# Keanu Reeves could not kick Jet Li's ass, who agrees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855 "2003-06-10T13:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/1 "2003-06-10T13:51:00Z")
I was watching a documentary on the making of The Matrix:Reloaded the other day, but as of yet I have not seen the film. The producer (I think it was the producer) was talking about the actor’s training regime. He ended up with the quote along the lines of “I think in the end Keanu Reeves could kick Jet Li’s ass”, and continued to back it up with some apparent ‘proof’ to show that it was more than just a throwaway remark. I, however, totally disagree with this. Keanu has trained for a few months solidly, maybe a year in total, whereas Jet Li has trainined solidly since he was four years old. That’s quite a substance difference, and I think that Wushu is something now totally natural to him, and he’s at the spontaneous level of training now. In my opinion, someone who’s been at this level of training will not be beaten by a newbie probably still at the mechanical level of training. Hmm, I guess that I just idolise Li, and that remark by the producer pissed me off. Does anyone here agree with me? Or do some of you disagree with me? Cheers, Harry ---
**Author:** ![verbenabeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/2 "2003-06-10T13:54:53Z")
Keanu Reeves couldn’t kick Jet Li’s DOG… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/3 "2003-06-10T14:16:05Z")
Keanu Reeves couldn’t kick MY ass. And I’m a mini-chick. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/4 "2003-06-10T14:50:43Z")
KEANU: Whoa. I’m like, gonna kick your ass. JET LI: No, I’ll kick your ass! KEANU: Wait a minute. We’re actors. JET LI: You’re right. Let’s go get a drink. KEANU: And count our money! BOTH: Bwaa ha ha haaaa! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/5 "2003-06-10T15:05:26Z")
Keanu Reeves couldn’t kick _Christopher_ Lee’s ass, much less Jet’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/6 "2003-06-10T15:28:15Z")
"I know Kung-f"_whap_ "My name is Ne"_whap_ "I kno"_whap_ “Whoa.” _whap **whap** whap **whap** whap **whap** whap **whap** whap_ _thud_ Jet: “Good-bye, Mr. Anderson.” Compare the hand-to-hand fight scenes in **Fist of Legend** with those in **The Matrix**. Keanu couldn’t win even _with_ special effects. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/7 "2003-06-10T15:50:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*Keanu Reeves couldn’t kick _Christopher_ Lee’s ass, much less Jet’s. \*\* I read “Christopher Lee”, but for some reason thought “Christopher _Reeve_.” Now THAT’s cold! ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/8 "2003-06-10T16:03:58Z")
Reeves couldn’t kick Pamela Lee’s ass ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/9 "2003-06-10T16:06:33Z")
Shit… I meant Keanu Reeves, not Christopher Reeve! Just to clear up any misunderstanding. But you knew that. Ok, I’ll leave now. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/10 "2003-06-10T16:11:05Z")
Come on, this isn’t even a fair fight. Like other posters have said, Jet Li is a dedicated martial artist. In my opinion, Jet Li is a martial artist who is an actor, while Keanu Reeves is an actor who learned some martial arts for a movie. Of course Jet Li could kick Keanu’s ass. Out of curiosity, I had heard that they wanted to cast Jet Li in the movie. What part was he to play? (I would assume the Oracle’s bodyguard) ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/11 "2003-06-10T16:30:10Z")
Keanu couldn’t kick Robert E. Lee’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/12 "2003-06-10T16:32:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*KEANU: Whoa. I’m like, gonna kick your ass. > > JET LI: No, I’ll kick your ass! > > KEANU: Wait a minute. We’re actors. > > JET LI: You’re right. Let’s go get a drink. > > KEANU: And count our money! > > BOTH: Bwaa ha ha haaaa! \*\* Jet Li was actually trained in martial arts before being a movie star. He’s more than just acting. ---
**Author:** ![TanethTheTongueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@TanethTheTongueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TanethTheTongueless)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/13 "2003-06-10T16:41:13Z")
Ya’ see, what it breaks down to here, is the fact that Keanu Reeves has trained for about two years, making the movies. (He got some decent training for the first film, as well as Reloaded.) But that doesn’t mean he could take out Jet Li, that’s like me walking around flaunting my white belt with it’s yellow stripe and claiming that I could kmake Jackie Chan my play thing, because he never got an officialy colored belt… And I’m just that hard-core with a ladder… And tables, and chairs, and an announcer, and a pre-determined winner… But yeah, it seems to be unanimous so far, Jet Li would dominate Reeves… And this is a great topic to make a first post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/14 "2003-06-10T17:03:22Z")
Keanu Reeves could totally kick Jet Li’s ass… in hockey, maybe. I think Jet Li would have played … is it Seraph? Whatever, the bodyguard guy. He passed for some reason - maybe not big enough role, maybe doesn’t want to get stuck in yet another martial arts flick. Rumor has it that Chow Yun Fat was offered Morpheus and turned it down. Maybe his English wasn’t good enough at the time? Plot made no sense? That’s too bad, because CYF is very cool. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/15 "2003-06-10T17:10:41Z")
Jet Li would win with one arm & and one leg tied behind his back, while asleep, with a cold. It’s an absurd statement. It would be like saying _I_ could kick Jet Li’s ass - totally nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/16 "2003-06-10T17:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*Compare the hand-to-hand fight scenes in **Fist of Legend** with those in **The Matrix**. Keanu couldn’t win even _with_ special effects. \*\* I’ve not yet seen Fist Of Legend, **Sublight** , I’ve not been able to find a copy anywhere, I guess I should check out Amazon. Romeo Must Die is one of my favourite films though, along with the Once Apon A Time In China trilogy. Thankyou all for agreeing with me how much of a tool the producer is for suggesting such foolishness. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/17 "2003-06-10T18:28:31Z")
Yes, by all means get thee to Fist of Legend (a remake of Bruce Lee’s Chinese Connection). Not only Jet Li’s finest work, but arguably one of the finest 2 or 3 martial arts movies ever. It was also choreographed by the same Yuen Wo Ping that did the Matrix fights, so you can definitely notice the same feel and flow to the action. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/18 "2003-06-10T18:40:51Z")
Keanus could only kick Jet Li’s ass if Jet bent over like Marty Fufkin and said “Kick my ass!” And maybe not even then. I think Keanu did a great job in “The Matrix” (I haven’t seen the second one yet). But come on. ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/19 "2003-06-10T18:47:08Z")
Did the producer have a bit of brown on his nose when he made that statement? Keanu Reeves couldn’t even kick Jet Li’s ass in his dreams. He couldn’t kick Jet Li’s grandmother’s ass. He couldn’t kick Jet Li’s ass even if they were both cartoon characters. Come to think of it, Keanu Reeves probably couldn’t kick Maggie Simpson’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Kn\_ckers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kn\_ckers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kn_ckers)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855/20 "2003-06-10T19:06:47Z")
Well, if by “…kick Jet Li’s ass” the producer meant “…hurt himself badly and look like a total stoner,” then, yes, I think Keanu could do that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keanu-reeves-could-not-kick-jet-lis-ass-who-agrees/180855.md?page=2)