Backlash as AI ‘Rejuvenates’ Jackie Chan in ‘A Legend’: China’s Film Makers Under Fire

Fans are upset about Jackie Chan’s use of AI to look younger in “A Legend,” because they think it’s not real. This makes people wonder about the future of ethics and technology in filmmaking.

A lot of people are upset about Jackie Chan’s new movie because it uses face-swapping technology to make the older action movie star look younger.

Concerns have also been raised about the possible abuse of stunt doubles because of AI. Chan and Zhang Yixing play in A Legend, which has been billed as a follow-up to the 2005 movie The Myth. It was first shown in China on July 10.

It’s about a professor of archaeology (Chan) who finds some strange artefacts that take him back to the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–9 AD), where he fights to protect his country and starts a romantic trip.

Using AI to digitally change Chan’s face so that he looks like he is 27 years old is a big selling point and a big step forward in technology for the movie.

Stanley Tong Kwai-lai, who directed the movie, praised the progress in technology. He said, AI technology has broken the limits of traditional special effects, opening up a world of endless filmmaking possibilities. It lets actors relive their youth.

Chan, who is 70 years old, is a famous Chinese actor and martial arts master known all over the world. Aside from the honorary Oscar he got in 2016, several other awards have been given to him.

But critics haven’t liked his most recent films, and new shots of him on social media have made some people wonder how old he is. In A Legend, the use of AI technology to try to heal has also not been very successful.

People who saw Chan online said that he looked more like his son Jaycee Fong Jo-ming than he did when he was younger. Many people say that the technology makes Chan look fake and unable to show how she feels, which can make important scenes seem funny by accident.

Concerns have also been made about the film’s heavy use of AI and the number of stunt doubles that were used. Some people supported Chan by showing behind-the-scenes video of him riding a horse and wearing armour, which showed that he was an active actor in the movie.