik t1_j1y6l7l wrote

If you are up for some crazy action from Donnie, you can watch SPL/Kill Zone. The fight with WU Jing is amazing

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Screwball1984 t1_j1xo5g3 wrote

I forget what it’s called, but he does a jiu jitsu movie, where instead of Wing Chun, he does jiu jitsu for the entire movie. It’s so crazy got he can just kick ass in a totally different martial art

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Siantlark t1_j21igm4 wrote

He was studying judo and jiujitsu for years before taking on the role of Ip Man. He didn't have any background in Wing Chun before the movie.

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Zassolluto711 t1_j1y9ivh wrote

I don’t understand why he needs to be in Hollywood at all. He’s built himself a pretty respectable career in Asia, in some great films (terrible ones too). So just watch those movies if you want to see him more.

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noeldc t1_j22b5kl wrote

Yeah. Look at the shit they made Jackie do second time around.

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lebob01 t1_j1yht0b wrote

Holywood misses on almosy all asian actors/actresses as far as I can recall, unless the director/writter are asian themselve that know what the actors are capable of, like Everything Everywhere all at once with Evelyn Quang.

Rush Hours with Jackie Chan is very entertaining, but pale in comparison with his works on the Hong Kong side.

And yeah, they just doesn't know what to do with Donnie Yen, his Mulan role was just utter piss, they gave him nothing to work with.

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EvilNuff t1_j1xn4is wrote

I never understood why he didn’t become a big star in the US. I have to agree he has some great performances.

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JobberYuki t1_j20wxhj wrote

He's an asian male

You ever notice why every single asian news anchor in america is a woman? There's a video of 1 of the only asian male anchors ever in america talking about his experiences on youtube, watch it and you'll understand what a tumor american media is and will always be

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noeldc t1_j1xqgua wrote

Go back and watch his older stuff.

I've been a fan of the Yenster since I first saw him in "In the Line of Duty IV" in 1989.

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The_Greyarch t1_j1ycpci wrote

"Complete waste of a perfectly good Donnie Yen" about sums up his Hollywood experiences. Especially in Rogue One. Still. He got at least one moment.

Which is more than Iko Uwais in Snake Eyes, to be fair.

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jgpalanca t1_j20w9ug wrote

It's not that Hollywood isn't trying to get him. They have been. But DY's picky about his projects. That's why he started directing and producing his own movies. Most of his early US films, he wasn't originally intended to star in. At that time he was mostly working behind the camera doing action design. Del Toro hired him to be the action designer for Blade II and then at the last minute asked if he wanted to be part of the Blood Pack. For Highlander, again he was only hired to be the action designer but when it came to the big fight scene he's in, he realized the actors and stuntmen couldn't get the timing and rhythm down so he did it himself. There's an interview where he talks about it, he says he wasn't even in shape but none of them knew the HK style of action so rather than waste time doing take after take, he just jumped in to do it.

Rogue One and Mulan was for his kids. XXX, IIRC, he's friends with several of the other actors and agreed to do it for fun.

He's not like Jackie Chan. He doesn't really have a desire to be famous in the US. He just wants to work on projects where he can keep evolving the action design (which isn't really possible in the US - he won't have the freedom to do certain things like he does in HK). And if you follow his work, you can see how he keeps pushing the envelope on choreography.

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ToyVaren t1_j1xn7c0 wrote

Donnie is such a humble guy he's happy to take minor or supporting roles, or even play the bad guy. Im sure if he insisted he could get starring vehicles in hollywood but he doesn't care.

This is why donnie can star opposite the biggest stars like Jackie chan and jet li but those two only have 1 film together.

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BlueHairedTroonAdmin t1_j1yrb6f wrote

I honestly believe he's one of the best actors of this generation, if not the best

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DelboyLindo t1_j208i9l wrote

I find him wooden and bland, lacking in charisma. Brilliant Martial artist though but he’s no Sammo or Jackie.

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Nintura t1_j1zofhx wrote

Isnt he the person who plays all the Ip Man movies?

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DelboyLindo t1_j207s90 wrote

I like Donnie Yen, great martial artist, but not a lot of charisma, doesn’t have the charm of Jackie, Jet, Sammo.

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realistism t1_j222r2y wrote

He grew up in Boston so he's fluent. And agreed - he could've been a lead in US if he was given a chance. Flashpoint was a masterpiece.

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RP_2005 t1_j1zhnp1 wrote

"why isn't the extremely successful and well known star more successful?"

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