The New Beginning

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

AICN: Hints on Live Action Cowboy Bebop Plans

I'm not going to discuss Keanu's acting skills and whether he can do Spike right. (How are they going to do Spike's hair in the live action movie?) Rather, I just wanted to comment on his martial arts training. It seems not even Yuen Wo Ping could make the fighting of the Matrix seem more 'natural' to the characters, especially Neo. I don't think he was in charge of the editing and camera speed; if he had been, perhaps he could have fixed this. Neo's first fights looked very choreographed. It wasn't as bad in the second and third movies. (It's been a while since I've seen all three. After being disappointed by the trilogy, it will be a while before I see them again.)

Sure, the Hong Kong kung fu movies of the 70s were obviously choreographed as well. But the choreography become much more realistic with Jackie Chan's ascent, and this continued through the 80s and 90s. (Donnie Yen can be singled out for the work that he has done, especially recently. It's unfortunate that the dialogue and the plot of his recent movies do not equal the quality of his fight scenes. But Ip Man should be different.) Period martial arts movies have become more wuxia in appearance, with a lot of wire fu--there were a few exceptions, like Jackie Chan's Drunken Fist 2, thanks to the participation of both Chan and the direction of Lau Kar Leung.

I don't think it's the case that "white guys don't do kung fu." (Some can also dance, maintain rhythm, and play basketball.) Given that Spike's fighting skills were an hommage to Bruce Lee and JKD, Maybe Keanu could learn some JKD from someone like Tommy Caruthers: