Jackie Chan, Brad Allan, and the Joy of Fighting

Horror is often seen as the ghettoized genre of film—a separated type of movies looked down upon and seen as base. But action is commonly denigrated as well because punching/kicking is easily dismissed as lunkheaded, juvenile, or simplistic. Luckily, as its spooky cousin is constantly being reappraised and finding swaths of champions, the action film is also growing in estimation thanks to the work of many great writers, podcasts, documentaries, and more.

One of those champions is Kinemotions, a YouTube channel that examines particular performers, sequences, and/or films to show why they are special and how simply waving them away as low brow shows great ignorance. In the second entry of the “Break Down the Beatdown” series, Kinemotions (possibly better known as One Perfect HEADShot on Twitter) inspects Vincent Kok’s 1999 film GORGEOUS (BOH LEI CHUN) as examples of how performers are able to reveal character through their fighting styles, particular stunt choreography, and playing off of each other to better establish the world of the film and its sensibilities.

This particular sequence features Jackie Chan and Brad Allan squaring off, and was made following the far too soon death of Allan. Allan was a major part of Chan’s Stunt Team and considered by most to be the martial artist’s protege with a prolific filmography as an actor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and fight designer on projects with Chan and on many others (including SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, PACIFIC RIM, and SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS). It’s a loving tribute to an impressive artist gone too soon that also dissects why flying kicks and counterpunches aren’t just for brutes but can be a poetic cinematic language unto themselves.