Is there a specific style or genre name for Jackie Chan's movies?
Aside from the obvious Action or Martial Arts, Jackie Chan's movies are filled with very angular fight scenes (i.e. Punch, Hesitation, Retraction, Counter, etc...). There is a deliberateness to it, and I understand that it needs to be well choreographed but it just doesn't flow the way an actual fight might. There's always that moment of hesitation after a punch where the arm is left sticking straight out, etc...
Along with this, many times there is some humor injected into the fight scene. Examples might be after repeated punches to the nose he makes a funny face, or he might flail his arms as if to say, "No more punches to my face!", and his adversary would hit him in the stomach.
I've seen enough Saturday Matinee movies as a kid to know that not all Martial Arts movies are like this. Bruce Lee movies, for example, featured very straight-forward Martial Arts scenes that were taken seriously.
So what I'm wondering is, is there a specific name for this Martial Arts/Comedy style that Jackie Chan employs, or is it just considered Martial Arts/Comedy?
Best Answer
The film style of Jackie Chan movies is "Hong Kong Action Cinema". While Jackie's style is unique, others of the same time era feature the same techniques of Peking Opera influenced acrobatics, Kung Fu, and slapstick. My understanding is that this style of film was specific to Hong Kong and distinct from Mainland Chinese films of the time.
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Answer 2
I have always known this genre as Chop-Socky.
Apparently the term was coined by Variety magazine without carrying any connotations of poor quality or bad dubbing. It just meant a film from the far east with a lot of choreographed kung-fu.
However, when I was young the term was often used in a derogatory way.
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