At age 70,Jackie Chanhas ruledmartial arts action moviesfor nearly five decades. His upcoming reprisal of “Mr. Han” inKarate Kid: Legendsbrings the cinematic icon a new opportunity to inspire a new generation of moviegoers around the world. But in the mid-‘80s, Chan struggled to attract American audiences with his cop thriller vehicleThe Protector.
Long before theRush HourandKarate Kidmovies gave Chan A-list status in America, his first attempt at a breakout Hollywood picture fell short of expectations. DirectorJames Glickenhaus’ 1985 action programmer arrived at a time when Hollywood was still looking for the nextBruce Lee. Chan had already carved out a winning formula in Hong Kong by combining dazzling martial arts sequences with eye-popping stunts reminiscent of silent film starsCharlie ChaplinandBuster Keaton. Though Chan’s talents helped to bring him to the United States with 1980’sThe Big Brawland the twoCannonball Runinstallments, the Western style of filmmaking often restrained him from going full throttle on his stuntwork.The Protectornot only continued this trend but also put the action star into one of the most tonally awkward movies in his historic career.
‘The Protector’ Fails To Turn Jackie Chan Into Clint Eastwood
In New York City, undercover cop Billy Wong (Chan) mourns the death of his partner following a fatal stickup in a bar. Reassigned to work security for a fashion show alongside new partner Danny Garoni (Danny Aiello), Wong is unsuccessful at stopping masked thugs from kidnapping the daughter of American gangster Martin Shapiro (Ron Dandrea). Shapiro’s daughter is held for ransom by her father’s Hong Kong drug connection, Harold Ko (Roy ChiaoofIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), prompting the NYPD to send Wong and Garoni to travel far East to recover her.
WhenThe Protectorcame along, Hollywood was more driven by serious and stoic action heroes in the cop movie genre, ranging fromClint EastwoodtoChuck Norris. As Chan channels those Western archetypes in the film,he’s far lessanimated than usualand more aggressive and violent. Wong brings out some of the martial arts action star’s most uncharacteristic traits, including the use of foul language while holding bad guys at gunpoint, and resorting to the use ofJohn Woo-style gunplay rather than beating them out of action. Additionally, Aiello gives Chan almost nothing to work with on-screen, in contrast toChris TuckerorOwen Wilson.
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Unlike the tongue-in-cheek tone of both Chan’s Hong Kong films and future American hits,The Protectoris explicitly graphic. Glickenhaus, known for underground New York cult classics such asThe ExterminatorandThe Soldier, does not hold back on theR-rated violence during the shootout scenes. Even more against Chan’s wholesome image are the scenes of gratuitous nudity involving the girls used for Ko’s drug lab. The excessive violence and gratuitous nudity madeThe Protectorjust anotherDirty Harryknock-off for the decade.
The Protectorstill retains some Chan-like signatures, including hanging off bamboo sticks, executing high-wire stunts in the air, and even battling a henchman with a buzzsaw. But the closest moment to Chan’s cinematic style is thefight sequence in the massage parlor. Only wearing his towel, Wong has to outmaneuver the bad guys through steam baths and at one point freezes in cold water. It’s the most comedically animated that Chan gets in the entire picture. A far more memorable version of the sequence was done over when Chan and Tucker battled the Triads inside a massage parlor inRush Hour 2.
According to Chan andJeff Yang’s book,I am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, the Western-driven direction of filmmaking was something that Chan conflicted with throughout the production, as he found his style of action and humor were heavily restrained by Glickenhaus. The result madeThe Protectorlook more like a clone of Norris’Code of Silencethan a true Jackie Chan picture. The frustrating experience as well asThe Protector’s lackluster box office led Chan to not only reshoot and recut the movie for its Hong Kong release but also, according to his 2015 autobiographyNever Grow Up,he was motivated to produce a winning franchise with 1985’sPolice Story. Taking the full reigns as star and director, Chan was more at home with his style of eye-popping stunts on transit buses and death-defying falls in a shopping mall, as well as his signature use of comedy within the action.
By Chan asserting control of his image to play close to his real-life personality as a charming nice guy who can still kick butt,Police Storywould firmly establish Chan’s winning formulathat made his next attempts at breaking into Hollywood withRumble in the BronxandRush Hourfar more successful than the forced grittiness ofThe Protector.
The Protector
