A Martial Artist's View of the Film: "Kiss of The Dragon"

Jet Li isn’t Bruce Lee.

And it’s a good thing if you’re a movie fan.

Jet Li is much more interesting to watch. Instead of seeing a permanent scowl, like the one attached to Bruce’s face, Jet Li’s countenance is super subtle, mobile, and complex.

You can see him trying to restrain himself, waging inner battles that call for tremendous restraint. Staring forward, trying to appear impassive and inscrutable, Jet Li speaks volumes about his characters.

By comparison, Bruce Lee’s characters are open books with far too little written inside.

“Kiss of the Dragon” is a Jet Li story. He created the plot, the concept, and he has a good grasp of what it means to develop a hero.

Generally, heroes are RELUCTANT. They’re not looking for a fight. In this sense, they’re connected to the ideal martial artist, a person who only fights when there is no alternative.

With Bruce Lee’s characters, you can hear the chained tiger roaring inside of him; he always has to prove himself.

Of course, there is Bruce Lee, the legend, and that is a different matter, as is the Bruce Lee who wrote a book on a martial art that he developed, or assembled, if you will: Jeet Kune Do.

And there is Bruce Lee, the first Chinese American to breakthrough to the big time, to become a heroic film icon in the United States.

Arguably, if there hadn’t been a Bruce Lee, there wouldn’t be a Jet Li.

I haven’t told you much about “Kiss of the Dragon,” have I?

It’s a good film with a lot of fun fight scenes, including a semi-comedic encounter between Jet Li and a room filled with Black Belts at a Parisian police station.

Speaking of Paris, it’s beautiful, and you’ll definitely get a “Kiss” of it, in this movie.

Acupuncture and acupressure will also catch your attention by being used in ways that you’ve never imagined.

With all due respect to Bruce, this is Jet Li, at his best.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com

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