i watch a lot of doonie yen’s movies and television series from hong kong and once in a while see him in some american stuff like blade 2. what i wonder is why a guy that seems to have such talent get stuck in bad roles like his less than important fole in blade 2? i would think that the guy from iron monkey and once upon a time in china 2 would have a better foot in hollywood.
Hollywood stereotypes him as only being a martial artist, and only being a martial artis will get you crappy movies like jet li got in America.
[QUOTE=SanSoo Student;738584]Hollywood stereotypes him as only being a martial artist, and only being a martial artis will get you crappy movies like jet li got in America.[/QUOTE]
That’s too bad too, because he’s a waaaaaaay better actor then Jet. He can actually show emotion and some form of internal monolouge without having to directly tell the audience his character’s considering things.
Also, he’s the reason the fights in Blade 3 sucked out loud compared to 2.
The lack of him being involved, I mean.
I’m not sure Hollywood is ready to give someone like Donnie Yen much more than bad cameo roles. I think his first was in the last Highlander film where he stole the show but got eliminated early on. There seems to be a very low limit of Asian (male) stars that Hollywood will allow in, and as mentioned, he is stereotyped as a martial artist. And in Hollywood, Asian martial artist means Jackie Chan or Jet Li.
Hollywood doesn’t seem ready for an Asian man who can actually act and do things besides being a: (1) martial artist; (2) stuffy/boring businessman; (3)nerd who makes fun of self (4) Yakuza/Triad gangster.
He doesn’t get to do anythign in that movie with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. I kept waiting for them to showdown and then they did and I had to remember that it is an American movie.
I have seen a clip of Highlander Endgame where he has an awesome scene. I am guessing it is his only fight scene. I don’t know why he can’t get a real role. I don’t think that Killzone showed he is a superstar or anything but he should at least be given a couple of REAL shots in Hollywood.
Obviously we all would like to see more of Donnie – I think he’s capable of taking bigger roles. He is obviously “paying his dues” so to speak – look at Jackie and Jet – both of them were basically superstars in Asia when they first started dabbling in Hollywood roles. Both of them had lesser pictures where they were given cameos (ala Cannonball Run or Lethal Weapon IV) and eventually became legitimate Hollywood stars. Hopefully Donnie is on a similiar path – he sure seems poised to make the next leap. I think a certain part of the equation is luck and getting the right role at the right time as well – there are many talented Asian-American actors out there who get consistent work but have never become leading stars – one who comes to mind is Russell Wong, who has done a combination of dramatic roles as well as some action-oriented and martial arts films. I think someone who is definitely getting some great roles lately is Ken Watanabe. And Chow Yun Fat is another HK legend who didn’t really get much recognition with his 1st few films. Donnie has the physical skill obviously, plus the looks and charisma – now I think he just needs the right role and vehicle to take him to the next level.
Can’t agree more with you guys, has anyone seen the hk series he did which were based on fist of fury?
Li Kao:
Regarding Russell Wong, I thought it was a pity he was buried in sub-par roles by Hollywood, always having to affect a fake accent and play subordinate characters. He seemed poised to break the mold and play mainstream American characters like white, black, and many Hispanic actors are able to. He’s certainly got the acting chops to do so. But he’s always stuck in Asian-themed episodes or films when he is seen. Sorry to have gone off-topic.
Donnie might even be good starring in a U.S. movie that features relatively few martial arts scenes. Something like a crime/suspense type story, similar to Seven, or The Bone Collector, but with some MA. Even similar to Seagal’s Marked For Death or Out For Justice before his movies went down the drain. Rather than a movie that’s completely martial-themed. He’s got a very good, gritty style that would suit that type of film. And the bit of MA he shows would be all the more dramatic. That could further set him apart from Jackie Chan and Jet Li in their American films. And I don’t think they should limit Donnie to Chinatown-themed stories like they did to Chow Yun-Fat.
I think Chow Yun Fat would work well for Hollywood crime/suspense movies. We know he can play a great, gritty cop. They did pigeonhole him into Chinatown themed movies as Jimbo said but I think they should put him in more then that. I really think Chow Yun Fat has the acting ability and charisma and it might be enough to break the mold. He’s in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Maybe that will make him more mainstream.
I agree that Chow is amazing and would be good if he was given a great role. I don’t think Donnie Yen can be compared to Chow in any way but DOnnie still deserves a serious shot. it just has to be the right role. He has only been working for what, 24 years now?
im glad to see that i’m not the only person out there that things donnie has been getting the shaft. as for chow yun fat, was it just me or was bullet proof monk a great movie that nobody knew about? true we could have done without mr. funktastic but if you cut him out i enjoyed it. chow hasn’t done too many kung fu films since crouching tiger was his first. i think it was sean’s character that drew me in. the scene with were he learns kung fu from watching the movies. that brought back memories. 
I may have to actually watch Bulletproof Monk. I have it but never planned on watching it. Seriosly, is it good?
And Crouching Dragon wasn’t Chow’s first fu movie. He did a little bit in Treasure Hunt and Tiger On the Beat. I don’t know if you can call it kung fu though.
Postman Strikes back is the only other one I can think of where he does kung fu.
[QUOTE=jethro;739491]I may have to actually watch Bulletproof Monk. I have it but never planned on watching it. Seriosly, is it good?
And Crouching Dragon wasn’t Chow’s first fu movie. He did a little bit in Treasure Hunt and Tiger On the Beat. I don’t know if you can call it kung fu though. Postman Strikes back is the only other one I can think of where he does kung fu.[/QUOTE]
bulletproof monke…meh…good? no…
worth watching? sure. it will entertain you a little bit. the scene in the kitchen with the cheerios is the best scene in the entire movie.
watch it for that.
oh, and the downfall of immortality seeking tibetan monk killing nazi scum
glad i’m not the only one!
i’ve been preaching the gospel of donnie yen for a while now, as many of you may know. you guys just wait till city with no mercy comes out. from what i’ve scene so far its gonna blow spl out of the water.
Hey Ghost of this mother effin sh!t, I have seen some behind the scenes footage and I agree this could be better than SPL.
Also, Isaac Florentine could be on his way to making Hollywood movies(I would at least hope so)and I think him and Donnie Yen could make an outstanding movie together. Of course, I always think too big.
pics of cwnm from louis koo’s blog
here are some pics from louis koos blog, unlike dragon tiger gate. pics and behind the scene footage are hard to come by for this one so check it out:
http://www.kootinlok.net/louisxpress/Blog/2007/2007January/blog20070124.htm
nice Donnie montage
This clip showcases some of the action highlights of Donnie’s career – kind of quick and just gives a taste, but still pretty fun to watch:
[QUOTE=jethro;739491]
And Crouching Dragon wasn’t Chow’s first fu movie. He did a little bit in Treasure Hunt and Tiger On the Beat. I don’t know if you can call it kung fu though. Postman Strikes back is the only other one I can think of where he does kung fu.[/QUOTE]
Chow is an actor that learned some MA moves to do his craft, not like Donnie or Jet of course, i’d rather see Chow “Gunfuing” in action movies than see him play an MAist as he did in Crouching tiger hidden dragon.
[QUOTE=Hishaam;740490]Chow is an actor that learned some MA moves to do his craft, not like Donnie or Jet of course, i’d rather see Chow “Gunfuing” in action movies than see him play an MAist as he did in Crouching tiger hidden dragon.[/QUOTE]
I dunno, even if he never learned anything, he comes off as the “old master/*******” about 10,000 times harder then anyone else in current cinema. And honestly, if it’s a movie that has kung fu, and not a kung fu movie, I’d rather his way of doing it.
My opinion on this matter-Chow’s gun fu stuff is superb!
I have actually seeked out all of CHow’s kung fu movies over the years and I think I have actually found them all! I even found a beggar So TV series where he does drunken style! IS Chow a kung fu master? Of course not. Why did I get all of the Chow kung fu movies I could find? Well, that is pretty easy to answer. I like Chow Yun Fat movies, I like kung fu movies, I just added 1 and 1 together and came up with an even bigger number.
Postman fights Back is an outstanding movie. If you have not seen it, check it out hishaam. The Yuen clan make CHow look absolutely fabulous. 7/10 rating from me.