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Chewing Yon Fat
Ever since the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last year, I've been thinking about the Western perception of Chow Yun-Fat, particularly for film roles.
I was so happy to hear that Chow Yun-Fat was in PotC, because it was a major role in a flagship movie franchise! He was playing a pirate captain! A random paragraph in Empire which described him playing pranks on Johnny Depp, saying, "I'm a pirate! I can do whatever I want!" had me even more overjoyed, because here it looked like we were going to get the Asian Captain Jack Sparrow, and who better to play the part?
Needless to say, while the movie was entertaining enough (don't look at me that way), Chow's character was...not worthy of a marquee. He had about as much time on screen as any of the marquee actors in The Golden Compass did. Not to mention the character he portrayed felt like visual- and character-shorthand which could be translated to "Me Chinese! Me mysteelious and sneaky, like all pilots...but Chinese! Me so horny...for Kiela Knightly!" (Admittedly, I can understand the sentiment behind that last sentence.)
This serves to reinforce a conclusion I've drawn that the US entertainment industry pretty much doesn't get how he got so popular in the first place (in HK/Asia, at the very least).
Yes, he's devilishly handsome and looks badass with a couple of pistols or a sword in hand. But there are plenty of actors and non-actors who can do that. After watching The Replacement Killers, Anna and the King, The Corruptor, and PotC, it seems to me that, in the US, there are only two qualities that separate him from all the other action poster-boys of, say, the 80's and 90's:
There appears to be a Hollywood shortlist for Chinese badass dudes they need to include to try and appeal to the HK film geeks (real and wannabe). If the role calls for a Chinese badass dude who can fight and needs to look wise, they demand Chow Yun-Fat. If they need a Chinese badass dude who can fight and needs to look relatively youthful and /or cold, they ask for Jet Li. If they need a Chinese badass dude who can fight, tap dance, and juggle crystal balls while dodging gunfire at the same time, they phone Jackie Chan. Stephen Chow isn't on this list simply because he hasn't acted in any Western movies yet, but I'm sure he'll find his way here eventually.
Look at these films I listed above, or even at Stranglehold, the video-game spiritual sequel to Hard-Boiled. Hell, look at his entire Western release schedule, as well as the marquee imports (CTHD, and although I can't really speak for Curse of the Golden Flower having not seen it, the trailer and summary makes me think it would support my hypothesis) since he started acting in the West. With the exception of Bulletproof Monk, has he ever exhibited anything more than a Squall Leonhart-level of emotion? You see him in a lot of pensive, emo-boy-style (chimo-boy?) passive looks, some twisty angst faces, and the highly regal airs, but not much more than that.
Compare this to some of his previous collaborations with John Woo, during his HK days. Yes, there was the guns-akimbo, slo-mo and reel-speed acrobatics that everybody watched and thought, "Awesome!" about.
Then there's the time on the screen he spends NOT shooting everything up.
A lot of his HK films aren't action films involving gun- or sword-play. Even post-US-debut, he's had a lead role in a dramedy (The Postmodern Life of my Aunt) and a cameo role on an indie comedy (Waiting Alone).
It basically comes down to CYF being the Asian equivalent to, say, Lethal Weapon-era Mel Gibson, or Bruce Willis in the Die Hard/Moonlighting phase of his career, or Russell Crowe nowadays.
It really says something horrible when Bulletproof Monk (which, while I find it underrated--don't look at me that way--isn't more than somewhat entertaining) is pretty much the only Western movie in which CYF gets to show any sort of charisma, and thusly some of his more endearing traits.
Dammit, Hollywood! Chow Yun-Fat has dramatic chops, too! Once this damned strike is over, get to writing a script where he can actually use'em!
I was so happy to hear that Chow Yun-Fat was in PotC, because it was a major role in a flagship movie franchise! He was playing a pirate captain! A random paragraph in Empire which described him playing pranks on Johnny Depp, saying, "I'm a pirate! I can do whatever I want!" had me even more overjoyed, because here it looked like we were going to get the Asian Captain Jack Sparrow, and who better to play the part?
Needless to say, while the movie was entertaining enough (don't look at me that way), Chow's character was...not worthy of a marquee. He had about as much time on screen as any of the marquee actors in The Golden Compass did. Not to mention the character he portrayed felt like visual- and character-shorthand which could be translated to "Me Chinese! Me mysteelious and sneaky, like all pilots...but Chinese! Me so horny...for Kiela Knightly!" (Admittedly, I can understand the sentiment behind that last sentence.)
This serves to reinforce a conclusion I've drawn that the US entertainment industry pretty much doesn't get how he got so popular in the first place (in HK/Asia, at the very least).
Yes, he's devilishly handsome and looks badass with a couple of pistols or a sword in hand. But there are plenty of actors and non-actors who can do that. After watching The Replacement Killers, Anna and the King, The Corruptor, and PotC, it seems to me that, in the US, there are only two qualities that separate him from all the other action poster-boys of, say, the 80's and 90's:
- He's Asian.
- He's a superstar IN Asia, and a cult favorite everywhere else.
There appears to be a Hollywood shortlist for Chinese badass dudes they need to include to try and appeal to the HK film geeks (real and wannabe). If the role calls for a Chinese badass dude who can fight and needs to look wise, they demand Chow Yun-Fat. If they need a Chinese badass dude who can fight and needs to look relatively youthful and /or cold, they ask for Jet Li. If they need a Chinese badass dude who can fight, tap dance, and juggle crystal balls while dodging gunfire at the same time, they phone Jackie Chan. Stephen Chow isn't on this list simply because he hasn't acted in any Western movies yet, but I'm sure he'll find his way here eventually.
Look at these films I listed above, or even at Stranglehold, the video-game spiritual sequel to Hard-Boiled. Hell, look at his entire Western release schedule, as well as the marquee imports (CTHD, and although I can't really speak for Curse of the Golden Flower having not seen it, the trailer and summary makes me think it would support my hypothesis) since he started acting in the West. With the exception of Bulletproof Monk, has he ever exhibited anything more than a Squall Leonhart-level of emotion? You see him in a lot of pensive, emo-boy-style (chimo-boy?) passive looks, some twisty angst faces, and the highly regal airs, but not much more than that.
Compare this to some of his previous collaborations with John Woo, during his HK days. Yes, there was the guns-akimbo, slo-mo and reel-speed acrobatics that everybody watched and thought, "Awesome!" about.
Then there's the time on the screen he spends NOT shooting everything up.
- In A Better Tomorrow II (not remembering enough offhand about ABT I to really call on it, though I might add stuff later), Ken Lee is introduced in a scene which has him cooking rice, sitting down and mocking the mafiosi in his restaurant with a range of expressions from utter contempt to condescension to a pleading for comprehension to mock crying to outright anger over a plate full of rice, and finally kicking ass, subduing all but the lead mafioso in about ten seconds.
- Everyone remembers Hard-Boiled's teahouse gunfight and hospital sequence. Less remembered but equally important is the levity he brought to his character everywhere else, from the camaraderie amongst his fellow police officers to the jealousy he felt for Teresa Mo to a few other things I'm sure I'm not recalling right now. All this was lost in Stranglehold, which is a bit understandable since it's an action videogame and the cutscenes shouldn't last too long. Yes, he's a crack shot and death in a police uniform, but it's important to remember that for all the badassery in the movie, if it weren't for a baby pissing on his leg, he never would have survived.
- There's also Once a Thief, which is not incredibly popular, I guess, though I think anyone who liked Woo/Chow collaborations owes it to themselves to watch it once. Chow gets to really unleash his charisma here, playing the alternately goofy/abusive/charming member of a trio of thieves. Any movie where Chow Yun-Fat gets a wheelchair-bound dance sequence, and manages to throw homages to Bruce Lee and God of Gamblers in the end fight gets a plus in my book.
- Speaking of God of Gamblers, it's Chow Yun-Fat re-enacting Rain Man's Vegas segment, with some action sprinkled about! I really need to find that movie again sometime.
A lot of his HK films aren't action films involving gun- or sword-play. Even post-US-debut, he's had a lead role in a dramedy (The Postmodern Life of my Aunt) and a cameo role on an indie comedy (Waiting Alone).
It basically comes down to CYF being the Asian equivalent to, say, Lethal Weapon-era Mel Gibson, or Bruce Willis in the Die Hard/Moonlighting phase of his career, or Russell Crowe nowadays.
It really says something horrible when Bulletproof Monk (which, while I find it underrated--don't look at me that way--isn't more than somewhat entertaining) is pretty much the only Western movie in which CYF gets to show any sort of charisma, and thusly some of his more endearing traits.
Dammit, Hollywood! Chow Yun-Fat has dramatic chops, too! Once this damned strike is over, get to writing a script where he can actually use'em!