Kung Fu films...That term, in best-case scenarios, is usually enough to elicit a giggle from most “normal” movie viewers. In the worst case, they may hit you for even suggesting that they watch such a thing, much in the same way that I might react if you were to whip out the latest copy of one of Michael Moore’s propaganda laden “documentaries” and suggest that I need to “Open my eyes to the truth.”
I however, have grown quite fond of the Kung Fu genre over the last few years. I think that I can safely attribute my newfound fondness of this genre almost entirely to one man, Jackie Chan. Oh sure, I enjoy Bruce Lee’s efforts very much (the 4 films that he actually had a hand in, and the 3000 others that simply used his name and/or likeness), but there’s just something about Jackie. I’m not quite sure what it is myself. His films generally have a very thin plot at best. His acting abilities, while certainly not poor, are probably not going to win him an Oscar any time soon, either.
So why do I enjoy his films so much? I think that the answer is Jackie himself. He has a charisma that you can just feel through the screen. You can’t help but like the guy. Just watch one of the outtake reels that run at the end of his movies and you can see what he goes through just to entertain his fans. Not many people are willing (or maybe more to the point, able) to do this to themselves.
He voluntarily throws himself into a pit of fire (Legend of Drunken Master), he jumps from a parking garage onto the fire escape of a building across the street (Rumble in the Bronx), he has taken numerous objects to the face, and probably broken every bone in his body, just to entertain us. His choreographed fight scenes are simply marvelous to observe. I can’t count how many times that I’ve been watching a Jackie Chan film and found myself stopping right in the middle and rewinding to watch the same fight scene 2 or 3 times. Several scenes in The Legend of Drunken Master approach the level of art.
Jackie Chan is well known for his charity work with the elderly... With all of that being said, there is one thing that I have failed to mention about Jackie. In this age of spoiled, out of touch, dripping with pretension celebrities, Jackie appears to be the exact opposite. Let me put it this way, he’s not Sean Penn. I would rather my child's role model be Jackie Chan than George Clooney. Actually, I would prefer that he steer clear of entertainers altogether, but you get the idea.
Jackie Chan, Role Model So please try and remember what you have read here the next time you decide to shell out 15 bucks for the latest pile starring Rob Schneider. Maybe instead you’ll decide to stroll to the back of the Blockbuster Video and pick up a copy of Legend of Drunken Master or Supercop instead. You can thank me later...
-Derek Miller
12/6/06
