The dialogue and acting is shitty. Jet Li cannot do drama. To his credit, no one could do drama with writing like this. Fonda is merely OK but very cute.
But, perhaps more importantly, the bad, distracting camerawork and editing ruined the martial arts. Dizzying cuts hide the real action. You really don’t get to see much. Everyone knows Jet Li can really move, but there are only 2-3 shots in this movie where you can actually see it. Is there nothing in between slow motion and too-quick editing? Can they make the distinction between quick kinetic action, and kinetic editing that gets in the way of kinetic action? I like quick editing, but not too quick that it makes it manipulative.
Jackie Chan editing I like cuz you get to see it all. There is one sequence in First Strike that blows me away cuz there are very few cuts in it relative to most action sequences. Jet’s action would be more appealing if it was shot like Jackie’s. Unfortunately, that *might* reveal that Jet can’t move like Jackie, and thus the editing choice.
The best martial arts is an exhibition, it’s “look what i can do,” and letting us get a good look is part of it.
Didn’t they have a chance to shoot him while he was suspended in the elevator shaft?
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