Going against the norm has created new eras in Hollywood. Whether it is in terms of costumes, stories, or content, it signals the beginning of a new age. Martial arts movies became popular in the 70s after Bruce Lee introduced his art with movies like ‘Enter the Dragon’ (1973). Later, actors like Jackie Chan combined the art of fighting with comic timing.

Jackie Chan pioneered the use of comedy along with fighting. In an interview from the early 2000s, the actor talked about his version of martial arts in movies. He also mentioned how different it was from the era Bruce Lee had established.

Jackie Chan wanted more comedy

During the Bruce Lee era, films had a serious and aggressive theme to them. In the interview, Chan recalled how he began his film career with a flop and didn’t sit well with the norm. He mentioned that martial arts movies in the 70s gave the impression of a serious and tough protagonist. As an actor, Jackie suffered because of this. But instead of giving up, the star rebelled.

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Chan mentioned how he was always the naughty one in the class and so, rebellion came to him naturally. He talked about how the era was different from what he had in his vision. For instance, back then fellow martial arts veteran and actor Bruce Lee was prevalent. Therefore, when he collaborated with Woo-Ping Yuan, a martial arts choreographer, he wanted a change. He recalled, “Everything at that time was Bruce Lee. So we decide, we’ll do the opposite. We be more fancy, more pretty, more comedy.”

With this, Jackie gave rise to a new form of martial arts movies – one that was filled with comedy. The actor wanted to add more aesthetics and comic elements to such movies. This gave birth to movies like ‘Rush Hour’. While it made the protagonist look goofy, it provided a proportionate serving of action and entertainment.

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In order to stand apart from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan ended up creating a new sub-genre of action movies. This goes to show that going against the flow can sometimes give rise to works of art.