Martial artists often don’t get enough respect in Hollywood, evidenced by a history of underutilization in Blockbuster films. As a genre, martial arts movies are relatively insular, having a whole universe of stars who need to be not only great actors, but expert combatants, choreographers, and stunt people to hone their craft to perfection. Every now and then, Hollywood will seek to appease the predominantly overseas audiences of the genre with cameos from some of the best martial arts actors in the business, to mixed effects.
Often, the intentions behind including widely-known martial artists, especially in movies outside of the genre, are good. However, there’s an undeniable sentiment underlying much of Hollywood’s attitude to the martial arts genre as being a fun novelty not worth being taken seriously. This can lead to some appearances of big names in the Wuxia or Kung-Fu movie world being utter wastes of talent, failing to develop their characters to a worthy degree or ruining their on-screen capabilities with poor direction or editing. In the hands of an incapable creative, even the most seasoned warrior of the martial arts genre can appear lackluster.
8 The Force Awakens
Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman
The Force Awakens managed to waste not one, not two, but three premiere martial artists in the first installment of the sequel trilogy. The trio of Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman are high-caliber martial arts actors best known for their work in the The Raid franchise, an Indonesian action series with some of the best fight scenes ever conceived for film, in which Uwais plays the starring role of rookie cop Rama. Tragically, all three actors are wasted as nothing more than fodder for squid-like aliens in one of the films most out-of-place sequences, with Uwais only getting off a single line before being chased away.
Related
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Wasted Iko Uwais’ Razoo Quin-Fee
Iko Uwais is one of Indonesia’s most talented martial artists but you wouldn’t know it from his Star Wars: The Force Awakens cameo as Razoo Quin-Fee.
7 Mortal Kombat (2021)
Joe Talsim
When word got out that the new reboot of the Mortal Kombat film series would be featuring Joe Talsim as the legendary ice ninja, Sub-Zero, fans of both the games and Talsim were rightfully excited. Also known for The Raid franchise, Talsim had also previously enjoyed notoriety with great performances in Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond, proving himself as a seasoned actor as well as a proficient fighter. Unfortunately, Talsim’s Sub-Zero left a lot to be desired, ending up a one-note villain whose action scenes were utterly butchered in the editing room, breaking up Talsim’s proficiency with way too many fast cuts and lukewarm choreography.
6 The Expendables 4
Dan Chupong and Mike Moeller
Fittingly enough, the fourth entry in the Expendables franchise features four prominent martial arts actors. While Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais get some decent fight scenes, Dan Chupong and Mike Moeller’s talents are gone completely underappreciated. Though both men aren’t as high-profile as Jaa and Uwais, Chupong and Moeller have proven themselves as capable martial artists and stunt performers in films like Born to Fight and Arena of the Street Fighter. But The Expendables 4 wastes Moeller and Chupong, giving them minor roles that don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what they’re capable of in an action movie.
5 Kung-Fu Panda
Jackie Chan
There are few martial artists as well-known in the West as Jackie Chan, who managed to use his storied career in overseas films to cement himself as one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures with leading roles in a variety of Western franchises, most notably the Rush Hour series. Yet Western animation’s most acclaimed martial arts series, Kung-Fu Panda, has grossly underutilized Jackie Chan’s voice role as Monkey in the Furious Five. Not only is Jackie Chan relegated to a background character, he isn’t even one of the particularly stronger members of the film series’ elite team, getting comparatively fewer moments to shine.
4 Blade 2
Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen is one of the more recent contenders for the Mount Rushmore of martial arts movie leading men, carrying the Ip Man franchise as a devoted Wing Chun practitioner. Unfortunately, Yen was underutilized in his early Hollywood roles, one of the most egregious among them being his appearance in Blade 2. In Wesley Snipes’ follow-up to the superhero slasher flick, Donnie Yen appears as Snowman, a cannon-fodder member of the film’s villain gang, the Bloodpack. Not only does he not get a single line, being portrayed as a mute swordsman, but he’s killed off-screen, an insulting inclusion for one of martial arts’ biggest names.
3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Donnie Yen
Despite having clearly grown his career since Blade 2, Donnie Yen is once again underutilized in major franchises even in recent years. Rather than being mute, this time Yen is blind, at least getting a speaking role as the wise Chirrut Îmwe, a Force mystic who fights well-armed Imperial Stormtroopers with nothing but a staff. While his character concept was great, the reality of Yen as Îmwe amounted to a handful of brief action shots before limping towards a pre-ordained heroic death. It’s hard not to feel like Yen’s Star Wars appearance could’ve had so much more potential.
2 Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2
Michelle Yeoh
An Academy Award-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh rose to fame as a martial artist in a series of Hong Kong-produced action films, cementing her place as Kung-Fu movie royalty thanks to her performance in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Marvel fans were hopeful for Yeoh’s role in the second entry in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, where Yeoh played Aleta Ogord, a lesser-known space-faring heroine. While Yeoh’s involvement in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 was a missed opportunity, having a tiny role in a mid-credits sequence, the MCU gave her the screen presence she deserved in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Ying Nan.
1 Kill Bill Vol. 2
Michael Jai White
One of the most prolific martial arts stars, Michale Jai White has played iconic roles like Mike Tyson, Jax from Mortal Kombat, and even became the first African-American superhero lead with Spawn in 1997. This makes it all the more puzzling that White’s scene in Kill Bill Vol. 2 was cut, languishing in obscurity as a deleted scene. Considering that White’s character would’ve even gotten to battle Bill himself, being the only true fight scene the film’s titular character would’ve gotten, it’s a crying shame that Michael Jai White’s martial arts skills never made it to the final cut of Kill Bill Vol. 2.
