Your Top 5 Favorite Fight Choreographers Based Only on the Last Decade (2005 - 2014)?

[One Armed Boxer]

It recently ocurred to me that if I was to make a list of my favorite fight choreographers in action cinema over the last 10 years, my choices would be very different than if someone had simply asked me who my favorite fight choreographers are.

Despite being in the denial for the longest time, I've kind of come to accept the fact that some of the choreographers who I hold in the highest regards, thanks mainly due to their work done in a different era, simply don't seem to cut it anymore in the efforts they've been most recently involved in (no need to name names right?).

So I thought it would be an interesting idea to see, if you had to choose who your favorite fight choreographers are based purely on movies made within the last 10 years, 2005 - 2014 specifically, who would you choose?

In no particular order, I've listed my 5 below, highlighting 3 movies behind my choices for each -

Panna Rittikrai - This may be a posthumous choice, but I don't think it's possible to over-emphasize how much of a breath of fresh air Panna brought to the martial arts genre in the last decade.

'Tom Yum Goong' (2005), 'Chocolate' (2008), & 'Ong Bak 2' (2008) brought a style of action to the table which was completely new to most audiences. I can think of at least a couple of moves from each of these movies that had never been seen before, and have never been replicated since.

Eric Jacobus - As the co-founder and driving force behind The Stunt People, Jacobus has been infusing the trademark style of HK choreography with his own brand of acrobatics and humor for over 10 years.

'Contour / The Agent' (2006), 'Detective Story' (2010), & 'Death Grip' (2012) - and not to mention his countless shorts - continue to showcase a style which is hard hitting, fast, fluid, and never less than entertaining to watch. A crime this guy hasn't carried more full length features.

Donnie Yen - Having been on the action movie scene for 30 years, it hasn't been until the last 10 that Yen has really come into his own, so much so that he's now essentially considered as the face of HK action, and with good reason.

While 'Sha Po Lang / Kill Zone' (2005) & 'Flash Point' (2007) served to show that Yen could succesfully combine the grappling of modern MMA with the rhythmic flow of HK choreography, 'Wu Xia (2011) showed that he was just as capable at busting out the shapes.

Yayan Ruhian - In terms of industry experience Yayan may be the newcomer of the pack, but at almost 46 what he lacks in the movie industry he more than makes up for with 30 years of experience in the Indonesian martial art of Silat, both practicing and teaching.

With 'Merantau' (2009), 'The Raid' (2011), & 'The Raid 2' (2014) Yayan proved that he was capable of taking a martial art that had rarely been seen on a world stage, and applying it to some of the most intense fight scenes to appear on film in a long long time, working both with weapons and open-handed combat.

Larnell Stovall - After moving from New Orleans in 2001 to pursue his dream of working in the movie indusry, Stovall has gone from his beginnings as a stuntman, to being one of the most talented fight choreographers working today.

'Undisputed 3: Redemption' (2010), 'Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning' (2012), & 'Falcon Rising' (2014) have displayed his ability to show off a range of styles at their most effective, from Capoeira to Jujitsu to Kickboxing, Stovall has displayed a sharp eye for what looks good onscreen.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Yeah, that pretty much nails it.

(I would include Iko Uwais in with Yayan as he also choreographed a good bit of those films, but that's me.)

I like what I'm seeing from Tim Man. Kill 'Em All, while not the best film, had moments of great choreography, and one just can't dispute how fantastic the fights in Ninja SOAT were. (Well, one can, but they'd be wrong.) Look at his IMDb page and you see that he's been choreographing a number of things.

Marko Zaror is another whose choreography I enjoy. The guy amazes me with the moves he pulls off for his size.

[AlbertV]

Brahim Achabbakhe's choreography was the one asset for the otherwise abysmal "prequel" TEKKEN 2: KAZUYA'S REVENGE. He was Tim Man's assistant on Ninja:SOAT and was Scott Adkins' stunt double.

[Drunken Monk]

I think the best have pretty much been named but I'm surprised to see Yuen Woo Ping on anyone's list. His action director duties since 2005 have been...

House of Fury

Fearless

The Banquet

The Forbidden Kingdom

The Grandmaster

Man of Tai Chi

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai

I'm pretty sure he had a huge part in the action in "True Legend" too but HKMDB doesn't list him as the action director.

Looking at that list, I'd say he's done some pretty decent work over the last decade. Not his best, granted, but most of those films had enjoyable choreography.

Unlike, say, Corey Yuen who's had a 50/50 split with what's good and what isn't, I'd say Woo Ping is more 80/20.

[D1 Ma]

Definitely Panna. Original, inventive choreo, arguably, the best choreographer 0f the last decade. He will be greatly missed

Tim Man - very distinctive choreography, pretty close to the style of choreo I like. Maybe not practical and realistic, but it looks very good onscreen. (Ninja2)

Eric- lots of good fights, the only gripe - it's basically re-hash of HK-style choreo from the 90s. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Eric's work, but I don't think it's original or groundbreaking. Still, he deserves to be named among the best choreographers out there

Donnie - Totally overrated guy, personally, I'm not a fan of his work, but I have to admit, the man tries to bring something new into MA movies, although, for the most part I don't like what I see from him

I'd also mentioned Tony Jaa's work on OngBak sequels; I believe he also was involved in choreographing his other films

The rest - meh, I wouldn't even rate Yayan Ruhian that high

Yen Woo Ping was GREAT back in the day, his latest work - wire-fu extravaganzas - is not my cup of tea

[DiP]

Donnie Yen - The most versatile and innovative fight choreographer we have today. Can pretty much make any fighting style look great but also go improvisational and intricate with fight choreography. To me, that's what fight choreography is all about: pushing the limits by any means necessary.

Panna Rittikrai - 2003-2009 was the golden age of thai action cinema, when this guy gave a fresh air in martial arts films with refined thai martial arts beyond the knees and elbows we came to know way before Jaa and Rittikrai were known globally. I haven't been impressed with anything the same way after though (The Protector 2 had two decent fight scenes but the rest were ruined by ugly-looking 3D). If anything, Rittikrai is definitely a name that contributed to action films in the 2000s and will always be synonymous to Thai action films.

Dion Lam - One of the best HK fight choreographers but sadly criminally underrated. Most recent work that caught my attention was Alan Mak/Felix Chong's Overheard 2 where Lam staged a chase scene mixed with intense vehicle stunts and fight choreography in a way I've not seen in a long time.

Akihiro Noguchi - Was a fight choreographer in Mark Dacascos' Drive before he went on doing his best work with Black Belt which showcased Karate in a refined and innovative form.

Yuen Bun - Mostly doing various types of action choreography these days but does martial arts choreography from time to time. One of them was Johnnie To's Throw Down featuring and pulling off "story-driven" fight choreography like no other.

Other names in fight choreography are just ok to me but aren't bringing anything new to martial arts/fight choreography.

[Ash]

Hi, I was just passing by and I saw these interesting lists.

I agree on most of the names.

It just strikes me the absence of Doo-hong Jung, The korean choreographer, he basically created the korean different fighting styles that we are used to see in those movies. Bleak, violent, dirty, brawl-ish, but also very technical and precise if required (the Bourne-like choreographies of The Berlin File for ex.)

He has always worked with central directors of the korean wave of action movies like Kim, Ryoo, Kang.

He practically has overseen the majority of the most famous and important action movie from Korea in the last 15 years

what do you think? do you appreciate him?

[One Armed Boxer]

Hi, I was just passing by and I saw these interesting lists.

I agree on most of the names.

It just strikes me the absence of Doo-hong Jung, The korean choreographer, he basically created the korean different fighting styles that we are used to see in those movies. Bleak, violent, dirty, brawl-ish, but also very technical and precise if required (the Bourne-like choreographies of The Berlin File for ex.)

He has always worked with central directors of the korean wave of action movies like Kim, Ryoo, Kang.

He practically has overseen the majority of the most famous and important action movie from Korea in the last 15 years

what do you think? do you appreciate him?

Hi Ash, welcome to the forums! Hope to see you contributing more, especially as your first ever post has made me realize that it'd slipped my mind just how much of a significant contribution Jeong Doo-hong has made to the Korean action movie scene.

I completely agree with all you've said, and I actually sited the apartment fight Ha Jeong-woo has in 'The Berlin File' for being one of the reasons it made it onto my top movies list for 2013 (http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21028), just a superbly choreographed one-on-one in which you can really sense the desperation.

Like you say there's not many movies which have involved some type of action made over the last 15 years in Korea that Doo-hong hasn't been involved in in some capacity, be it doubling, stunts, acting, or fight choreography. I particularly loved his performance in 'No Blood, No Tears'.

[blue_skies]

Koichi Sakamoto

Eric Jacobus

Panna Rittikrai

Would be the top three names that come to mind for me personally. I'm not sure on the other two, I'll have to think about it.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Eric- lots of good fights, the only gripe - it's basically re-hash of HK-style choreo from the 90s. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Eric's work, but I don't think it's original or groundbreaking. Still, he deserves to be named among the best choreographers out there

Yes, much of his style of choreography is an homage to that of the HK actioners, and I wish more choreographers were like-minded. I do think he is rather innovative with his choreography considering that the work he's done in many of his short films is essentially guerilla style film making. I'm just waiting on the day he catches a break to be the fight choreographer for bigger film. Give him a decent budget, a talented MA star, and his Stunt People cadre, and I have no doubt he'll give Larnell Stovall and Tim Man a run for their money.

[DrNgor]

It'd be easier for me to list those whose work I'm familiar with and state my thoughts on them:

Corey Yuen: I don't think he's done anything really good since 2003's CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE.

Stephen Tung: He's always been overrated to me.

Yuen Bun: I'm glad to see him getting work in prestigious films, but his post-2000 work is not my cup of tea

Chin Kar-Lok - I like him more as a martial arts actor than as a fight choreographer/action director. I don't think much of his post-2000 work, although I'm always glad to see him getting critical acclaim.

Nicky Li Chung-Chi - I really like the stuff he's done with Wu Jing and Dennis Law, although his Benny Chan collaborations have felt more generic.

Dion Lam - Meh.

Yuen Woo-Ping and Co. - They have been consistently good over the years and are still among my all-time favorite action directors.

Donnie Yen - He's really kept Hong Kong action cinema alive and although his films aren't always great, I've yet to be disappointed with his actual fight choreography.

Ching Siu-Tung - I haven't seen Kung Fu Dunk or Dororo, but Sorcerer and the White Snake was a pale shadow of the awesomeness he could once pull off, although more conventional action pieces from IN THE NAME OF THE KING and EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS fared a little better.

Panna Rittikrai - Eh, with the exception of CHOCOLATE, I've been more impressed with the actors' abilities than the choreography they were shoehorned into.

[BaronK]

That's not what this thread is.

[One Armed Boxer]

Yuen Bun - Mostly doing various types of action choreography these days but does martial arts choreography from time to time. One of them was Johnnie To's Throw Down featuring and pulling off "story-driven" fight choreography like no other.

Corey Yuen: I don't think he's done anything really good since 2003's CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE.

This is exactly my point, to see who'd be your favorite fight choreographer based purely on the last decade, as both 'Throw Down' and 'Cradle 2 the Grave' fall outside of this period, in the context of the original post they can't really be classed as the reason for including them as great choreographers.

[Lionclaw]

No love for J.J. Perry? His choreography is always pretty believable and hard hitting.

[DrNgor]

This is exactly my point, to see who'd be your favorite fight choreographer based purely on the last decade, as both 'Throw Down' and 'Cradle 2 the Grave' fall outside of this period, in the context of the original post they can't really be classed as the reason for including them as great choreographers.

In my case, my point was more to the effect of "he won't fall in my top 5 of the last decade, considering that the last thing he did that I really liked was made 11 years ago".

[kami]

In terms of originality and impact I choose Donnie Yen as the prime action director of the decade. Even the choreography for stinkers like ICEMAN was imaginative and interesting, something other ADs just can't pull off.

One guy hugely underrated in my opinion is Nicky Li Chung-Chi. I like the powerful fights he choreographes and that make Dennis Laws otherwise forgettable films a worthwhile watch. Although INVISIBLE TARGET is his best work to date.

The team of MERANTAU and both THE RAIDs have accomplished something very impressive, of course, but three movies are not that much to judge a consistent quality of work.

Most other choreographers are quite hit-and-miss. I liked Yuen Wo-Pings output til his terrible wire-fu-mess TRUE LEGEND and since then he hasn't done anything impressive.

Corey Yuen's output was a huge letdown in the last decade. RED CLIFF had impressive action but in this case that can easily be credited to the director. TREASURE INN and NAKED SOLDIER had solid action but both were a far cry from his earlier work.

And Panna Rittikrai shined for the last time with the first TYG and CHOCOLATE, after that it was mediocrity all the way.

[DrNgor]

In terms of originality and impact I choose Donnie Yen as the prime action director of the decade. Even the choreography for stinkers like ICEMAN was imaginative and interesting, something other ADs just can't pull off.

One guy hugely underrated in my opinion is Nicky Li Chung-Chi. I like the powerful fights he choreographes and that make Dennis Laws otherwise forgettable films a worthwhile watch. Although INVISIBLE TARGET is his best work to date.

The team of MERANTAU and both THE RAIDs have accomplished something very impressive, of course, but three movies are not that much to judge a consistent quality of work.

Most other choreographers are quite hit-and-miss. I liked Yuen Wo-Pings output til his terrible wire-fu-mess TRUE LEGEND and since then he hasn't done anything impressive.

Corey Yuen's output was a huge letdown in the last decade. RED CLIFF had impressive action but in this case that can easily be credited to the director. TREASURE INN and NAKED SOLDIER had solid action but both were a far cry from his earlier work.

And Panna Rittikrai shined for the last time with the first TYG and CHOCOLATE, after that it was mediocrity all the way.

We'll have to agree to disagree of Yuen Woo-Ping and company. There work has been extremely good with very few exceptions since 2005. The action in HOUSE OF FURY was far better than it had any business being. DANNY THE DOG stands as one of the best late-period Jet Li movies in terms of action, as does FEARLESS. I love, Love, LOVE the action in TRUE LEGEND. FORBIDDEN KINGDOM was a little disappointing, but the initial fights were done really well, considering Jackie's age and whatnot. What I've seen of THE GRANDMASTER was impressive. The only thing he did that left me a little cold was THE BANQUET.

[kami]

We'll have to agree to disagree of Yuen Woo-Ping and company.

No, we don't have do agree on our disagreement since almost all of the film you mentioned were made before TRUE LEGEND. I love the action in HOUSE OF FURY and DANNY THE DOG, and the fights in FEARLESS are just great. But those in TRUE LEGEND are not and the movies he did after that didn't do much for me, either. Okay, MAN OF TAI CHI had solid fights but far from spectacular. But I even like the action in THE BANQUET and FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, also done before TRUE LEGEND.

[Drunken Monk]

No, we don't have do agree on our disagreement since almost all of the film you mentioned were made before TRUE LEGEND. I love the action in HOUSE OF FURY and DANNY THE DOG, and the fights in FEARLESS are just great. But those in TRUE LEGEND are not and the movies he did after that didn't do much for me, either. Okay, MAN OF TAI CHI had solid fights but far from spectacular. But I even like the action in THE BANQUET and FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, also done before TRUE LEGEND.

He's only choreographed three films since "True Legend" and I think all three had very entertaining choreography. Although, I know I'm in the minority when it comes to "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai."

"The Grandmaster" is a flawless film with flawless action and "Man of Tai Chi" was a pretty solid 'b' grade film.

But, as you've said, putting your opinions into the context of the thread title, it sounds like you actually think he's one of the better choreographers of the last decade.

[AlbertV]

My personal top 5:

1. Larnell Stovall - Undisputed III, Never Back Down 2, Falcon Rising

2. Panna Rittikrai (RIP) - Tom Yum Goong, Power Kids, The Kick

3. Eric Jacobus - 'Nuff Said

4. Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian - The Raid, The Raid 2

5. Tim Man - Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Special mentions: Brahim Achabbakhe (Tekken 2, which I still feel should have been its own entity and not a Tekken movie..I enjoyed the action, especially Kane vs. Brahim and Ron Smoorenburg) and Fabien Garcia and the Buson Brothers (Die Fighting...nuff said)