Daniel Wu Stars in “Tomb Raider”
Opening on March 16 in the United States, Tomb Raider is a re-boot of the classic film franchise. Daniel Wu (吳彥祖) is in a major supporting role as Lu Ren, a ship captain who helps Lara Craft (portrayed by Alicia Vikander) search for her father.
A fixture in 1990s Hong Kong films, Daniel Wu has shifted his career to Hollywood in recent years. After starring in AMC television series Into the Badlands, in which he also served as executive producer, Daniel has appeared in Hollywood films, Warcraft and Geostorm. Although known for his action roles, Daniel said that he leaves most of the action to Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider.
Looking back at Chinese artistes in Hollywood cinema, there have been notable cases where they were featured in prominent roles although they portrayed antagonists. Prior to Daniel being cast, many fans remember Simon Yam (任達華) in one of the Tomb Raider sequels, where as a gang leader, he fought against Angelina Jolie for the special orb.
Jet Li (李連杰) debuted in Hollywood in the blockbuster, Lethal Weapons 4, but was cast as a member of the triad who killed many people in the movie. Once again where Chinese actors were type-cast for villains, Chow Yun Fat (周潤發) played a cunning pirate lord in Pirate’s of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Although many fans were unhappy that some of Hong Kong’s biggest stars were cast as bad guys in previous Hollywood movies, perhaps Daniel’s character in Tomb Raider will allow Chinese actors to gain the well-deserved recognition. Tomb Raider promises a brand-new and refreshing spin on the traditional classic 17 years ago.
“Tomb Raider” Trailer
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Recognition? Chinese film stars, whether from HK, China or Taiwan are mostly ignored in Hollywood media news.
@msxie0714 you dont know jet li, jacky chan? they have made quite a lot of hollywood movies as leading actor. other supporting chinese actors are not ignored, they just dont have a major role and are not really popular in the west so thats the reason why they dont get much attention in a hollywood production.
@kolo
The only ones who got some attention were Jackie Chan and Chow Yun fat. If you ever watch those hollywood entertainment programs like Entertainment Tonight, it’s obvious that Asian and Chinese actors are ignored. During promos for Marco Polo, Transformers and Great Wall, attention was entirely on the white actors without any regard for Joan Chen, Li Bingbing and Jing Tian or Andy Lau.
The article writer forgot about Jackie Chan. He played mostly good guys in his Hollywood movies. Donnie Yen also played a good guy in ‘Rogue One’.
Chow Yun Fat played a mixture of good guys and bad guys in his Hollywood movies and the type of roles he played were also quite varied. So, he was not typecast.
Chow Yun Fat’s role in pirate of the Caribbean is not villain, his role is actually quite cool. Stop twisting the roles to support your arguments. Sure, There are a lot of typecast, but the famous Chinese/hk actors do get good supporting roles.
I dont mind Daniel Wu but the remake of Tomb raider aint the w/o the original star Angelina Jolie….. =(
Watch this movie last Sunday. Plot is not deep, but, the action is good. A number of scenes really have me at the edge of my seat. Fans of the updated Tomb Raider game will also enjoy the several cut-scenes made live in the movie.
Daniel Wu is underused here. His character is a underdeveloped. But then, most of the supporting characters are. The focus is really on Lara Croft. There is no male lead in this movie. The male characters with the biggest role are Daniel’s Lu Ren, Lara’s father and the villain.