JCC Jet Li is better than Jackie Chan.

Jet Li can actually express emotions other than nice and "hey you, stop it". Jet Li can cry for reals. When Jet Li smiles, it's not some fake nice guy smile, it shines with joy. Have you seen Fearless? That movie is beautiful and way better than anything Jackie Chan has ever done. It's better than Jackie's entire career put together.

Jet Li is versatile. He played a chilling bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4. Who didn't cringe when he broke that old Asian dude's neck, smiling the whole time? In Fearless he played a selfish, arrogant, violent drunk who completely wrecked his life, disappeared into the country, recovered and came back a changed man and a selfless hero. I cried watching that movie. I've never come close to crying while watching Jackie Chan, because there's no emotion in his performances, or even in his films.

I've only mentioned a few of Jet's performances, but that's all I needed, they demonstrate more versatility than Jackie's entire career. Has Jackie ever played the bad guy? Has Jackie ever played anyone other than Mr Nice Guy? He's Mr Nice Guy in all of his films, he's even in a movie called Mr Nice Guy playing a character known as Mr Nice Guy. Though he pretends to be nice in all of his films, he's actually just patronizing and condescending. For example: Remember when he went to that club in Rumble in the Bronx? Watch it again. He puts on a fake smile, pretending to enjoy himself, but really he thinks the place is trash. It really is, but he's too good to just relax and enjoy spending some time with people who are beneath him. He gets a beer, but he takes like two tiny sips, because he doesn't drink beer, he's too good for that. His hot dancer friend who invited him to the club comes over to talk to him after her dance, and he like immediately shames her. "Do you really like this job?", he says. She asks "what's wrong?", because she can see his disdain, so he says "Oh nothing, you dance well. Very good", with plenty of condescension. You know, because that place is bad and she should feel bad for working there, even though she's only 21 and is supporting her crippled little brother by herself. Then he puts on the fake nice guy smile and backs off.

Jackie always has to play Mr Nice Guy. He rarely uses guns, he's too nice. He rarely kills anyone, he's too nice. His reaction to bad guys doing bad things is always some variation of "hey you, stop it!"

Jet Li is a real martial artist. He was a Wushu champion at twelve years old. Ronald Reagan asked Jet to be his personal bodyguard when he was still a kid. He earned the name Jet for a reason, you know, cuz he's that fast. You can tell by watching his movies that Jet has branched out over his career and really studied martial arts, actual real Chinese kung fu, not the nonsense Jackie Chan claims is real Chinese kung fu. Jackie Chan grew up in the Peking Opera School, learning stage martial arts, choreography, dancing, singing and acrobatics. The school is known for its brutal training, but it's training for the entertainment business. Jackie's martial arts in his movies are comical, they're a joke. They're drunken nonsense and silly hand gestures. In an interview, Jackie Chan said he could never be as good as Bruce Lee, so he decided to do something different. That's not a bad idea, but his "something different", by his own words in that interview, was "fancy movements" as he made a silly face. That's Jackie Chan's martial arts, goofy nonsense. It's shallow and gets old fast. Here's a Bruce Lee quote on that:

I think this quote sums up Jackie's martial arts. His habit of using the environment to beat up thugs used to be fun to watch, he's kinda the founder and master of that, but over time all the bouncing around and hitting people with ladders just gets old.

Jackie is without a doubt an amazing stuntman. He's an extremely tough guy with a lot of guts to do what he does. A lot of people think the best part of his movies is the stunt reel after the credits and I sometimes agree.

Jackie's comedy is only somewhat funny the first time you watch it. After that it just blurs with the rest of the nonsense.

As a kid I used to think Jackie was better than Jet. That was before Jet's best movies. That was before I realized the flaws in Jackie's style, which becomes more apparent with every passing year and each viewing. Jet Li's movies, like Fearless, Hero and Unleashed, are emotional and full of truth about life, philosophy and martial arts, while Jackie's movies are shallow popcorn flicks with no heart or substance. You've seen one Jackie Chan movie, you've seen them all.

So I'm bored and rambled off this nonsense. Come at me, Jabba-wocky

Oh yeah, Jackie doesn't even like Rush Hour. He doesn't like the action because he uses guns and he doesn't appreciate American humor.

 

I loved Jet in the Once Upon a Time In China series. He wasn't just fighting in those films, he was dancing.

 

Has Jackie ever claimed to be a legitimate martial artist or expert in the field? He's an entertainer. In the interview that you're referencing he says that Hong Kong film producers after Bruce Lee's death kept looking for copycats to imitate Bruce Lee and his movements, so they could continue making films that were reminiscent of Bruce's films and cash in, and those were the roles he kept getting offered. He tried that for a few films, but was unsuccessful, and he realized that the reason for that was simply that he couldn't pull it off convincingly. So he decided to put his own spin on it: to be goofy. To throw a punch and then shake his hand in pain, to put it in his own words. Physical comedy. I get the impression that the Chinese are really into slapstick, and if that's true, then naturally he would hit a goldmine by combining that with fancy "martial arts" fight choreography. Personally, I find it to be an entertaining mix. And it's just entertainment. I don't think he's ever had any pretensions of displaying the peak of martial arts in his movies.

As for Jet Li, I agree with you. The man can act when he wants to, and act well.

 

This is like comparing Chaplin to Daniel Day Lewis. They are not trying to compete for the same spot.

 

I have to agree with the others. What's your point here? You could follow-up by pointing out that Denzel Washington has turned in more serious, evocative performances in police dramas than has Chris Tucker. The similarities between the actors here are pretty superficial.

The only thing I would comment on is that Chan does have some demonstrated ability for emotional range. He did an alright job of the Karate Kid remake, which would have been a disaster where he as bad as you claimed. He's a great guy, and I think it's wonderful that he likes to play happy, positive roles. I also really enjoy Li's work. What's the problem?

 

Rush Hour made me a fan of Jackie Chan.

#tryingtogetalikefromWocky

 

honestly i think chris tucker would have made such a better malcolm x than denzel.

 

Shanghai Noon for me.

But seriously, I too prefer Jet Li.
Fearless, Unleashed, Kiss of the Dragon, Romeo Must Die, and assorted other Chinese titles are among my favorite films.

 

I prefer Jackie and Charlie to Jet and DDL

 

I'm a fan of old school Chan. Drunken Master is one of my favorite movies ever

But yeah, like others already pointed out, Jet Li and Jackie Chan have very different styles and you can't really compare their careers. And Chris Tucker is annoying and even though I enjoyed the Rush Hour series, I always felt a strong urge to hurt him. Gosh that guy is loud.

 

ocean heaven. watch it.

that said gonna agree that your whole premise is dumb because, as you even acknowledge and elucidate at length, they're not doing the same thing. apples and oranges, my friend. apples and oranges. also nobody likes rush hour. that's what's so awesome about it

 

Oh yeah, or FIST OF LEGEND. Fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping went from this film to work on others such as THE MATRIX.

 

DONT NOBODY UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!!!

 

QFT

Also, don't use run-on sentences.

 

Argh I'm an English major and should know better. Can you give me an example of run-on?

 

Whatever that thing at the end was where you didn't even bother to use spaces between your words.

 

Chris Tucker starred in THE FIFTH ELEMENT, and was Razzie nominated for Worst New Star. The next year he starred in RUSH HOUR,
and was Image Award nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture.

I guess losing the sponge stuck on his forehead was a good career move.

 

I rarely agree with Wocky, but his adoration for the Rush Hour series, even with its faults, is justified. They're entertaining films, damn it.

 

Oh that bit of nonsense is a hashtag where you're not supposed to put spaces between words for some reason.