China has given the world a large number of incredible martial arts actors including Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Wu Jing, and Gordon Liu, just to name a few. During the late 80’s and early 90’s, two martial arts actors came out of nowhere and took the action genre by storm. Jet Li starred in such films as Once Upon a Time in China and Fist of Legend. The way the man moved was almost as legendary as Bruce Lee. But the other one to came out of that same period was none other than Donnie Yen. Donnie Yen has become one of the most well-known martial arts actors of the past 30 years, and his talents go far beyond just on-screen fighting. He’s also choreographed fight scenes and directed a small handful of films. As a fight choreographer, Donnie Yen is in a league of his own. While he has drawn inspiration from legends like Yuen Woo-Ping, he’s developed a style of on-screen fighting that very few have been able to match. As a result, Donnie Yen is one of my favorite martial arts actors of all time. Hopefully, some of the clips below will show you why.
Ip Man – Donnie Yen Vs. Ten Black Belts
Ip Man is a mostly fictional account of real-life Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man. It follows the grandmaster from his time teaching Wing Chun to surviving the Japanese invasion of China. During one of the demonstrations held by a Japanese general, Ip Man witnesses the cold-blooded murder of one of his fellow masters. As a result, he challenges not one, not two, but ten of the black belts surrounding the arena. Most martial arts flicks try not to be defined by their fight scenes, but in Ip Man, the fight scene with the ten black belts does just that. The movie is fantastic, but this fight sequence has to be hands-down one of the most epic beat-downs I’ve seen in a movie. Ip Man was one of the main reasons why I started training in Wing Chun in the first place. So, yeah, this entry means a lot to me in a lot of ways.
Kill Zone(SPL) – Donnie Yen Vs. Sammo Hung
Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung was one of the most-wanted match-ups that fans had been wanting for years. In 2005’s Kill Zone, we get exactly that in one of the most amazing one-on-one fights in decades. Donnie Yen plays a cop who becomes the leader of a group of cops whose ethics are….questionable. After failing to take down Sammo Hung’s villainous character, the cops do everything they can to frame him and put him behind bars. All those shenanigans leads to some of the most fantastic fight sequences in a Hong Kong film. The final battle between Samme Hung and Donnie Yen is legendary. I won’t spoil how it actually ends, but let’s just say, I didn’t see it coming. Kill Zone is well worth the entry if you can find it.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Donnie Yen Vs. Stormtroopers
I’ve always wanted to see Donnie Yen in a Star Wars film as either a Jedi or a Sith, because that would be awesome. In Rogue One, Donnie Yen plays Chirrut Imwe, a blind warrior as he volunteers to aid Jyn Erso on what amounts to a suicide mission to find the plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon: The Death Star. While I would have preferred Yen to actually play a Jedi, his blind character is close enough and the fight with him and the stormtroopers is one of the big highlights of the film. This film also gives Mr. Yen more mainstream attention. While a lot of people tend disagree about the film itself, most will agree that Donnie Yen was one of the best parts of the movie.
Highlander: Endgame – Donnie Yen Vs. Adrian Paul
As a huge fan of Highlander, the sequels were really not that good. I enjoyed them on a certain level, but they never attained the level of greatness that the original film enjoyed. In my opinion, the best sequel was Highlander: Endgame. That’s not really saying much, but there many elements in the film that I really liked. Adrian Paul, Christopher Lambert…..and of course, Donnie Yen. This was the first movie that I actually saw Donnie Yen in, and it was his first American-made film. Regardless of what you might think of the story and its villain, you can’t deny that the fight scenes here are some of the best in entire series. Mr. Yen had a hand, literally, in staging most of the fight scenes. The best one of which is between him and Adrian Paul in what remains of Connor McLeod’s loft apartment. It’s fast, furious and fun.
Iron Monkey: Donnie Yen Vs. Renegade Shaolin Monks
After Highlander, I started looking for more Donnie Yen films and Iron Monkey was the first one I came across. Donnie Yen plays Wong Kei-Ying, the legendary father of the equally legendary Chinese folk-hero Wong Fei-Hung. This film was filled to the brim with awesome fight scenes, even if a good number of them used wires, but the film was so bonkers it didn’t really matter. While some of the kicks in the sequences were accelerated, there was no doubt that Donnie Yen was extremely fast. The fight with the Shaolin Monks is an absolute blast, and it needs to be seen.
Hero – Donnie Yen vs. Jet Li
While this isn’t the first time that Donnie Yen went up against Jet Li, it’s probably the best known of the two films they did together, the first being Once Upon a Time in China II. This fight sequence is truly unique in many respects. The most interesting part of it is how the fight plays out in the minds of the characters, presented in total black and white with music playing. The way the sequence was shot and choreographed makes it one of the most beautiful fight sequences I’ve seen in a movie. While there is wire-work and slow-motion, it’s part of what makes the fight so damned interesting. Hero was one of a small handful of authentic Kung Fu movies that I saw in theaters and it was worth it.
Wu Xia(Dragon) – Donnie Yen Vs. Assassins
Wu Xia was a very interesting film that not only combined the Kung Fu film, but also police procedural and elements of CSI. It actually worked very well. We got to see some fights from two different angles, and they end up being very different. But the best fight sequence, bar none, has to be the fight between Donnie Yen’s character Liu Jinxi and the two assassins that were sent after him. This is an awesome not just in terms of choreography and stunt-work, but also character development as well. The assassins force Liu Jinxi to reveal his true identity and that sets up the drama for the rest of the film. It’s one of best-realized sequences in any Kung Fu movie.
The Lost Bladesman – Donnie Yen vs. Andy On
General Guan Yu was one of the most legendary generals during the The Three Kingdoms period. Said to have stood at least 6’5″, Guan Yu was apparently an intimidating presence to his enemies. While Donnie Yen is nowhere near as tall as Guan Yu was reported to be, Yen still manages to be all kinds of awesome. The guan dau weapon that he wields is a hefty weapon, but it doesn’t seem to phase Donnie Yen at all. The fight between him and General Kong Xiu, played by Andy On, is short, but it is still very impressive. While I can’t say for sure that the film is historically accurate, the level of detail and the authenticity of what we see on the screen appears to be genuine. Still, it’s definitely worth checking out.
At 54 years old, Donnie Yen shows no sign of slowing down. Even at his age, he’s still faster than most. I really like the fact that his acting has gotten a lot better, but honestly, Mr. Yen is an absolute phenomenon. He’s got some more movies coming down the pipe including a fourth Ip Man film as well as the film adaptation of the video game Sleeping Dogs. Donnie Yen has had an amazing career and continues to impress. I will continue to pay attention to almost everything that he does.