#kiss of the dragon

[twilightronin]

Kiss of the Dragon - Chris Nahon 2001

[boardsdonthitback]

Jet Li - Kiss Of The Dragon (2001)

[skeletonfumes]

Kiss of the Dragon (2001) Chris Nahon

[grrl-bubble-acid]

Agent Liu (Jet Li) vs The Twins (Cyril Raffaelli & Didier Azoulay) - Kiss of The Dragon

[bryhaven]

Top 10 Films

Thank you for the tag, @onigiri-dorkk! I've been tagged in a number of challenge posts, and I will try to get to them soon ahah 😅

This was supposed to be a discussion of films but then again, I managed to find AOT/SNK and RivaMika parallels while going through this list 😂

This challenge has been fun and it was hard to pick only 10, let alone rank them! But for the sake of the game, I tried 😌

10. The King and I (1999)

A musical animated adaptation of a Siamese (now called Thai) King who hires an English schoolteacher to have his country learn western modern ways. It was very amusing and enjoyable that the villain and accomplice here are written as comedic. And the added young love story between the crown prince and the servant girl is endearing. And I'm actually fond of forbidden love tropes ahaha. Plus the musical scenes are fun and brilliant! A great family movie! 🥰

9. Troy (2004)

A story focusing on the Trojan war and the heroes in it. I've always enjoyed historical and legend-type movies as they give a glimpse of life in ancient times. I appreciate Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Hector (Eric Bana) in the movie so much that I included them in my AMV tribute to heroes and legends. The Iliad, which is the battle between Achilles and Hector, is one of my favorite legendary fights. Plus one of Achilles' last scenes and the line, "You gave me peace, in a lifetime of war." is so heartwarming. And now that I think of it, it's something that Levi could say to a certain special someone during post-war. 😏

8. Unknown (2011)

An action-thriller revolving around seeking the truth, hence the title. Liam Neeson always delivers when it comes to action and suspense-filled scenes (plus he is the namesake of my Ackerchild OC 😌). The story progression will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you wondering until the plot twist turns into an answer with a shocking revelation. His character is also badass, brooding, and serious, while also suffering from injury and trauma. Reminds me too much of a certain someone in SnK. 😄 Plus the way that the two main characters develop from reluctantly working together to understanding and caring for each other is just *screams in RivaMika vibes*

7. Brother Bear (2003)

A story about literally walking in another's footsteps to learn a valuable lesson by seeing the other's point of view. It showcases brotherly and familial love in a lighthearted adventure. Watching the movie has a significant and special meaning to me for personal reasons. The plot twist is absolutely heart-wrenching and beautifully executed. Plus the original soundtracks gave me chills, were perfect for each and every exhilarating scene, and hold the rare honor of making me cry. 😭

6. Taken (2008)

Another one of Liam Neeson's action-packed movies. This revolves around the rescue of his character's daughter from human trafficking. As always, his character is badass, brooding, and serious. Some daddy issues, wherein his character struggles with fatherhood to a growing teenage girl. Fatherly love 💖 and gotta love the brilliance of how he tracks down his daughter and saves her. His style and strategies blew my mind, it's amazing! Plus that line in the GIF is iconic!

5. Entrapment (1999)

A story of two thieves, skillful in their own ways, working together to steal an ancient artifact. I love how they came up with brilliant spy-like strategies and synced together to accomplish the task. Recollecting this reminded me as well of @chaosisbeauty23's "Are you in?" two-shot spy story. It gave me similar vibes. Sean Connery's character trained Catherine Zeta-Jones' character, they had trust issues and conflicts, and they grew close through the duration of the preparation until they eventually got to trust each other enough to continue working together. Plus the age difference! Rings a bell? *screams again in RivaMika vibes*

4. Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

A story of a cop helping to crack a major drug ring and ending up having to save a prostitute and her daughter to ultimately resolve it. I guess I have always been fond of unexpectedly-working-together and damsel-in-distress tropes, and this movie has two of those tropes in it! 😂 Recollecting this reminded me of @nuri148's "Not a Pirate" where Mikasa has a child. I love the chemistry between Jet Li and Bridget Fonda here, you can feel the tension and awkwardness ahaha. Plus the height difference! *screams again and again in RivaMika vibes* ghad seriously why am I associating these films I watched years ago with the current RM fics I've read bahaha 😂😅

3. Con Air (1997)

A story of an ex-convict trying to get home to his family after he's been finally freed. I always go soft whenever strong, badass, brooding guys show tenderness and affection with regard to their families or the people they care for. Levi Ackerman as a father, anyone? 😌 This story hits with both the action and the feels. Plus the "How do I live without you?" performed by Trisha Yearwood is just *chef's kiss*

2. Brave (2012)

A story of a princess struggling with life as a royal and trying to find her own path. Merida is my favorite Disney princess and I find her relatable in ways. I enjoyed the adventurous-type songs here as well. I absolutely love her unconventional and strong character which deviates from the typical dainty and girly princesses. She's spirited, stubborn, and won't take any BS 😂 Plus she's great with a sword!

1. The One (2001)

And finally at the top 1 spot is coincidentally "The One" released in 2001 bahaha 😂 another one of Jet Li's action-packed movies which I love. And there are two Jet Lis in here ahaha. The story revolves around Yulaw (Jet Li) traveling across the multiverse hunting down and killing all his counterparts or other selves until only two of them are left. With each counterpart killed in every universe, the energy and power get divided between the remaining surviving counterparts resulting in them having increased strength, intelligence, and speed. I've mentioned this in a post before that this is similar to how Levi's and Mikasa's superhuman powers came to be.

I absolutely love the plot and story progression in this sci-fi setup, which makes you wonder, what if we actually have alternate personas in other universes (and we just don't know about it because there are people who make sure that we don't know in order to ensure peace and balance)? Plus Jason Statham's character as an ally here was unexpectedly funny!

I also appreciate the romance factor in the movie in the sense that, it is shown as trust, comfort, and care. Doesn't need to have all the kissy scenes or so to show genuine love. And one of Jet Li's character's lines about his love here is just 💖

Jet Li always delivers as well when it comes to action and suspense-filled scenes. Plus just look at the parallels below (The One vs AOT S3):

Using a dead person as a shield then obliterates everyone afterward.

Jet Li's characters in movies are usually brooding, badass, serious, and aloof from people. Plus he is charmingly handsome and rather short in stature IRL too! Yep, Jet Li is a real-life Levi Ackerman 🤣😌

I swear I watched all of these way before I even encountered Attack on Titan. I didn't mean for this to be too long and to include much RivaMika and AOT, but it was fun recollecting the movies and then associating them with my brain rot 😂

Now that I have this list, I realize I tend to gravitate towards action movies and familial ones. Plus most of these movies have that one badass, brooding, serious guy who is insanely skilled and strong, and has a reputation but also soft for their loved ones. Geez I already have a type way before Levi Ackerman bahaha 😂🥰😌

None of these movies are focused on romance but the couple GIFs are intentional bahaha 😏

Tagging: No one, no pressure. 😅

[assignmentimprobable]

The best part of being an artist is that you can think ‘wow I had SUCH a crush on that guy growing up’ and immediately follow it up with Drawing Him. Jet Li was so fine, ugh.

Shout-out to Unleashed 2005 for being an underrated classic of all time,,,

[cinemajunkie70]

A very happy birthday to Bridget Fonda!

[aj2k]

An edited version of the final fight scene (the dojo and the twins) of Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon re-scored to Bruce Lee's Game of Death soundtrack by John Barry. This gave me a new appreciation for score mixing and sound editing.

[kirbymybeloved]

Kiss of the Dragon was such a good movie I can't believe it has the perfect open ending for me to read the main character as aroace and making a friend for life or getting into his first ever relationship, how am I to choose

[nipuni]

Ever after

A speedpaint video of this will be available art my Patreon on jan 1st, you can also find prints of my art at my RB store 😊

[twilightronin]

Kiss of the Dragon - Chris Nahon 2001

[boardsdonthitback]

Jet Li - Kiss Of The Dragon (2001)

Director - Chris Nahon Action Choreography - Corey Yuen

[skeletonfumes]

Kiss of the Dragon (2001) Chris Nahon

[mateushonrado]

Notable fact about this particular scene

Status Post #11120: The French version of Kiss of the Dragon has a much violent version of this scene.

[anthonysperkins]

Dale Cooper and Josh Gingerson Joe Gage Sex Files 8: Divorced Men's Support Group (2011, Dragon Media) dir. Joe Gage

[featherfangart]

'Not now, not in front of--'