Even if you had never heard of Donnie Yen, currently Hong Kong's foremost martial arts hero, you would soon be in no doubt about his megastar status. His polite but distinct irritation at being asked the same things the fans ask ("How do you come up with new ideas for fights?" ... "I've been doing this for years. It's not that difficult.") and somewhat disconcerting habit of referring to himself in the third person ("What do you want to see Donnie Yen do?") are constant reminders that his habitual perch is a pedestal. This is what it means to be revered in a country with 1 billion-plus people.
Few of his films have found much critical favour, however; even the most mesmerising martial arts films tend to be short on plot or credible characters. Kung Fu Jungle sets out to be different.
The director, Teddy Chan, is a veteran of thrillers; Kung Fu Jungle accordingly mingles elements of suspense films and detective stories, with clear references to specific Hollywood films including Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. The cinematography is slick and stylish. The fact that the producers – a mainland Chinese studio called Emperor Films – chose to launch it at the London Film Festival is a sure-fire indicator that they hope it will find a crossover audience in the West.
By his own admission, Yen is playing the kind of character he has played many times before. Ha Hou Mo is a martial arts master who has been imprisoned after accidentally killing an opponent; the police arrange to free him when an unknown serial killer starts bumping off retired kung fu masters and they think he can help. In fact, Ha knows immediately who the killer will be: club-footed Fung Yu Sau (Wang Bao Quiang), once his avowed fan. He also thinks he is Fung's next target.
The kung fu genre is freighted with tradition, but that didn't deter Chan. "I don't look back, I look forward," he says. "Actually I have my way of making action films. I need five things: four Ws and an H. First why. Why do they have to fight each other? Then when. Is this scene morning, midnight or dawn? Then where. Rooftop, in a river, on a highway?" What weapons, how can the hero escape: it's a checklist that has worked for him time and time again.
In this film, however, Yen's spectacularly balletic fight sequences remain the chief attraction. Yen's choreography was so meticulous, says Chan, that they sometimes spent a whole day getting a single shot. Most of all, Yen concentrated on training Wang, who is a well-known comedian with only an amateur interest in kung fu, to look like a convincing opponent.
"He's fighting against me! And I have a certain expectation from the fans, so to boost him up was going to take a lot more," Yen remembers. "Every shot was a mountain to climb. But I'm very proud of him."
Yen is 51, but he looks a good 15 years younger. He can't remain a kung fu hero forever, though. As Ha he is playing a past master who is allowed on several occasions to stress how unfit he has become. Bing Bai, who plays his sword-wielding girlfriend (she is 28), says the only advice he gave her as a martial arts novice was to learn to protect herself. "That really surprised me; he told me only to do the things you are capable of, that you are comfortable with," she says.
Clearly, Donnie Yen plans to keep kicking the lights out of the bad guys for a while yet.
