Jackie Chan’s films in the 90s were not exactly reminiscent of the Hong Kong action operas that defined and reinvented the genre in Hollywood. But the films were derivative of those classically acclaimed movies that introduced martial art form as a talent credible enough to overtake the hardcore action adventures and Western gunslingers that dominated the industry space until then.
With the arrival of such stars as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, the field of action got a radical makeover but instead of throwing them at the audience, the filmmakers diluted their raw talents with the spectrum of physical and performance comedy. The result was unexpected – in the best way.
Jackie Chan Makes an Irrevocable Mark on Hollywood
The star of such films as Drunken Master! and Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow aka Jackie Chan had starred in enough films in his initial decade of rise to the top to finally get recognized beyond the parameters of Hong Kong martial arts films. The actor was soon to make his Hollywood debut in slapstick comedy films and become one of the cheekiest and lovable stars of all time but it wasn’t a path without thorns. Chan would become known for police/detective stories, acrobatic style, and physical comedy more than his inherent MMA skills and he would soon grow tired of it.
Also read: “No sex. No violence. No F words”: Jackie Chan Revealed Why Fans Will Never Stop Loving His Movies
But while the young mixed martial artist was still wide-eyed about his Hollywood dreams, he would star in a film series that catapulted him to unparalleled fame. The Rush Hour series became an immediate classic and an instant hit among the critics and the audience. The filmmakers wanted to follow up and cash in on that success by trying more projects with the same formula. Shanghai Noon starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, and Lucy Liu was made on the same premise. But the events that overtook the film’s post-production and premiere looking like a blessing went on to soon become its most damning downfall.
Disney Fails To Live Upto the Standards of Jackie Chan
Made on a budget of $55 million, Shanghai Noon hardly broke even at the box office, raking in a meager $99.3 million worldwide. The film’s director managed to combine the best of both worlds by including plots that mirrored the grand Westerns of Hollywood and Hong Kong action films. And yet, the half-baked project failed to supply enough charm at the theatres because of the meddling production and studio. The director’s vision was corrupted: “I really tried hard to give it extra layers. To make it about something: friendship, exploitation. These are real things that mean something.”
In the aftermath of the highly impressive early reviews, Disney picked up on the project, intending to market it hard in a classical Jackie Chan image and move up its release date by 2 whole months. Tom Dey, the director recalled in the aftermath of the box office bomb:
I feel like it was misrepresented. The trailers really dumbed it down… It was hard because here was the most important product of my life, and I was pretty much frozen out of any involvement in terms of how to sell it.
The major factor that contributed to the film’s box office downfall, however, was its competitor – Tom Cruise‘s Mission: Impossible II which was already riding on the wave of the first film’s success. Directed by John Woo, the second installment of the spy adventure stole the audience away from the Jackie Chan premiere and Dey was later heard stating: “It’s the most frustrating thing because the reviews all say that we are the better film. Yet people still keep going to the other one.”
Source: Entertainment Weekly
