This week sees the release of Ip Man 4: The Finale, the last instalment in Donnie Yen Ji-dan's blockbuster action franchise.
After squaring off against the Japanese military, British colonialists and even Mike Tyson, the venerated wing chun practitioner played by Yen travels to San Francisco and goes toe-to-toe with a racist US army sergeant, played by 43-year-old British martial artist Scott Adkins.
In an interview with the Post on Saturday, when he was in Hong Kong for the film's world premiere, Adkins explains why this was a showdown that has been 20 years in the making.
"I've been very fortunate. I've worked with all the greats, all the guys I grew up idolising as a teenager, and Donnie Yen was the last one," Adkins says. "In my mind, this is the greatest modern-day kung-fu franchise. Ip Man is the new Wong Fei Hung."
Born in Sutton Coldfield, outside the city of Birmingham in England's West Midlands, Adkins began studying martial arts from a young age, even erecting a shrine to Bruce Lee in his parents' garage.
In 2001, he launched his film career with a small role in Stephen Tung Wei's C3 Fighters. This led to a stint as "the new white guy in Hong Kong", appearing in Tsui Hark's Black Mask 2, where he first worked with action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, and in Jackie Chan's The Medallion, studying under Hong Kong actor and martial artist Sammo Hung Kam-bo.
"That's where I learned film making and fight sequences, from the best," says Adkins, before admitting that he was "a little green back then and didn't pay as much attention as I should've done".
Almost two decades later, Adkins is reunited with Yuen, who choreographs the action in Ip Man 4 for returning director Wilson Yip Wai-shun.
"I came into this like a student," Adkins says, radiating a charming humility throughout our conversation. "Out of respect for Yuen Woo-ping and everything he's done, when he says 'do something', I'm going to do it."
But the opportunity to learn from Yen was just as valuable. "I said to Donnie early on that I want to learn as much as I can. Obviously he speaks great English, and would take me aside and say, 'This is why we're doing this, and you should do that, and here's why.' I was very grateful."
Adkins has, in the years since his first trip to Hong Kong, built an impressive career in Hollywood and Europe.
His long-standing collaboration with Israeli director Isaac Florentine has produced a string of low-budget gems, including Undisputed III: Redemption and Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, built around innovative fight sequences that can match anything in mainstream cinema.
Similarly, his partnership with fellow Briton Jesse V. Johnson has created a production line of efficient, no-nonsense beat-'em-ups, where Adkins can channel what he learned in Hong Kong into legitimate star vehicles that showcase his own talents.
"If you're watching a Scott Adkins film, you're watching it for the action," he says. "That's my bread and butter, and I absolutely have to make sure that the action delivers."
Adkins has balanced this work with supporting turns in Hollywood blockbusters such as Doctor Strange ("big budget, all the trimmings, nice and easy") and The Bourne Ultimatum ("of everyone who did that shaky-cam style, [director Paul] Greengrass did it the best").
But while Adkins has clearly enjoyed his opportunities working with Hollywood's A-listers, he is quick to address the industry's shortcomings.
"There's no excuse for any of those movies, with those kinds of budgets, to be bad. If there's something wrong, they can go back, reshoot and fix it. With my films, we shoot it, and whatever there is, we're stuck with it. There's no more money coming in."
Over the years, Adkins has played his fair share of villains, which means going head-to-head with, and invariably losing to, bigger, but less capable, performers.
"My record is not good. I lose a lot. But a film is a film. I love playing the anti-hero, and I love getting killed sometimes. It's good fun. But I'm a real martial artist, I know how I'd do in a real fight. I'd do OK."
Even when playing the lead in his own films, like Accident Man or Avengement, Adkins is rarely the clean-cut hero type, despite his chiselled looks.
"Honestly, when I'm playing a goody-two-shoes hero, I'm a bit bland," he admits with a chuckle. "I don't know how to do it well."
But he is quick to heap praise on those who can, not least Chris Evans, who stars as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "To be that earnest and that nice, and pull it off and make it interesting, that's a skill, and he does it brilliantly; I couldn't do that."
Adkins also has plenty of praise for 55-year-old Keanu Reeves: "I really appreciate what he does and the amount of effort he puts into it. What's important to me is the work ethic that he shows."
Surely John Wick is a franchise screaming out for a bit of Adkins magic?
"I know [directors] Chad [Stahelski] and Dave [Leitch], I often phone them up and beg. 'Come on! When am I gonna be the villain in John Wick 4?' I'd love to work with them, and I think I will at some point. It just needs to be the right character and the right time."
As a devotee of Bruce Lee, Adkins is often asked for his views on Quentin Tarantino's controversial portrayal of the kung fu icon in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood .
In the film, Lee (played by Mike Moh) is shown bragging on a film set, before being bested in a scrap by Brad Pitt's ageing stuntman.
"Lee was the god. A man way ahead of his time, the father of mixed martial arts," says Adkins, who believes Tarantino made a mistake.
"It's clear to me that Tarantino is a big Bruce Lee fan. Kill Bill, Game of Death [yellow jump] suit, all of that stuff. But the way they portrayed him in the film was not only arrogant to a massive degree, but also as a buffoon. It's Bruce Lee, man! It was disappointing."
Adkins is clearly delighted to be back in Hong Kong, but the city's unique style of no-nonsense filmmaking was a bit of a shock for a man now used to being in control of his environment.
"I almost forgot how difficult it is, and what's expected of you physically. But that's why the action looks so amazing, because no one's messing about. You do it until it's right, and there's no pat on the back. It's not enjoyable at the time. What is enjoyable is the finished product. That's what makes it all worthwhile."
Ip Man 4: The Finale opens on December 20.
This article was first published in South China Morning Post.
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Ip Man 4's Scott Adkins on Donnie Yen, Tarantino's Bruce Lee, and his Hong Kong martial arts cinema memories - AsiaOne
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