How Jackie Chan Takes A Hit

From January 17 through January 21, Neon Splatter is celebrating all things Jackie Chan. His movies, his many other projects, and his impact on film as well as film lovers. This is #JackieChanuary.

Jackie Chan posses many impressive talents—sheer athleticism, innate comedic sensibilities, vast understanding of cinematography, ability to tell stories well without much dialogue. But perhaps his greatest superpower, as argued by this video essay on the YouTube channel Accented Cinema, is his ability to be vulnerable. That may be counterintuitive, that his strength derives from his ability to sustain injury and pain, but it nonetheless rings true.

Chan’s characters are hit, punched, kicked, thrown about but it always is reflected in the wincing and grimacing of the actor. Each blow counts for something and takes its toll on the hero, but he fights through it. This has sometimes shown up in Western cinema as well, most famously with John McClane in DIE HARD, to make action heroes seem human and more relatable. This creates more of an empathetic bond between audience and character while increasing stakes and knowing that even if the victory is a foregone conclusion, there may not be left of their hero except one giant bruise by the end of the climax.

This is doubly true in the case of Jackie Chan because so much of his legend is (rightfully) tied to his own stuntwork and the amount of injuries and precarious situations into which he has placed himself. Not only is his character getting hit hard and feeling it, but there’s a high probability that Chan himself suffered multiple painful encounters that left him popping aspirin like Pez with stacks upon stacks of ice packs placed all over his body.

As Accented Cinema describes:

It's time to pay my respect to the living legend himself: Jackie Chan. Many things can be said about him: Fights, stunts, humor, dramatic acting. But there is one thing about his craft that rarely gets mentioned: Selling a hit. It's not the most glamorous thing in the world, but it is an essential part of any fight scene, especially Jackie Chan fight scenes. Today, I'll attempt to break down the technique behind the seemingly simple act of getting hurt.

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