Film Name: 黄飞鸿之二：男儿当自强 / Once Upon a Time in China II / 黃飛鴻之二男兒當自強
I still believe that the showdown between Jet Li and Donnie Yen in “Once Upon a Time in China II” remains unmatched among all Chinese martial arts fight scenes I’ve ever seen.
Among Tsui Hark’s Wong Fei-hung trilogy, the fight sequences in the second installment remain the most compelling upon repeated viewings. A closer look reveals the iconic moment where Jet Li, wielding a bamboo blade, slices through Donnie Yen’s cloth staff before delivering a fatal strike. The subsequent scene where blood seeps from Yen’s slashed neck before erupting into a spray of crimson mist… Truly an earth-shaking, soul-stirring stroke of genius—at that moment, Jet Li had already landed his Shadowless Kick on Donnie Yen. This was practically Wong Fei-hung’s invincible finishing move throughout the film (with a cooldown lasting the entire first 95% of the movie—a cosmic, super-ultimate, thunderous superpower!). In previous films of this genre, Wong Fei-hung would have undoubtedly triumphed in the grand finale. Isn’t Alan Tam’s “Once Upon A Time A Hero in China” a parody of this very trope?
But as Donnie Yen spits blood from the hit, he somehow uses his cloth staff to strangle Jet Li to death. According to the plot, if Donnie had simply unleashed his devastating Four Gates Staff Technique at this moment, Jet Li would have been doomed. This starkly diverges from typical films. Several slow-motion close-ups instantly heighten the audience’s anticipation, as Donnie has now seized complete dominance, cornering Jet Li into a dead end—just like being driven into that high-walled, four-sided dead alley…
Yet everyone understood: when cornered, one finds new strength. Jet Li would surely stage another comeback. But his bamboo staff had been shattered, then twisted and torn by Donnie’s cloth staff into splinters—like a python coiling around him, facing the serpent’s jaws in utter desperation. Yet this very moment becomes the turning point of survival. Like the hole Donnie Yen’s cloth staff punches through the wall—the bamboo splinters transform into blades, piercing the cloth staff—which, being cloth, follows the natural flow to slice toward the enemy. In a close-up of Donnie Yen’s horrified and bewildered eyes, Jet Li completes an incredible reversal. Audiences must have been utterly hooked by this double whammy of twists in such a split second, holding their breath as their hearts skipped a beat—utterly exhilarating!
Moreover, in the earlier clash between Jet Li and Donnie Yen, their first staff duel saw Jet Li clearly holding back, while Donnie Yen also reserved his full strength, merely hinting at his formidable presence to establish his villainous weight. The wooden stake that shattered upon contact was merely a foreshadowing for the decisive showdown to come. The second stick duel unfolded in a more intricate, three-dimensional space. Jet Li, protecting Mo Shaocong, fought with full force yet aimed to disengage. Donnie Yen, mindful of his reputation, also avoided prolonged combat. At this point, the two fought to a stalemate. Shaolin staff techniques and the Four Gates staff style proved evenly matched in the contest of ordinary wooden (bamboo) staffs.
Yet this very stalemate foreshadowed Jet Li’s peril. Donnie Yen had yet to unleash his signature cloth staff technique—a weapon whose raw power surpassed the wooden staff while possessing innate flexibility beyond its reach. Jet Li was already losing ground. The wooden sticks repeatedly snapped in the alley foreshadowed this. Yet true masters turn the tide even in dire straits. Ultimately, Jet Li carved his stick into a blade in desperation, slaying Donnie Yen—a perfect reenactment of the underdog triumphing over superior odds in a duel!
Tsui Hark, a true genius!