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At age 8
Jet Li was assigned to the Beijing Sports and Exercise School
Where he would begin studying Wushu
And after mere 3 years of training
Li won his first national championship
He was just 12
Competing against adults in their 20s
"During the awards ceremony"
"As I stood on the top step of the podium"
"I was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medalists"
"It must have been quite a sight"
But he noticed his title of "all-round champion" rings a bit hollow
As the "all-round" category consists of
Just a few styles of weapons
So, Li went outside of his school
To study many more forms of martial arts by himself
Just to live up to his own standards
This insatiable thirst for self-improvement
Emblematic of an athlete
Is what sets Jet Li apart from the competition
Jackie Chan was mainly an opera actor
Michelle Yeoh was a dancer
Jet Li is a martial artist, first and foremost
With that history in mind
Today, we are going to take a look at Jet Li's film career
To see how his works were shaped by his identities
As an actor
A movie star
And a Wushu practitioner
Strap-in
This is my ode to the emperor of kung fu
[Jet Li: the Actor, the Star, the Martial Artist]
[Chapter One]
Unfortunately, due to a knee injury
Jet Li had to retire from Wushu competitions at 18
But just like the fateful frontierman of the Chinese folktale
It was a blessing in disguise
Entering the 80s, the first Mainland-oriented Kung Fu movie
Was in production
Unlike most Hong Kong productions of the time
Instead of featuring opera actors
This film would cast seasoned martial artists
With Jet Li being one of the best Wushu artists in the country
He was cast as the leading man
Despite having no prior acting experience
He was just 17
(And really handsome)
Set against the backdrop of the Sui-Tang dynasty transition
Jet Li plays a young orphan recused by the Shaolin Temple
It's an episodic tale about the orphan's life studying kung fu
Culminating in an epic battle to defend the temple in war
Young and inexperience
Li's acting was mostly serviceable but not impressive
"Master, I have not repay your kindness..."
But no one's watching this young lad act anyway
Because everyone's busy picking up their jaws from the floor
In between these action sequences
Thanks to the actors' hardcore martial arts training
This film looks nothing like what people have seen before
People front flipping off their heads
Doing flying kicks without wires
This came out just a few years after Drunken Master
Although that movie is shot better
The physicality in Shaolin Temple is next level
Yet despite such fierce competition
Jet Li stands out
Take a look at this monk
Not bad
Now take a look at Jet Li
See how much more dynamic his movements are
Li exhibits a sense of ferocity that is unmatched
This, to me, is the essence of Jet Li's fighting style
Clean, powerful, and to the point
And with so many different weapons being showcased
You can see why people were blown away by this young man
For its stunning action
Shaolin Temple went on to broke box office records in China
Everyone I know from my parent's generation
Went to the theater multiple times to watch and rewatch the move
It was an event
With both the film's success
And Jet Li leaving such a strong impression
It's only natural for him to continue as the leading man
In many more movies
It seems like Jet Li is already on top of the world
But little did people know
The sky is not his limit
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[Chapter Two]
Jet Li's career got propelled into the stratosphere in 1991
With the release of Once Upon a Time in China
In this Kung Fu wuxia series
Jet Li plays a Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei-hung
He fights American human traffickers
Helps establish the Republic of China
And even travels overseas to build Chinatown
All fictionalized adventures, of course
To this day, whenever people think of Wong Fei-hung
They think of Jet Li
Even though many actors played the character
Li remains the most iconic
Why?
For a few reasons, I believe
The obvious one is Jet Li's background
His Wushu style feels traditional
It's clean and elegant
Which matches well with a legendary character
Li even walks with a stoic attitude
A posture backed by years of training
He feels larger than life
But the critical reason for me is Jet Li's mentality
From his interviews
You can tell Li is a very contemplitive person
"There's only ever one champion at a time"
"Does that mean if you are the best, you are the hero"
"If you can't get there, you are a zero?"
"I don't think that's how life should be"
Jet Li has a mind of a martial artist
A mind of a hero
Once Upon a Time In China was a massive success
It kick-started the folk hero subgenre
In 1993 alone, Jet Li starred in 6 movies
All of them are wuxia folk hero films
People were in love with Jet Li
For he seems to embody a sort of wuxia ideal
And as Jet Li's fame grew, his creative involvement also grew
He became a producer in many of his own films
Perhaps unsatisfied with being typecasted
Towards the second half of the 90s
Jet Li transitioned into modern action flicks
Switching to a more contemporary combat style
For any other kung fu stars, this transition wouldn't be a big deal
But for Jet Li, it was a statement
Few have the gall to remake a Bruce Lee film
But Jet Li is nothing if not a daring man
In the Jet Li-produced Fist of Legend, he shows off
A form of kickboxing that incorporates elements of Sanda
As well as foreign martial arts like Judo
It's contemporary
Yet you can still see its form and style
It's beautiful
In the film, the style matches the film's thesis
"No, young man."
"If you want to defeat your enemy, get a gun"
"Martial art's purpose is to push your body to its limit"
It examines the utility of martial arts in contemporary China
Outside of the film, however
This may also be a criticism of the state of Wushu competitions
Jet Li was dissatisfied with the state of Wushu
Believing the rigid competition rule stifled personal style and creativity
"There's no more personal 'flavor' anymore."[...]
"Nowadays, the athletes look like machines."
"They're moving so quickly, I can barely see what they're doing." [...]
"Wushu is not a race."
"It shouldn't be like other sports, where the fastest athlete wins."
In the same way Bruce Lee once pushed Kung Fu forward
Jet Li's free-formed combat moves with the times
Appropriate, as both of them are martial artists first and foremost
Hailed as one of the greatest kung fu movies ever produced
Jet Li wrote himself into cinematic history
The man is now a living legend
How much higher can he possibly go?
[Chapter Three]
Like many Hong Kong action stars
Jet Li made a transition to stateside at the turn of the century
Li's first Hollywood role is the villain
In the excellent action sit-com, Lethal Weapon 4
It was kinda a big deal for Jet Li to be playing the bad guy
But these days, we all know who the real bad guy is
Anyway, It was quite an introduction
Jet Li's ferocity matches well with a ruthless villain
This killer with few words persona left such a strong impression
Almost all of Jet Li's overseas films would follow this template
Always the cold and stoic badass
He's the hero who doesn't need to run
He just walks and demolishes whoever's in his way
He effortlessly breaks out of a prison in Romeo Must Die
Beats up 30 cops in Kiss of the Dragon
Fights with one hand in his pocket in Cradle 2 the Grave
Even kicks his own ass in The One
It's a testament to his Wushu prowess
That fierce movement shaped his persona
And his persona shaped his movies
Jet Li's name alone makes the franchise
This marks the height of his identity as a movie star
Meanwhile, Jet Li's acting career
Begins to shift toward a more serious direction
Hero, released in 2002
Is arguably Jet Li's first dramatic performance
Li plays a nameless assassin on a mission
To kill a warmongering king
Upon confronted by the king's reason for war, however
He begins to have second thoughts
While Jet Li's performance isn't the most impressive thing
As his character is essentially a Terminator
It is definitely a notch above his usual quality
"Then how did you win"
See that subtle shift in his eyes
When he begins to fall into his memories?
And who can forget his fight scene with Donnie Yen?
Like Li, Donnie is also a martial artist trained from a young age
And the skills on display by these two are truly breathtaking
Li would step it up in Luc Besson's 2005 production
Unleashed
Jet Li plays a man who grew up and trained like an attack dog
He's docile when his collar is on
But becomes a vicious killer when it's off
Now that is a challenging role
And Jet Li kills it
And his opponents, too!
Appropriately, Li's fighting style is much more brutal
With no regard for grace and beauty
It's morbidly mesmerizing to see him
Punches a goon repeatedly in the face
Beyond the fights, Jet Li also acts really well
This scene where Morgan Freeman shows him a piano
And he experienced joy for the first time
That childlike innocence is infectious
Then, in 2006, Jet Li concluded his career in Kung Fu cinema
With one of the all-time best Kung Fu films
Fearless
Jet Li plays folk hero Huo Yuanjia
It's a story about a young martial artist being led astray
By his obsession with becoming the best
Upon defeating his final opponent, accidentally killing him
He loses all meaning in life
And begins wondering, in search of a purpose
Despite it being an action film
A third of the film's run time is spent
On the character's life as a drifter in a remote village
Devoid of action
In this contemplative journey, he learns how to slow down
To truly live a life with meaning
As the character feels it
The audience also feels it, too
"You are just one person in this particular spacetime"
"In these particular decades"
"Within a particular industry"
"In infinite time and space, even 4 billion years is but a dream"
Now those are the words of a Wushu master
Finally, in 2007
Jet Li starred in The Warlords
A political action thriller set in the late Qing Dynasty
Jet Li plays a warrior who ascends the political ladder
Through cunning and brutal means
Hoping to be the one good person in the government
To save the people of China
For that, he must sacrifice even the people closest to him
"One day, you'll know I'm right"
And this eulogy he gives for the people he's about to kill
Is positively chilling yet heart breaking
"Rest in peace"
Now a mature man, Li's acting is sincere and moving
Li won Best Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards
Against the legendary Andy Lau, whom he acted opposite to
What a way to conclude your acting career
[Conclusion]
In 2004, while taking a vacation in the Maldives with his family
Jet Li was hit by the tsunami
Caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Thanks to the goodwill of passers-by
Li and his family narrowly escaped
And that experience changed Jet Li forever
"I had spent the first 41 years of my life thinking about Jet Li first"
"Wanting to prove I was special, wanting to prove I was a star"
"Everything I'd done was self-centered"
"In that lobby, however, I saw people of different colors"
"Speaking different languages, helping each other" [...]
"If everybody does a little bit, it will make a big difference"
Li decided to do what is right: Paying it forward
So, he started his own charity: The One Foundation
Post-2010s, Jet Li's film output slows down significantly
As he focuses more on his charity work
He also became much more active again in the Wushu scene
Participating in a lot more promotional events
As well as teaming up with Chinese billionaire Jack Ma
To promote the performative sport
He is living a truly meaningful life
Jet Li is more than an action star
For his passion and ambition lies way beyond the boundary
Of a celluloid frame
For nearly his entire life
He dedicates himself to the art of Wushu
Promoting the art form and its philosophy through cinema
While he did that
He also continuously honed his acting skill
As well as his mind
And through his charity, honed his heart
He's a martial artist
He's a star
He's an actor
And to me
Jet Li is a hero