The Next Asian Action Star!!

I know this is an old post from one of my previous sites but I thought it would do better over here.

The Greats
Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Donnie Yen, and Bruce Lee have given us some great martial art/action films over the years. Unfortunately like many legends they grow old or never fully expand their careers. There must be people to take their place, but who can take the place of these greats? I give you four:

Iko Uwais
Rain
Tony Jaa
And Wu Jing

These four are rising fast in Asian action cinema, but which one is the better and can any of them can break into American cinema. If so do they have the appeal, the physicality, and the boldness to make it big as an international superstar? Let’s find out shall we.

Tony Jaa Original Name- Panom Yeerum: The Physical One

Born 1976 in Surin, Thailand
Height: 5’6
Big Movies: Ong Bak 1, 2, and 3; The Protector aka Tom Yum Goong




His idols were Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li (like many others). Trying to combine all of their styles together into one Jaa has created a more physical and brutal martial art films. This is probably due to the fact that Tony uses a Muay Thai background for most of his fight scenes.Filled with mind blowing stunts and a strong physical presence make’s Jaa one of the top contenders in Action cinema. He does have his drawbacks however. His acting is not really the best around, and his speech is not that good either this could mean some bad English if decides to make his move to Hollywood. He definitely has the body for it abs, good arms, and incredible flexibility makes Tony the more physical out of the bunch.

Rain Original Name- Jeong Ji-Hoon: The Pretty boy

Born 1982 in Seoul, South Korea
Height: 6’0
Big Movies: Speed Racer, and Ninja Assassin



Called the hardest working man in show business by John Goodman is a huge compliment (no pun please). Going through many trails as dancer, and singer Rain became one of the biggest pop stars Korea has ever seen(sucks for those studios who turned him down and called him too ugly). From there he starred in two action films Speed Racer which turned into a dump at the box office and Ninja Assassin which didn’t do too good at the box office either. He did however get into the good graces with the action community being the next Asian star to step up and take his place among action greats. Though some (especially those in the martial arts community) will argue that Rain is just some pretty boy who just picked up a couple of swords and started swinging.Although there is a lot of CGI (mostly the blood, and some of the weapons) used in Assassin, you could tell what was real and wasn’t fake. He definitely has the appeal I mean he did win “the bad ass of the year” award at the MTV Movie Awards, but I’m hoping to see more physicality out of Rain in the coming years.

Jacky Wu Original Name- Wu Jing: The Natural

Born 1974 in Beijing, China
Height: 5’9
Big Movies: Fatal Contact, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, SPL, and Legendary Assassin



The oldest of the four Wu studied Wushu at the Beijing Wushu Academy like his father and grandfather before him. He was spotted by the famous choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping who needed martial artist to star in his new film Tai-Chi 2 and the rest is history. Not really known to Americans or the world unless you dive into Asian action cinema like I do. If you do however see one of Jacky’s films you will see that he is a natural at what he does. From fight scenes to the acting Wu is the total package that all action directors ask for. There is however a drawback and that being his appeal. Now in China he is deemed as a good looking man,but his body is what most of the Americans(women mostly) will be looking at. That should not stop you from looking at his films body or not! There is also his age issue (he’s 36). It’s not the biggest deal breaker but it could determine how long his prime career will last.

Iko Uwais Original Name- Uwais Qorny: The Unknown

Born 1983 in Jakarta, Indonesia
Height: Unknown
Big Movies: Merantau, The Raid

The youngest of the four is also the most mysterious of the four. Starring in the first martial art from Indonesia in 15 years Uwais made his debut thanks to director Gareth Evans who spotted while filming a documentary about Silat (a martial art form). Iko only has one film under his belt and another on the way but it is greatly anticipated by many in the Asian community. However the film did receive many hecklers saying it’s just Ong Bak but Indonesian style, and others saying that Uwais doesn’t look to be as fast as other Asian action stars. Just like Wu he has the face but maybe not the body (yet). Only time will tell. (This was written before the Raid came out). 



There you have it four rising Asian cinema action stars! I’m greatly anticipating these guys to make big splashes in American cinema but my votes Rain since he is one of the youngest, has the appeal, and the time to grow on Americans. I’m not counting out Tony Jaa though he maybe 34 years old but I believe he still has some fight left in him. What do you think about that? Is Rain the next to go big or will someone else take the throne?  

Update: I thinking Iwo Uwais now has a better chance along with Rain.        



Vote for it here: Action Star Poll

All photos are from respected Wikipedia pages

the greats photo from- http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/25/content_10890836.htm

Posted in: analyze,next Asian action star,ninja assassin,ong bak,SPL,the movies,the raid