Listen, Jackie Chan is a martial arts legend, so when he's cast in a movie like Karate Kid: Legends, you know he's going to deliver. Director Jonathan Entwistle definitely got to see Chan's skills firsthand. When the filmmaker behind the marquee 2025 movie release spoke to CinemaBlend about working with Chan for his return as Mr. Han, he shared a great story that illustrates how much of a pro the 71-year-old actor is.
Considering just how many stunts Chan has performed over the course of his career, it's natural to think that he's learned a few tricks. Apparently, one of those came into play on the first day of filming, during which the revered Chinese star dislocated his shoulder. As Entwistle explained to me though, Chan corrected that with a smart, but somewhat gross, course of action:
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.’
Karate Kid: Legends is certainly not Jackie Chan’s first rodeo. Chan's movies are widely revered and represent some of the best of what Asian cinema has to offer. Chan worked as a stuntman back in the '70s and '80s before eventually landing his own leading roles. So I’m not exactly surprised that he popped his shoulder back in place after getting injured. That said, the thought of seeing that happen in real time makes me uneasy. However, Jonathan Entwistle was impressed:
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.
Karate Kid: Legends follows Ben Wang’s Li Fong, a student and great-nephew of Mr. Han, who moves to New York City with his mom (played by Ming-Na Wen) for a fresh start. When Li finds himself wrapped up in a local martial arts tournament, Mr. Han joins him in the Big Apple to train, and he recruits Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso to help.
The stunts for Legends were choreographed by Peng Zhang, who was also coordinated on Shang-Chi and American Born Chinese. But, of course, the production also had Jackie Chan, who's quite particular. Jonathan Entwistle even shared during our interview, that Chan was sizing up a variety of pans on set to decide which of them would be the best for comedic effect during his on-screen fight with co-star Ben Wang. The director also said this:
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.
There you have it. What you see is pretty much what you get in this legacy sequel. The big move of the movie, the dragon kick, was even accomplished without wire work, thanks to an amazing stunt performer. I'd say that intense facts like these are enough to make a fan clutch their Karate Kid popcorn bucket.
CinemaBlend also talked to Entwistle about the post credit scene in Legends and to Jackie Chan about his stunt work ethic now that he’s in his 70s. As you may have heard, Chan isn’t ever planning on retiring and is even interested in doing another Rush Hour film! He's a truly committed star, who clearly knows how to maintain his body accordingly on set.
Karate Kid: Legends is playing in theaters now!
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