Luke sat in the passenger seat while Zhang Ziyu drove through the busy streets of Hong Kong. Today's shoot was set inside a bathhouse.
Rush Hour 2 picked up right where the first movie left off. The plot was simple: Jackie Chen (Brother Chen Long) played a Hong Kong inspector who teamed up with Chris Tucker's LAPD detective. What was supposed to be a vacation quickly turned into chaos when they were caught up in a bombing.
The villain was played by John Lone, while Zhang Ziyu took on the role of his right-hand enforcer—a deadly female fighter.
The scene being shot today was a brawl in the bathhouse: Jackie and Chris taking on a whole gang at once.
When Luke and Zhang Ziyu arrived, the cameras were already rolling.
This was Luke's first time watching Jackie film an action sequence up close, and he was wide-eyed, soaking in every detail. He had done some stunts himself, but never a massive group fight like this. If he could learn even a fraction of Jackie's technique, he could save himself a lot of mistakes down the line.
On screen, Jackie—dressed in a bathrobe—was surrounded by a mob of gangsters, also in bathrobes.
At first, Jackie traded blows in a straightforward fistfight. But soon he was kicked into a pile of chairs.
That's when "Furniture Store God Mode" switched on.
He grabbed chairs and swung them like weapons, then used a steel trash can as a stepping stool and weapon all in one, sending his attackers flying.
More enemies swarmed. Jackie scrambled across couches and flipped through tight spaces, using parkour-style movement to split them up and take them down one by one.
The choreography was fluid, funny, and fast-paced—classic Jackie Chan style.
"Style…"
Something clicked in Luke's mind, but the thought slipped away before he could grab hold of it. He shook it off and kept watching intently.
What fascinated him most was Jackie's use of the camera.
Luke realized Jackie rarely relied on rapid cuts. Instead, he staged the actors carefully so the action flowed naturally in front of the lens.
For example, if Jackie knocked down an enemy on the left side of the screen, another enemy would always be waiting to rush in from the right—keeping the rhythm tight, the flow continuous, and the fight always alive.
It was brilliant stagecraft, and Luke couldn't help but admire it.
"Cut!"
The director's shout ended the sequence perfectly.
Jackie rolled his shoulders as he stepped off set, then spotted Luke and waved.
One of his stunt team rushed up, whispering urgently, "Big Brother, the triad guys came around again last night…"
"We'll deal with that later. I need to handle something first." Jackie cut him off, grabbing a folder from a nearby cabinet and walking over to Luke.
"Did you sleep well last night?" he asked with a smile.
Luke grinned back. "Come on, Big Brother. If I can't sleep comfortably in your mansion, I might as well give up on life back at my tiny place."
"Good. I was worried you wouldn't get used to it. Anyway, here's the cooperation agreement for this project. Take a look." Jackie handed him the folder.
Just then—
CRASH!
The glass doors at the side of the bathhouse shattered into pieces.
Dozens of men in black suits stormed in, armed with steel pipes and machetes. In seconds, the entire film crew was surrounded.
Luke counted quickly—at least seventy or eighty. A few of the leaders had suspicious bulges at their waists. Guns, maybe.
"What the hell…?"
The crowd parted, and an elderly man in a traditional robe stepped forward.
Jackie's face darkened. "Uncle Tang?"
"I can't stand watching certain people rise to fame and turn stingy," the old man sneered. "I won't sit by while someone breaks the rules."
"I brought this crew here to promote Hong Kong culture worldwide. I don't owe you a thing. I'm not paying protection money," Jackie shot back.
He had fought this battle before—back when film reels were stolen and his crews harassed. He hadn't bowed then, and he wasn't about to now.
"Then there's nothing left to say. If you won't listen, we'll have to teach you a lesson," Uncle Tang replied coldly.
Jackie warned him, "Don't do something stupid. If the international press gets wind of this, it'll blow back on you hard."
"Relax. I won't touch the foreigners," Uncle Tang said, then pointed straight at Zhang Ziyu. "But that pretty little girl? Take her. She comes back when the money's paid."
"You've gone too far!"
Jackie tried to rush forward but was immediately blocked by half a dozen armed men.
He was a master on screen, but in real life, charging unarmed into blades was suicide.
The stunt team—nearly twenty strong—was badly outnumbered and unarmed. Against seventy thugs with weapons, it was hopeless.
"Let me go! Don't touch me!"
A thug grabbed Zhang Ziyu and dragged her toward the door. Terrified, she burst into tears.
"Brother, save me! Don't let them take me!"
"Let her go!" Jackie shouted, but the machetes forced him back. His face was grim. The entire crew was frozen in fear.
And then—
CRACK!
A wooden stick whipped through the air, smacking the thug's wrist with a sickening snap.
Zhang Ziyu, stunned, looked up through tear-filled eyes. Luke was standing in front of her, wielding a broken broom handle like a staff.
She gasped, then shoved him toward the exit. "Little brother, don't! There's too many—run while you can!"
But Luke didn't budge. He was rooted to the ground, immovable.
Even in danger, she had thought first of him. That was enough. He pulled her back behind him, shielding her.
"Don't worry. I'm here. Nobody's going to hurt you."
Luke hadn't expected something like this. In the States, nobody would dare try this against someone like Jackie. But here in Hong Kong? It was happening, right in front of him.
Maybe it was because the locals remembered Jackie before he was famous. To them, he wasn't a legend—he was just another man they once knew. And people rarely respect those they think they already understand.
This didn't really involve Luke… until it dragged in Zhang Ziyu. Then he had no choice.
He stood there alone, gripping the wooden staff, blocking the mob.
"The local triads are really rude," he said calmly. "You won't hear me now. But you'll listen in a moment."
(And yeah, some readers keep saying this part is too far-fetched. But it really happened. Reality often outpaces fiction. If you're curious, go Google it.)