Several standout martial arts movies were good enough to warrant sequels – but some took longer to happen than others. Many immediately launched into franchises, whereas others took a decade or more before they grew beyond a standalone story. There are also situations where martial arts movie franchises fell dormant for years, only to be revived later.
Naturally, a sequel to an older movie or a “ᴅᴇᴀᴅ” franchise, comes with huge risks, considering that it depends on interest still being there after so many years. But as recent blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick have proven, such films are certainly worth revisiting.
The martial arts genre, for its part, has witnessed varying degrees of success with this formula. A handful of martial arts gems – including those that may have seemed like movies that shouldn’t be touched – have been resurrected via the sequel treatment, sometimes with new casts and in other instances, with the original lead actor.
Return Of The Fist: Legend Of Chen Zhen
Based on appearances alone, it may not be immediately obvious that Donnie Yen’s 2008 superhero period piece is a sequel to one of Jet Li’s best movies. In 1994, Jet Li starred in Fist of Legend, a remake of the 1972 Bruce Lee martial arts classic, Fist of Fury. Return of the Fist: Legend of Chen Zhen saw Yen replace Li in a follow-up to Fist of Legend.
By differing from the ending offered by the Bruce Lee original, Fist of Legend was able to pave the way for a continuation, even if it wasn’t intentional at the time. Instead of throwing himself into a blaze of gunfire as he did in Fist of Fury, Li’s Chen Zhen faked his death, allowing Yen’s take on the character to return as a disguised Chen Zhen in 1930s China.
This backstory provided the excellent foundation for a fun superhero story laced with martial arts action. Return of the Fist was very different from previous Chen Zhen stories, but the masked vigilante element to it was helpful for setting up some great Donnie Yen fight scenes where he got to go up against hordes of armed opponents.
Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is a unique case, in that it serves as both a remake and a sequel. One of the most influential wuxia movie ever made, King Hu’s Dragon Inn sees a number of figures meet and clash at the Dragon Gate Inn in ancient China. Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark produced two adaptations of the film, New Dragon Gate Inn and The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.
The latter, released 19 years after Tsui Hark’s first make and 44 years after the original, weaves a similar tale but is revealed to take place three years after the Dragon Gate Inn was burned down in New Dragon Gate. Featuring a new cast of characters (including Jet Li), Flying Swords of Dragon Gate created a vibrant world for its wuxia adventure story.
Having proven to be a seamless fit in wuxia films, Jet Li contributed greatly to Flying Swords of Dragon Gate’s epic action sequences, but took a backseat to the other members of the cast, who displayed excellent chemistry and martial arts skills of their own.
CZ12
CZ12 (also known as Chinese Zodiac) is a 2012 Jackie Chan action movie that puts the actor back in a role he had played in 21 years. In two 1980s Hong Kong movies, Armour of God and Armour of God II: Operation Condor, Chan played Asian Hawk, who operated as somewhat of an Indiana-Jones style action hero.
Jackie Chan’s commitment to doing his own stunts and the Indiana Jones formula made for a perfect combination in the two films, and Chan made the most of that again for a third time in CZ12. In fact, it went so heavy on stuntwork that it entered the Guiness Book of Records for the number of stunts included in a single movie.
The Karate Kid: Legends
Piggybacking off the renewed interest in The Karate Kid franchise that Cobra Kai had helped cultivate, The Karate Kid: Legends featured the first big-screen outing for Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso in 36 years. The franchise continued without him for one movie, 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, but abandoned that canon with the 2010 Karate Kid remake.
Though The Karate Kid: Legends, the franchise was able to merge the continuity of the remake with the original movies, essentially making it a sequel to both stories. This unique concept set in motion an exciting team-up and blend of martial arts styles where Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han and Macchio’s Daniel trained a new “Karate Kid” to win a martial arts tournament.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: Sword Of Destiny
In 2000, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh co-starred in the Best Picture-nominated wuxia film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The groundbreaking martial arts movie created a new era for the genre, but the movie itself didn’t bear a sequel for another 16 years. In 2016, Yeoh returned to star in the Netflix original movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: Sword of Destiny.
It was always too much to expect for a sequel to a movie with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and 10 Academy Award nominations to match the original, but Sword of Destiny is a worthy successor nonetheless. It features a beautiful wuxia setting, memorable performances for Yeoh and Yen, and a mix of wushu action and romance that contains a spirit in line with the first movie.
Drunken Master II
In the aftermath of Drunken Master’s release, multiple follow-ups – including Dance of the Drunk Mantis – were made to capitalize on its success, but unfortunately a proper sequel with Jackie Chan wasn’t among them, given that he had moved on to a new stage in his career. But Chan did return to the role eventually, via Drunken Master II in 1994.
Quite possibly the best martial arts sequel ever made, Drunken Master II accomplished the rare task of improving on the original. Pairing Chan with one of the greatest martial arts directors of all time in Lau Kar-leung had a lot to do with that, as well as the decision to put greater focus on the emotional stakes of the story and the risks of using drunken boxing kung fu.
