Smart man who made smart choices.

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Well, he did star in Shanghai Knights, which was arguably worse than Rush Hour 2. Still, I do admire his decision to work primarily in Hong Kong/China and stay out of the western markets that would potentially dilute his martial arts talents. That said, at this point his career, the output feels more like quantity than quality. I've hardly liked any of his movies these last several years, even the much popular Yip Man (excellent fight scenes, but falls short on storytelling and drama).

Well, he did star in Shanghai Knights, which was arguably worse than Rush Hour 2.
in my opinion Shanghai Knights was much more enjoyable than Rush Hour 2.

He turned down:
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
and Rush Hour 2 all are terrible movies! Donnie made some smart choices NOT being in those pieces of garbage

Comes to prove that he's not a sell out.Err, until he really hit the big time in Asia with Ip Man (2008), which happily coincided with Jet Li and Jackie Chan gradually retiring/moving away from the genre-- he wasn't ever big enough a star to "sell out", i.e. Hollywood wouldn't really spend loads of cash to "buy him out".

I mean, it's no surprise that he turned down those offers cos they were probably just some stereo-typical, non-descript bit part (did you seriously think they offered the part of the Dragon Emperor to Donnie??)-- Donnie Yen never hit the "A-list" in Hollywood and would never be asked to lead or head-line an blockbuster movie. And Shanghai Knights was more of a special favor and I-happen-to-have-time thing than a personal project/achievement for him.

Even now, the North American distribution rights to Ip Man and Ip Man 2 were simply sold off to a 2nd-tier distributor because these movies (& Donnie Yen) mainly appeal to Asian/Chinese markets.


"I don't go to movies to escape reality: I go to experience life in a raw, intense way"-- S. Copley