Triple threat
For movie fans who love pulse-racing fighting spectacles, new Hong Kong action flick SPL 2: A Time For Consequences features a lethal combo - three male leads who can deliver real fists, real flying kicks and real daredevil stunts.
Should it come down to a showdown between the trio - Chinese former wushu athletes Wu Jing and Max Zhang, and Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa - any judge would be hard-pressed to decide the eventual winner.
In a phone interview with local media last week from Beijing, 41-year-old Wu said in Mandarin: "You'd need to put us in a fighting ring so that we can slug it out.
"All three of us are very good fighters. If you ask me, I think the winner is our film director Soi Cheang. He's the one who gave each of our characters distinctive traits."
SPL 2, rated NC16, opens here July 2.
Wu plays undercover cop Kit, who is thrown into a Thai prison under a false criminal identity.
Warden Ko (Zhang) turns out to be very corrupt and is part of a large organ-trafficking syndicate.
CRIME FIGHTERS
When prison guard Chai (Jaa) discovers Ko's evil deeds, he aids Kit in taking down the bad guys.
Wu, whose previous big-screen outings include City Under Siege (2010) and Shaolin (2011), described his debut collaboration with Jaa as "exhilarating".
"When I fought against Tony, I knew he had real skills and I didn't have to restrain myself or hold back," he said.
"We could fight very freely, which was awesome.
"I've acted opposite many actors who couldn't fight in real life. I always had to be very careful not to injure them."
For seasoned martial arts actors, injuries are commonplace during the execution of challenging stunts.
"Throughout my career, I've had a ton of surgeries and stitches all over my body," said Wu.
The father of one - his Chinese TV presenter-wife Xie Nan gave birth to their son last August - said that although he is now a family man, it is "very unlikely" that he'd ditch his action roots.
"Action films are what I'm good at, I can't possibly forsake them and do melodramas or romantic comedies right? Nobody will watch me in those," he said with a laugh.
But SPL 2 marks the end of overly risky stunt work for Wu.
"After this movie, I'm not putting my life into the hands of luck anymore," he stressed.
"Last year, my son was born premature and had to be rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit immediately after he was delivered.
"My wife was lying on the hospital bed. And a morbid thought went through my head: if I were to die on the job anytime now, my son would never get to see his dad. It would be the biggest regret ever.
"Right now, I have greater responsibilities as a husband and father, it's only right that I don't do anything to endanger my life."
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