It's not about keeping up, it's about being a good stuntman. Jackie had already done action scenes for 20 years while it was a first for Smoorenburg.
You might have missed out on the exchange between Ezekiel and myself. It started here, where he talked about the nationality of Spike and that the actor will be too old and that he wouldn't look good fighting.
They modeled his hair and part of his nose after him. Barely see the resemblance beyond that. I always assumed he was white because I don't believe I know any Asian characters with German/Jewish names.
Either way, too old. Won't look good fighting.
My
post to him was that A.) last name means nothing when it comes to Japanese characters B.) plenty of older actors fought well C.) No human has green hair from birth and D.) No one actually knows what Spike's background is.
Ezekiel responded with this.
The actor has to do Jeet Kune Do, which is more physically demanding than what Theron and Reeves did there. I doubt Reeves could swing his legs like he did twenty years ago.
My
response was that I've practiced Jeet Kune Do and that it was supposed to be a philosophy which you adapted to yourself, not a Kata driven form like Karate. You can take and you can borrow and you can leave behind to express your body as you see fit.
And then there was the clip of a martial artist who started studying at age seven who kicks like a damn dream who couldn't perform the way Jackie wanted him to. So they needed a kick stunt double for the Martial Artist.
Chan was at his prime in the eighties. Did he have any kick doubles in Police Story?
Actually, he was already 44 in Who Am I, supporting my point.
This is the post you quoted me on. This is where I pointed out that it was Ron who needed the double because he couldn't go to Jackie's pace. The meaning being that if you're not trained to fight the way that looks good on camera, you will not be able to deliver the performance required of you. Even if you have the best kicking ability I have ever seen.
So it doesn't matter the age, the previous training, or natural ability. Everyone has to be honed. And if they can't, you'll just get a stunt double like even major martial art films use.
Copacetic?