Karate Kid: Legendsdirector Jonathan Entwistle reveals that Jackie Chan dislocated his shoulder during a fight sequence, only to then pop it back in himself. Serving as the sixth movie in theKarate Kidfranchise, the martial arts film chronicles the journey of kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang), who becomes a student of Mr. Han (Chan) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) after finding himself on a collision course with a local karate champion. Chan’s role in theKarate Kid: Legendscastmarks his second outing as Mr. Han after 2010’sThe Karate Kid.
During a recent interview withCinemaBlend,Entwistle recalls filming the Mr. Han kitchen fight inKarate Kid: Legends, revealing that the action in the sequence caused Chan to dislocate his shoulder. The 71-year-old actor didn’t miss a beat, however, popping his shoulder back into place and promptly getting back to filming. Check out Entwistle’s recollection of the surreal experience below:
He dislocated his shoulder on the first thing that we rolled in the kitchen fight, and he just was like, boop [motions popping shoulder back into place], ‘Okay, let’s go.’ I was just like, ‘Oh, Jackie Chan’s here. I forgot.’
It was just amazing to witness that and just to see him on camera do something. It felt like a movie. It felt like when we turned over on Jackie and like, ‘Oh, Jackie’s doing something.’ There’s some amazing sequences where Ben, he’s just blocking, block, block [with Jackie Chan]. Seeing him do that on this rooftop at Sunset, I’m like, let’s go. We’re making movies, you know? It felt really special.
I was adamant from the beginning that when we knew Jackie was reprising Mr. Han’s role, that we were going to bring some of the Jackie Chan magic dust to everything we touched. For me, it was really important from day one that the fights felt awesome and fun and cool, but they really had a little extra to it. And so from day one, I was like, I want Hong Kong wire work team. I think this is a really exciting thing theatrically for people to see a different type of fight. There’s no VFX augmenting the fights. It’s all in camera.
What This Means For Karate Kid: Legends
Jackie Chan’s Action History Explained
Chan remains one of the most notable figures in the history of action cinema.He got his start in the Hong Kong martial arts scene, making a splash with movies likeSnake in the Eagle’s Shadow(1978),Drunken Master(1978),Wheels on Meals(1984) andPolice Story(1985). In the 1990s, Chan became a well-known martial arts figure in Hollywood, appearing inRumble in the Bronx(1995),Rush Hour(1998), and then,Shanghai Noon(2000).
Chan recently toldScreenRantthathe’s interested in makingRush Hour 4andShanghai Dawn, the third installment in theShanghaiseries.
With such a long and impressive resume in action,Chan is no stranger to getting injured on the job. He broke his ankle while filmingRumble in the Bronx, and he previously hurt his shoulder during the filming ofPolice Story 3: Super Cop(1992). Among his more serious injuries are nearly breaking his neck while filmingProject A(1983) and fracturing his skull inArmour of God(1987).
These injuries are among many the broken bones, lacerations, and muscle-damaging hits that he has sustained over the course of his 60-plus-year career. The nonchalance with which Chan popped his shoulder back in during filming on the latest installment in theKarate Kidfranchisespeaks to just how familiar this action star is with battering his body while on the job. Chan’s dedication to his craft seems to have paid off with audiences, asLegendsenjoys a 91% Popcornmeter scoreonRotten Tomatoes.
Our Take On Jackie Chan’s Karate Kid: Legends Injury
Chan’s Dedication Helps To Elevate The Sequel
At 71, nobody would blame Chan for taking a step back from action and perhaps letting stunt performers take on a little bit more of the burden. The fact that Chan remains dedicated to doing his own fight scenes, however, is certainly admirable, and it is in line with decades' worth of stories about just how committed he is to making his action scenes as compelling and entertaining as possible.
Karate Kid: Legends' reviewsmay not be glowing from critics, butaudience reception could end up carrying the movie to success. Chan isn’t the star of the show in this particular installment, but he does play a crucial role, and his involvement in some new fight sequences could be reason enough to check this latest entry out. WhileKarate Kid: Legendsmay not be the greatest entry in the franchise, Chan’s involvement definitely makes it a highlight.
