(Born Yen Ji-dan) Named the biggest action star of Asia and the most "practical fighter" in Asian martial arts cinema by Jet Li and Jackie Chan, this versatile martial artist and former Beijing Wushu champion, (black belt ranks in Boxing, Tai Chi, Jeet Kune Do, Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Judo, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, Hapkido, and Wrestling) became an international star after his breakout role as the titular character of 2008's Ip Man. From Wing Chun to MMA-style fight choreography, Yen's action design is as intensely visceral as it is highly entertaining. So here are 12 of my favorite Donnie Yen fight scenes.
#12. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Unlike his contemporaries Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Donnie Yen did not break through the American mainstream until much later in his career. It was not for a lack of trying however as the new millennium finally saw him as an immortal imperial guard in 2000's Highlander: Endgame, followed up by his turn as an elite vampiric assassin as well as the film's fight choreographer in Blade 2, a villainous part against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights, a fellow agent of Vin Diesel's in Triple X: The Return of Xander Cage, and a Chinese general in Mulan. Yet none of these movies truly cemented his place in western cinema as did Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As a prequel to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Rogue One recounts the story of the ragtag suicide squad of rebels who successfully stole the schematics for the Death Star. Donnie Yen portrays a blind monk named Chirrut Imwe accompanied by his mercenary companion Baze Malbus (played by Wen Jiang who joined Yen back in 2011's The Lost Bladesman) who rescue rebels Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and reprogrammed imperial droid K2SO from a unit of stormtroopers.
In one of the most badass character introductions in Star Wars or possibly any movie franchise in general, Chirrut leaves us in awe by dodging a blaster bolt and proceeding to take out most of the storm troopers alone with nothing but his staff and his highly attuned sense of hearing aided by some force-sensitivity. We've seen Donnie Yen take on the Nazi military in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen but here we witness him knock out sci-fi soldiers partly based on the Nazis themselves. The lack of eyesight was in fact a creative choice by Yen when asked to envision his own character. Because the contact lenses required to bring out Chirrut's opaque eyes almost made Donnie Yen feel like he was actually blind, you could say Yen was in some ways truly "one with the force". Relying more on his decades of martial arts training and screen fighting experience than solely his vision to perform the action sequences. While also inspired by the fictional blind Japanese swordsman Zatoichi, Donnie Yen was chosen by director Gareth Edwards for both his martial arts prowess and his acting abilities as his calm and humble demeanor in his portrayal of grandmaster Ip Man was not far off from the personality of Chirrut. Gareth Edwards' only other consideration for the role was Jet Li whose contract was over twice that of Yen's. Donnie Yen ultimately accepted the part due to his younger son's love of the Star Wars franchise.
This is very likely the closest we'll ever get to seeing Donnie Yen as a Jedi. Even without a lightsaber, Yen is absolutely superb with his staff having stated in interviews that he created his very own fighting style for the character. Yen was also given complete control in choreographing his own fight scenes, with action design previz by Christopher Clark Cowan (YouTube channel "RivenX3i"), as well as assistance from fight coordinator C.C. Smiff, assistant fight coordinator Brendon Huor (also an indie fight scene legend), and assistant fight coordinator Liang Yang (remember that bathroom fight from Mission Impossible: Fallout?). Indonesian action stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian made painfully brief appearances in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens but Yen gave us the martial arts star power we all needed in the Star Wars series. Now all we need to do is wait until he ascends the Hollywood action hierarchy even further when he makes his next appearance in John Wick: Chapter 4.
#11. Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)
Hopefully one day Donnie Yen may make his MCU debut in a Shang-Chi sequel but until then we have Dragon Tiger Gate. A Chinese superhero movie adaptation of Oriental Heroes, a manhua, or what could be called a "Chinese comic" (the creator of which cameos as Master Qi in the film). Donnie Yen plays Dragon, the older half-brother of Tiger (played by Nicholas Tse) both of whom are the sons of the founder of the Dragon Tiger Gate martial arts academy. After their master is killed by Shibumi, leader of the Luocha Cult which oversees the operations of the local Triad, Tiger and new ally Turbo break into Shibumi's lair but are defeated by a superior yet admittedly impressed Shibumi. Dragon finally arrives to redeem himself having once been the bodyguard of the Triad's boss, the same boss who was more or less a father figure to him and was later murdered by Shibumi's henchmen.
We were already well acquainted with Dragon's deadly and extremely fast palm style in his fight against Tiger and an army of sword-wielding mafia men. Though it is in a dimly lit amber colored room evoking a comic book visual aesthetic that sets the stage for the final fight which allows Dragon to fully demonstrate how effective his powerful palms are against Shibumi's Yijin Jin style. Dragon catches on to Shibumi's indestructible crazy cape, removing it and overpowering the Kung Fu cult master with endless combinations of palm strikes, elbows, knees, and the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms technique to finish him off. Sort of akin to Darth Vader's role having been split between two actors, Shibumi was voiced by famous Hong Kong actor Louis Koo while martial arts actor and action choreographer Yu Kang provided the body and fight performances. Yu Kang's familiarity with Donnie Yen's approach to martial arts action runs deep as he has appeared in many other films with Yen including Wu Xia/Dragon, Iceman, Kung Fu Jungle, and Ip Man 3 making him the ideal physical compliment to Louis Koo's vocal presence. Choreographing this martial madness is of course Donnie Yen himself who was helped along by assistant martial arts director Yan Hua who also played a three-section staff wielding henchman in the film. This fight scene is the capstone to a movie that is totally intent on not holding back on the Kung Fu campiness and one piece of trivia that is even stronger evidence of this is the film having set the Guinness World Record for the largest punching bag at the time measuring 8 ft. tall (2.4 m), 5 ft. (1.5 m) wide, and weighing in at 400 pounds (181 kg) found in Shibumi's lair.
#10. Iron Monkey (1993)
(U.S. Re-Sound; does not include entire fight scene)
(original sound effects/soundtrack)
A martial arts actor with as much command of kung fu as Donnie Yen would be an obvious pick to portray any number of historical Chinese martial artists. So Chan, more commonly known as Beggar So, famed master of Drunken Fist and one of the Ten Tigers of Canton, is one such martial artist which Yen was given the role as in Hero Among Heroes. But for this spot on the list, I'm going with his portrayal of another member of the mythical Ten Tigers in Iron Monkey. Donnie Yen plays Wong Kei-Ying, father of the Chinese folk hero and legendary Kung Fu master Wong Fei-Hung who was played by then child actor and Wushu prodigy Angie Tsang. Wong Kei-Ying assists in the capture of a local Robin Hood-like figure called the Iron Monkey played by Hong Kong actor Yu Rongguang. Iron Monkey began as an idea for a prequel to the Jet Li led Once Upon a Time in China series until becoming its own film altogether. The movie is one giant kung fu fight fest where Wong Kei Ying especially steals the show in a 1-on-1 against the Iron Monkey himself and later joining forces to face a corrupt imperial official turned governor in a pole-balancing climactic battle. But because this is a Donnie Yen list we'll have to go with a different fight scene that particularly highlights Yen's tremendous talents.
Wong Kei-Ying and chief constable Fox (played by Yuen Shun-Yi) encounter four former Shaolin monks (played by veteran Kung Fu actors and fight choreographers Chun Kwai-Bo, Chan Siu-Wah, Mandy Chan Chi-Man, and Alex Yip Choi-Nam) hired by the newly appointed governor to hunt down the Iron Monkey. Some wire-fu is expected of a movie revolving around Wong Fei-Hung around the 90s' but they do not detract from Donnie Yen's incredible display of kicks staying true to Wong Kei-Ying's legendary "no shadow"/"shadowless kick" technique shown by Yen performing a flying triple kick and a obviously sped-up yet undeniably cool combo of one-legged kicks that even leaves the shaolin monk on the receiving end in awe. Despite not having trained in the Wong Fei Hung family lineage's specific Kung Fu style Hung Ga per se, Yen still showcases the trademarks of this Southern Chinese martial art through his demonstration of the Tiger and Crane components kamehameha'ing a bag of rice into an unsuspecting shaolin monk and pecking the hand of a skilled nun and practitioner of the Eagle Claw.
The film was directed by and choreographed by the king of kung fu choreographers Yuen Woo-Ping as well as his brother Yuen Cheung-Yan and martial arts director Ku Huen-Chiu. Though Donnie Yen was also given the freedom to express his own choreographic style taking the traditional kung fu of the Shaw Bros. era and adding his own personal touch. This may be the only time I slightly prefer the western re-sound for the US Miramax release whereas other English dub re-sounds like in Fist of Legend and Drunken Master diminish the impact of the hits. Iron Monkey's re-sound actually almost adds more bassiness to the audio which to some extent redeems the re-release for having cut out some of the more violent scenes and removing many comedic moments which unfortunately took away from the campy tone that Hong Kong action cinema is known for. An indirect sequel titled Iron Monkey 2 gave the eponymous role to Donnie Yen himself throwing the classic tale into a more modern setting but kung fu cinephiles would almost unanimously agree that the original Iron Monkey is far superior and a much better exhibition of Yen's martial artistry.
#9. Kung Fu Jungle (2014)
(couldn't find a higher quality version that didn't skip a few parts here and there)
Even at the ripe old age of 50, Donnie Yen still clearly had tons of ass-kicking potential left in him when in 2014 he starred in Kung Fu Jungle. You may know it also as Kung Fu Killer but whichever title you go by, it's hard to deny that this film is an absolute choreographic cornucopia of hand-to-hand fight scenes and weapon work which to little surprise won that year's Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography. The titular kung fu killer is played by the underrated Wang Baoqiang who has recently run a murderous spree on local martial arts masters. As you might guess, the only fighter that can stand a chance against him in a duel is Donnie Yen's character, an ex-police combat trainer who was incarcerated for manslaughter but now granted the opportunity to walk free if he assists in the arrest of Baoqiang.
As a throwback to old-school kung fu flicks, the fight sequences are kept traditional but with the unique speed and intensity of Donnie Yen who was the main brain behind the action leading a team of other fight designers including assistant martial arts directors Jack Wong Wai-Leung, Yeung Ching-Ching, Yu Kang, Che Kim-Fai, and Liu Guo-Qing. The two come to blows in the center of an incredibly busy highway. Yen's traditional kung fu is pitted against Wang Baoqiang's amalgam of various techniques he has picked up from the myriad of martial artists he has killed throughout the film ranging from boxing, to flexible high kicks, and even the Tiger and Eagle Claw styles. The duel shifts not only from striking to grappling but from open-handed combat to pole fighting. Donnie Yen proves again that he is no slouch when it comes to stick fighting as he has already demonstrated in Rogue One but this staff battle dials up the over-the-top action to eleven where Yen and Wang Baoqiang wield what may as well be entire bamboo trees yet with such frenetic fluidity that they almost seem to weight nothing at all.
Yen is undeniably the star of this modern kung fu film but Wang Baoqiang in certain ways outshines his co-star as a predatory martial duelist that adapts to and incorporates any combat form he comes across in an even more intimidating role than in Iceman where he also shared the screen with Donnie Yen. Much of Baoqiang's filmography is comedic in nature though his strict training regimen in the real Shaolin Temple in the Henan province of China during a short period of his childhood equipped him with the screen fighting capabilities that is evidence enough that he could successfully establish himself as the next major movie martial artist. As of this year, his career doesn't appear to have gone in that direction but at least we have his fantastically ferocious fight with Donnie Yen as evidence that there is still room for one more kung fu king of the jungle.
#8. Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019)
However many decades Donnie Yen's incredible career may span, he is and forever will be Ip Man. There is no other cinematic character be it entirely fictional or based on a historical figure that is more synonymous with Yen's name than Ip Man. Every time we thought the Wilson Yip directed saga would end, a new installment would be unexpectedly announced. But in 2019, the series came to a definite conclusion with its fourth and final film. Ip Man travels to San Francisco looking to find a school for his recently expelled son to enroll in causing him to run into his former student Bruce Lee (Danny Chan) now with his very own martial arts school while also encountering a racist US marine sergeant played by Scott Adkins who is intent on ensuring that Wing Chun and all Chinese martial arts be excluded from their training program. The narrative context is very similar to Ip Man 2 where Ip Man's initial martial arts rival and later ally is defeated by a xenophobic western fighter except with Sammo Hung's role filled by Wu Yue and Darren Shahlavi's with Scott Adkins. And of course Ip Man 2 itself is essentially a Kung Fu copy of Rocky 4. Regardless of the recycling of plot lines, hype was through the roof when martial arts cinephiles heard that Scott Adkins would actually be appearing in an Ip Man film. This was Adkins' very first cinematic appearance alongside Donnie Yen and was personally requested by Yen to portray the movie's main antagonist.
For fans of the two martial arts film legends that have fantasized about a what if 1-on-1 between Ip Man and Yuri Boyka, Ip Man 4 sort of gave them that dream fight (one which I was so obsessed with some years ago I made an entire video analyzing a hypothetical fight between the two characters). Although it would be fun to see Donnie Yen's own MMA style (which you'll see later on this list) against Scott Adkins' as they are two of the most significant contributors to mixed martial arts' popularization through film, Scott Adkins' character is in this film meant to be a Karate expert which Adkins has a legitimate background in. But his more modernized Karate does somewhat resemble MMA whether it be the stand-up striking and grappling or ground fighting. Sadly there's no signature Guyver kick that we've come to know and love from Adkins. Not to mention his other unconventional trick kicks aren't shown off as much as us fans would've liked. But that might simply be to more accurately represent his flashy but fierce and militarized Karate style which couldn't have benefitted from all the unorthodox high-flying kicks that were not invented during the movie's time period. Historical authenticity has never really been a huge concern for the Ip Man films anyway but they must have wanted some realistic reflection of that era's martial arts.
At least he wasn't put on wires like Tony Jaa was in Master Z: Ip Man Legacy which happened to also be choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping who must have learned from that grave misuse of Jaa's skills and decided to correctly showcase the genuine acrobatic talents of his actors in Ip Man 4. Ip Man is initially overwhelmed by the sergeant's technical savagery targeting his less defended left side and injured left wrist. Knowing this is a no rules fight as the bloodthirsty marine officer made clear in the beginning of their bout, Ip Man realizes that he must use every lethal application of Wing Chun in his arsenal including groin kicks, an arm break, and a throat crushing finger jab strike to put down the unyielding gunnery sergeant for good. Besides the always phenomenal Yuen Woo-Pong, the film's fight sequences were also choreographed by Yuen's brothers Yuen Shun-Yi, Yuen Cheung-Yan, as well as assistant martial arts directors Chan Siu-Wah and Darren Leung Tat-Yin. It is partly due to these amazingly well crafted fight scenes that Ip Man 4 became the highest grossing film in Malaysia of all time. The indoor duel with Wu Yue's Tai Chi master and Chris Collin as a US marine Karate instructor are also some of the movie's standout martial arts battles but it is the fantasy fulfillment fight between Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins that dramatically ends both the film and the Ip Man tetralogy as a whole.
#7. Ip Man 3 (2015)
Released 5 years after Ip Man 2, Donnie Yen wanted to wait until the Ip Man craze died down a bit before returning for a sequel. Set in Hong Kong, one of HK's greatest recent action stars Max Zhang Jin plays rival Wing Chun grandmaster Cheung Tin-Chi who eventually comes out of the shadows to challenge and easily defeat all of the local Kung Fu masters before opening his own martial arts school. Cheung Tin-chi inevitably calls out Ip Man himself seeking a duel to determine who is the greater Wing Chun fighter and which of them deserves the title as Hong Kong's top martial artist. The private duel takes place behind closed doors as Ip Man's cancer-afflicted wife listens in from an outside hall.
Moving from the longest to the closest range of combat, this climactic kung fu clash is the only instance of a pure Wing Chun fight scene in the entire Ip Man series. Matching each other in both martial wits and weapons, they face-off with wooden poles twice the length of their body like in Kung Fu Jungle before switching to pairs of clanging and screeching butterfly swords in what could be the fasted bladework ever captured on screen. The fight ends in empty-handed combat where Cheung Tin-Chi's far more aggressive and offensive use of Wing Chun nearly blinds Ip Man with an eye jab. In a classic Wing Chun moment (with blind-folded training montages coming to mind), Ip Man uses his sharp hearing and sense of distance to dodge Cheung Tin-Chi's chain punches to incapacitate him with the famous one-inch punch, a move mythologized by Bruce Lee. The gold lighting of the wing chun school's interior is fitting for the golden standard of kung fu film franchises quite literally highlighting the movie's top fight sequence which rises even above the brilliance of the movie's other fight scenes with Mike Tyson and the Thai Boxer.
Yuen Woo-Ping directs the action taking over for Sammo Hung who had choreographed the first two films lending longer wide shots for the fights than previous installments. Aside from assistant martial arts directors Yuen Shun-Yi, Chan Siu-Wah, and Darren Leung Tat-Yin, Donnie Yen himself is in fact responsible for the choreography of much of his own fight scenes which is why they still retain a similar rhythm to the prior films in the series. Yuen Woo-Ping's signature staccato pace is combined with Yen's arrhythmic quick bursts of movement winning them the Hong Kong Film and Shanghai International Film awards for Best Action Choreography. Donnie Yen and Yuen Woo-Ping's reputations precede them but it's the lesser known Max Zhang who made such a breakout performance that he was given his own spin-off titled Master Z: Ip Man Legacy directed by Yuen Woo-Ping with its own sequel currently in development. Much like Donnie Yen, Zhang's competitive wushu background allowed him to quickly learn Wing Chun for the film. Zhang had previously appeared in another Ip Man biopic The Grandmaster as a practitioner of Xing Yi, a film that pushed his foot in the door for landing his biggest role to date as a cinematic Wing Chun expert rivaling even Donnie Yen.
#6. Ip Man 2 (2010)
In this sequel to the 2008 film, Ip Man has moved to Hong Kong to open his own Wing Chun school but his efforts are thwarted by the head of the city's martial arts organization played by choreographic kung fu genius Sammo Hung. Ip Man must accept and win every one-on-one fight with any martial arts master that comes his way until an incense stick burns out. Upside down chair legs cover the surrounding floor literally raising the "stakes" of the fight. Ip Man first faces off against the Shaw Bros. legend and arguably the most badass of the Five Venoms, Lo Mang, as an acrobatically adept but goofy Monkey Kung Fu master acting almost as a parody of his once magnificent screen persona. Next comes another Shaw Bros. star and infamous Kung Fu flick antagonist Fung Hark-On as a master of Baguazhang. After defeating these two, every other martial artist in the room refuses to challenge Ip Man until Sammo Hung himself rises up meeting Ip Man in a fast and ferocious exchange stunning their onlookers in the process. Sammo Hung is known for his excellent Wing Chun skills in kung fu cult classics such as The Prodigal Son and Warriors Two but this time plays a master of another Southern martial art called Hung Ga.
The small surface area of the round table is perfect for the close quarters combat of both grandmasters' styles. Though much heftier, Hung is equally agile and possesses a little more power matching the speed of Ip Man's fists blocking each and every one of his chain punches while displaying some inhuman balance circling the edges of the table. The entire tabletop sequence is in a way a tribute to the golden age of kung fu cinema as Donnie Yen fights against an older generation of martial arts movie veterans. A unique musical theme accompanies each opponent becoming more and more menacing as they finally lead up to the main fight with Sammo Hung all thanks to Kenji Kawai's masterful musical composition. The sound effects are not as flamboyant as the sequels which have heavier impacts and louder wind-rushing body movements but the choreography itself is as amazing as ever. Possibly the least grounded and most wire-heavy of all the fights in the Ip Man series, the unrealistic elements are balanced out by the crisp choreographic craftsmanship of Sammo Hung who was given almost full reign by Donnie Yen who had otherwise designed his half of the action in the first film.
Sammo Hung had undergone cardiac surgery and suffered an on-set injury due to an accidental face-punch from actor Darren Shahlavi who played the western boxer Taylor "The Twister" which may have somewhat hampered his ability to perform his fight scenes and stunts. Hung stated some moderate disappointment with his physical performance even wishing for a rematch with Donnie Yen in a future film to make up for it (which we are awaiting to this very day). Donnie Yen initially believed any sequels couldn't possibly live up to this second installment and was strongly opposed to any further films in the series. Another reason as to why each subsequent film has had a lower ranking on this list despite them all still being undeniably great collections of fight scenes nonetheless. Also choreographed by action director Tony Leung Siu-Hung, assistant action choreographers Lam Hak-Ming and Lee Chi-Kit, as well as assistant martial arts directors Guo Yong and Wei Yu-Hai, this mid-movie martial arts battle will live on as a legendary collaboration between cinematic fighters from two distinct decades of Hong Kong action films.
#5. Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992)
A year before Iron Monkey, Donnie Yen had the chance to display his relatively underappreciated cinematic martial arts skills next to the then newly crowned king of kung fu films Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China 2. The two have never before been placed side-by-side in a movie and fans of both were left in utter amazement as Li's classic archetype as the noble and heroic historical martial artist Wong Fei-Hung clashed with a power hungry military commander played by Donnie Yen in the movie's final showdown. Yen defends the current Qing dynasty regime which is threatened by a rebellion led by Shaw Bros. legend David Chiang. Wong Fei-Hung and his loyal student played by Max Mok must save David Chiang and his notebook which contains the names of all his fellow resistance fighters. What follows is a bamboo bonanza of improvised weaponry in which Jet Li and Donnie Yen fashion makeshift staffs out of the surrounding stick structures. You may not have known that the two are the exact same age and were both competitive wushu colleagues. A fact that is made enormously evident in the world-renowned weapon work shown off in this climactic fight.
Yen is a supreme sifu of staffs which he has proven time and time again throughout this list in Rogue One, Kung Fu Jungle, and Ip Man 3. Once Upon a Time in China 2 is one of the earliest examples of his sensational staff combat. And together with Jet Li, they utilize their bamboo poles in every imaginable way, a feature that is enhanced by an appropriate amount of wires which gives the action some substance while also indulging in the more fantastical 90s' wuxia moments. Li and Yen's first fight in the film is a more straight-forward stick battle. A teaser for the epic 2nd round to come in the movie's finale where their staffs are dual-wielded, thrown like javelins, and caught and intercepted in mid-air. Donnie Yen eventually whips out an elongated cloth wielding it with the force and flexibility of a rope dart splitting Jet Li's bamboo stick into a two-sectioned staff. As unrealistic as the fight scene may look, the practical effects have allowed it to age quite well and the sheer intensity of the weapon combat even cost Donnie Yen some stitches near one eye forcing the camera to stay away from a certain area of his face. This fight sequence is perhaps the peak of that decade's wire-fu action and arguably that of the entire Once Upon A Time in China series. For all its wild fantasy elements and historical inaccuracies (like Wong Fei-Hung's Hung Ga style being substituted by Jet Li's own more flowery and flambuoyant Changquan style), Once Upon a Time in China 2's fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, as well as assistant martial arts directors Yuen Shun-Yi and Ku Huen-Chiu, masterfully pairs up the, at the time, up-and-coming martial arts megastar Donnie Yen with the 1990s' kung fu cinema leading man Jet Li to create a mesmerizing martial arts movie climax earning it the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography.
#4. Hero (2002)
Many years passed before audiences were treated with a rematch between two of the most dominant cinematic fighters of the early 21st century. But the wait was certainly well worth it. Although Donnie Yen is given an even less prominent role in Hero, as a mythical spearman who is conspiring to assassinate the Qing emperor, his rain-soaked duel with Jet Li is easily the most beautifully choreographed sequence in the movie. In yet another weapon fight, staffs are replaced with blades as Jet Li is armed with a sword and scabbard. Li's mission is to protect the emperor by killing Yen but their battle takes on a strangely soothing quality, silently agreeing to play out the outcome all in their heads. This is when director Zhang Yimou's personal artistic talents are especially highlighted desaturating the washed out greys into a completely monochromatic visual scheme intensely illuminating the sword and spear in particular. Emphasizing the "art" in "martial arts", the cinematography and use of color are harmonized by a symphonic marriage of the musical and martial.
Choreographed by one of Zhang Yimou's frequent collaborators Chin Siu-Tung (House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower) as well as assistant martial arts directors Jack Wong Wai-Leung and Li Cai, the choreography itself is highly intricate and blindingly fast but possibly intentionally repetitive. Much of the movements seem to be reiterations of earlier segments of the fight and meant to evoke the feeling of the fight more than a meticulous examination of each technique. Music maestro Tun Dan amplifies this feeling with a majestic and melodic string sequence that conveys the mediative calmness of the duel while contrasted by the operatic battle cries that convey the underlying aggression between the combatants. Whereas Once Upon a Time in China 2 was inspired by the wuxia genre, Hero can be considered a true wuxia, wire work and all yet with the arthouse sensibilities of Zhang Yimou that would come to define the early 2000s' era of the genre.
Hero is a final product of true visual poetry that could have been completed in a variety of ways as the emperor's role was at first reserved for Jackie Chan and the spot for action director promised to Yu Rongguang, star of Iron Monkey, as well as Hong Kong martial arts director Tung Wei. Fate instead chose the cast and crew that we have now and because Jet Li personally asked for Donnie Yen's inclusion instead of Robin Shou (1995's Mortal Kombat), the collective kung fu fandom was witness to one of the greatest weapon fight sequences of the 00s' from the two best film fighters to be born out of the competitive wushu generation of Hong Kong martial arts stars. It is no wonder why the movie blasted through US box office records as the most commercially successful Chinese-language film up to that point. It's sad to think that this is the last screen fight we will likely ever see between Donnie Yen and Jet Li particularly considering the latter's alleged retirement from film. Two weapon duels and we never got to watch what might've been an absolutely spectacular hand-to-hand fight? Talk about the most missed opportunity of a lifetime....
#3. SPL (2005)
SPL was a long overdue breakthrough for Donnie Yen's career and the movie's innovations both within and beyond the Hong Kong action industry cannot be understated. As a police inspector tasked with turning in a triad big boss played by martial arts "big brother" Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen peppers this crime drama with some of the oldest cinematic usages of mixed martial arts which is finally tested against the more old-fashioned kung fu style of Sammo Hung in the movie's final act. But the most inventive fight sequence has got to be his semi-improvisational knife-on-baton alleyway duel with the triad's top assassin played by Wu Jing.
Director Wilson Yip rightfully chose Japanese music composer Kenji Kawai whose electronic beats build the perfect degree of anticipation as Donnie Yen makes his way into the alley and whips out his expandable metal baton. The soundtrack transitions into a synth-style opera once the stoic and vengeful Yen comes eye-to-eye with the gleeful yet psychotic Wu Jing. The two are top wushu athletes from separate generations and this comes clear in Wu Jing's broad arcing knife movements met by the sword-like motions of Donnie Yen's baton. Their backgrounds may be in Chinese martial arts but the fight is somewhat reminiscent of a fencing match; a one-dimensional plane of combat involving the forward advance or backwards retreat of the two duelists. Aside from these wushu flourishes and the famous knife catch slash, there is a much higher level of choreographic realism than even the grittiest of Hong Kong's top fight sequences.
Yen and Wu Jing were so well synchronized in their on-screen actions and reactions that large sections of their fight consisted of them engaging in real all-out sparring sessions. These longer takes where they quickly make contact in furious flurries and then disengage were performed right on the spot. Such unchoreographed sequences are blended together with the more obviously choreographed moves to create a very original form of grounded weapons combat that only an action visionary like Donnie Yen could craft. Credit should also be given to Yen's trusted team of action design experts Kenji Tanigaki, who has made huge waves recently as action choreographer of the live action Rurouni Kenshin series, as well as Yan Hua, Jack Wong Wai-Leung, Junya Iwamoto, and So Tung. It is because of their choreographic ingenuity that SPL's moderately minimal number of fight scenes became an exercise in quality over quantity bringing in a penultimate blood-splattering battle that gives more weight to its westernized title "Kill Zone".
#2. Flash Point (2007)
In decades prior to SPL, Donnie Yen was already developing his own trademark of realistic martial arts action in films like Tiger Cage 1 & 2 and In The Line of Duty 4. However, it wasn't until 2007's Flash Point that Yen reached the peak of his evolution of the union between theatrical and practical combat by reintroducing audiences to his own style of mixed martial arts after having given only a small taste of it in SPL. Taking place in 1997, Donnie Yen is yet another hot-headed detective investigating a drug smuggling operation by three brothers led by Taiwanese martial arts actor Collin Chou who in the final act hold hostage and threaten to kill the pregnant girlfriend of a cop/mole (Louis Koo) if a rival gang leader testifies to the brothers' crimes in court.
Yen and Chou's climactic confrontation might be the greatest MMA-based fight sequence of all time. Almost every major MMA move is demonstrated from arm bars and triangle chokes to suplexes (the most beautiful of which was seen in an earlier fight with Xing Yu), switching back and forth from stand-up striking to the ground-and-pound. Donnie Yen has a reputation for his outstanding Taekwondo kicks as we know from Iron Monkey executing a different form of triple-kick in Flash Point. But his co-star Collin Chou is a Taekwondo stylist himself combining his excellent legwork with painful elbow strikes at one point giving Yen a nasty nose bleed. The two opponents constantly shift between victory and loss in a very evenly matched fight employing various tactics to gain the upper hand. Flash Point had once been rumored to be a prequel to SPL. Despite that being confirmed to not be true according to Donnie Yen, it is certainly a spiritual sequel especially in terms of the choreographic style which applies the MMA influences of SPL but takes it to an even grittier and more realistic level. Far more faithful than the actual SPL sequel which ran a bit more on wirework and came off as a more conventional Hong Kong action flick.
Yen's passion for MMA is easily evident in the film's fight scenes having admitted to being an avid fan of the combat sport and always trying to attend or watch every UFC event available. He would've considered actually competing in it were it not for a recurring shoulder injury. Watching a film fighter of Donnie Yen's caliber throwing hands in the octagon would've been absolutely surreal. For now, we have only this stylish yet intentionally sloppy brawl to enjoy what Yen might've shown off in the cage. Donnie Yen and Collin Chou stated that this was the most difficult fight scene the two had ever performed nabbing Yen both the Hong Kong and Golden Horse Film Award for Best Action Choreography. Director Wilson Yip once again recruited the musical mastermind Kenji Kawai supplying the final fight with a slick and smooth ambient sound to enhance the tempo and rhythm set by Donnie Yen's international team of martial artists including long-time colleagues John Salvitti and Kenji Tanigaki as well as assistant action director Yan Hua. The film would've originally ended with Donnie Yen's character's death at the hands of a gang member similar to SPL's tragic ending but was changed at the last minute by Wilson Yip providing a more optimistic close to the movie's plot. Given how it ignited Donnie Yen's career even further than the already career defining SPL, Flash Point is a fairly appropriate title. Later attempts in Yen's filmography would see more experimentation with this MMA approach with Special ID lessening the "flash" in Flash Point and doubling down on the messier realities of combat. Big Brother and last year's Raging Fire would revert back to the flashier grit of SPL but to this day Flash Point, and in particular its concluding fight, is the primary proof of Donnie Yen's talent as a choreographic chameleon. Whether it be traditional kung fu or modern martial arts, he can do it all.
#1. Ip Man (2008)
Released a year after Flash Point, Ip Man tells the tale of a fictionalized version of Bruce Lee's mentor. Undoubtedly Donnie Yen's most iconic movie role, this contemporary martial arts classic launched him into global megastardom spawning a whole four-film series and over a decade of stand-alone Ip Man films ranging from the earnest to the outright exploitative. Ip Man is now as mythologized of a figure in Chinese martial arts history as Wong Fei-Hung with Donnie Yen's film series rivaling and arguably surpassing that of Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China series. Plans for an Ip Man biopic go as far back as 1998 with legendary fight choreographer Corey Yuen expressing interest in producing it with Yen having signed on to star as Ip Man and Hong Kong comedy legend Stephen Chow as Bruce Lee. The project was left in the back burner for nearly a decade until it was picked up by producer Raymond Chow and director Wilson Yip who coincidentally began working on it the exact same time that Wong Kar-Wai was working on his very own Ip Man biographical film The Grandmaster. Set in Foshan, China before and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese general in command of the imperial forces occupying Foshan has immense admiration for Chinese martial arts and promises to reward any Chinese person one bag of rice for every one of his soldiers they defeat in open-handed combat. When a fellow Chinese master unsuccessfully takes on three karateka at once and is shot dead by a trigger-happy Japanese officer, a shocked and infuriated Ip Man demands he fight ten of the general's men.
This scene is as symbolic of a fight against Japanese imperialism and pride for Chinese nationalism as Bruce Lee's demolishing of an entire dojo of Japanese martial artists in Fist of Fury. As uplifting as the sociopolitical commentary may be, the movie wouldn't be what it is without authentic martial arts. Authenticity that came in the form of Wing Chun experts being brought on set as technical consultants for the film including Ip Chun, the real eldest son of Ip Man, who said that after only 8 months of training, Donnie Yen had already attained an expertise in the art equal to actual Wing Chun masters at the time. Though not as long and strategically complex as Flash Point, Ip Man's nigh-invulnerability and immaculate Wing Chun skills are truly a sight to behold as the normally restrained and merciful master completely incapacitates every karateka with minimal effort and a silent yet contained fury brilliantly captured by the somber but intense musical score of Kenji Tanigaki. Donnie Yen is normally known for more flashy techniques even when it came to Flash Point but Ip Man is almost all economical in his motion maintaining a mostly upright posture and barely extending his body yet still inflicting maximum punishment on his foes. Elevating both the choreographic and narrative facets of the film are the monochrome visuals, the floor of the makeshift dojo lit up like a spotlight on a professional arena all of which reflect the dark and tragic events that built up to this fight.
Back in the 90s', Donnie Yen had co-starred in a film titled Wing Chun with Michelle Yeoh portraying the eponymous alleged founder of the martial art but no one was prepared for Yen to transform himself into the very cinematic face of Wing Chun in 2008's Ip Man. Out of the superb selection of fight sequences that punctuate each part of the film, this 10-against-1 in particular is what solidified Ip Man's and Donnie Yen's statuses as two of the greatest icons of martial arts in the modern era. As a result, it unsurprisingly took home the Hong Kong film award for not only Best Action Choreography but also Best Film which would not have been possible were it not for the consistently top tier work of the movie's action directors Sammo Hung and Tony Leung Siu-Hung as well as assistant martial arts directors Lam Hak-Ming and Lee Chee-Kit.
When compiling this list I was really tempted to only include one Ip Man fight scene to make room for more of his other movies. But we're talking Donnie Yen here, the Don of the martial arts world, so we gotta feature at least one fight from each Ip Man film right? Anyways, if you think Ip Man's ten black belt beatdown is a little overrated and too predictable of a number 1 pick and Flash Point deserves the top spot for its ground-breaking screen adaptation of MMA, then be sure to comment down below and subscribe to the website to be notified of our next "Jaa-dropping" list.....as in Tony Jaa. It's gonna be Tony Jaa.
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