Jet Li has pre-reportely “quit” Kung Fu action movies for softer, family-orientated movies. Li told students at elite Fudan University his coming film Fearless (see imdb) would be his last movie of the genre.
This is a real shame for all those fight film fans wishing for a Jackie Chan vs Jet Li showdown on the silver screen. I, like, many other fans have been waiting a long time for the match; a match which looks like will never happen.
Chan’s recent films have all been mid-draws with repetitive plot, whilst Li’s films have drawn less and less viewers. I can understand why Li wants to move, but I still believe he should go out on a high and with distinction.
The reasons why Chan vs Li hasn’t happened as of yet are many. Chan refuses to play a bad guy and Li feels like a one-sided show will not showcase either’s talents properly.
Fans also still want a reunion of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (otherwise known as the Three Brothers); however even this is very unlikely to happen.. The last time all three shared the silver screen was back in the movie Dragons Forever.
Will Li return for a once-in-a-lifetime on-screen battle with Chan? And if they do, will it be in the hyper-kinetic style of Drunken Master 2 or Fist of Legend?
I do wish Jet Li and Chan would make a deal… but I doubt, like many things, it will ever happen.