“Action Doubles” finds the famous Hong Kong action hero again in an irregular story, with melodramatic content, where he shares the bill with a horse that allows him to return to the sets.
Is Jackie Chan preparing to retire? Difficult, because at this moment he has two films in post-production, another in full production, two in preparation and four in the pipeline, that is, he does not plan to retire yet. Nothing to do, it seems, with his character “Action doubles” (original title “Long ma jing shen”, translatable as “Soul of a horse”), a guy who is already out of commission, in debt, and makes a living by transporting children in a sorrel pingo. He found that animal pitiful, he saved it from the slaughterhouse and taught it to be, too, a stunt double. They are one for the other. Together they face the creditors. Together they have the opportunity to return to the film sets. But today things are done differently, with digital tricks.
The movie, quite irregularincludes several fights with creative use of a hammock chair and other objects, a story of reunion with the daughter who brings a useless son-in-law, crossing a luxury hotel on horseback (and the concierge yelling “You can’t bring pets in!” “), a discussion against digital tricks (“I really want to do it. If not, what are people watching?”), it’s a shame that the next scene was done with an obvious digital trick, and a very strong melodramatic part when, for legal reasons, man and horse must separate . Those who love horses will suffer from this scene. Other viewers will make jokes about which of the two acts better.
Going back to the question. Next April 7 Jackie Chan turns 70 years old. He started as a child as an extra in martial arts films, he even shared a scene with Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon.” (in the nunchaku fight), he came to the front doing comical fights and juggling as a sideman to the veteran Siu-Tin Yen (“The Drunken Teacher”, “The Teacher with Broken Fingers”, “The Serpent in the Shadow of the Eagle”all worldwide successes) and from then on he was a box office magnet for many years, working simultaneously in Asia and North America, both in comedies and in police or period adventures.
At a certain age he said to himself, “The life of a wrestler is short, the life of an actor is somewhat longer,” and, within his resources, he began to show another facet in dark dramas like the Chinese one.Police Action” or the British “The Foreigner” (the foreigner, for greater success renamed “The Implacable”).), and in family comedies or melodramas like the one we see now. He has already made more than 140 action films, most of them as a protagonist, he has an honorary Oscar and a few other awards, a long collection of bruises, bruises and sprains, and enough money to live without working. But he continues.
“Stunt Doubles” (Long ma jing shen, Hong Kong, 2023); Dir.: Larry Yang; Stars: Jackie Chan, Haocun Liu, Kevin Guo, Jing Wu.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
