Jet Li and Wen Zhang Tackle Action Comedy in “Badges of Fury”

In their third film collaboration, mainland Chinese actors Jet Li (李連傑) and Wen Zhang (文章) will be teaming up to form a detective duo in their upcoming action-comedy movie, Badges of Fury <不二神探>.

Badges of Fury follows young detective Wang Buer (Wen Zhang) and his teammate, veteran inspector Huang Feihong (Jet Li), as they investigate a shocking serial murder in Hong Kong. Along the way, Buer becomes emotionally entangled with suspects like Liu Jinshui (Cecilia Liu 劉詩詩) and her older sister Dai Yiyi (Ada Liu 柳岩), as well as with his superior Angela (Michelle Chen 陳妍希).

Both Jet and Wen Zhang play to their strengths in Badges of Fury – Jet exchanges blows with martial arts experts like Jacky Wu (吳京) and Collin Chou (鄒兆龍), while Wen Zhang delivers the comedy with his ever-changing moods. However, they also cross over into the other’s area of expertise, with Wen Zhang soaring over walls and Jet unleashing his sharp but humorous tongue.

At a recent press conference in Beijing, Jet revealed that he’d originally wanted to play Badges of Fury’s main villain, who is now portrayed by Collin. “I would play the big baddie,” he explained, “and after I arrived, I would be struck down by Wen Zhang, which would make [him] a martial arts comedy hero.”

Jet also joked that he was “jealous” of Wen Zhang for monopolizing all of the female attention in the film. “I don’t know why he can like three girls in the movie,” he said, “whereas I can only stand by the side and say mean things.”

Although many Chinese-language films are going down the comedy route after the unexpected success of the 2012 film Lost in Thailand <人再囧途之泰囧>, Wen Zhang is confident that Badges of Fury will stand out. “I also think that I look better than Huang Bo (黃渤),” he joked. “This film can definitely surpass Lost in Thailand.”

Apart from the star-studded main cast, Badges of Fury will also feature cameos from established actors like Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎), Raymond Lam (林峰), Alex Fong (方力申), and Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明). It is slated to open in theaters on June 28.

Source: Sohu.com