'HERO'S' WELCOME FOR JET LI, THE CONTEMPLATIVE ASPECTS OF THE CHINESE ACTION HIT PROVIDED A BREAK FROM MARTIAL-ARTS MAYHEM.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

It's a kinder, peace-minded, more compassionate Jet Li who is playing a nameless warrior trying to single-handedly unify the Chinese empire.

You can start calling him Gentle Jet. At least for as long as the action star's Chinese language film, ``Hero,'' is dipping a toe into U.S. theaters.

``I really want everybody to know a Jet Li movie is not just violent, violent, violent, kicking somebody's ass,'' says Li. ``After doing 20 years of martial-arts films, you want to create new things. I think I should do different kinds of martial-arts films, different kinds of stories.''

Different, ``Hero'' certainly is. A sumptuously shot film by Zhang Yimou (``Raise the Red Lantern''), ``Hero'' is a color-drenched tale of honor and sacrifice set in medieval China. The fight sequences, reminiscent of Ang Lee's ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,'' are artistic and gore-free, and Li - a four-time National Martial Arts champion - isn't even in many of them.

Li's character wins an audience with the King of Qin (played by Chen Daoming) after he has defeated three renowned assassins who, for years, have been looking to end the king's life. Two of those assassins (played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung) are lovers, and there's a certain disagreement over exactly how our hero has arrived in the palace and what his motives really are.

Yimou also liked the idea of shifting away from the stereotypical revenge formula of martial-arts movies in this, his first action film. ``In Chinese we talk about wuxia pian, what you can call heroic swordplay films,'' he recently told Film Journal International. ``I wanted to make a film that spotlighted the beauty and poetry of this genre, but also one that spoke about morals and ideals.''

Yimou, who will do another action film, ``House of Flying Daggers,'' gives his leading man many facial close-ups. For all its visual bravura, ``Hero'' has plenty of quieter moments as well.

``You can see (Jet Li) really can act, and he acts very well,'' says ``Crouching Tiger's'' Zhang Ziyi, who plays an apprentice to one of the assassins in ``Hero.'' ``I think he and Jackie Chan really know martial arts. If I don't know something about action, I can just ask them.''

A devoted following

Filmed in China, the $30 million ``Hero'' (the original $3 million budget increased once Li signed on) has earned more than $100 million in Asia and Europe and was China's entry for the 2003 Oscars, earning a foreign-language film nomination. It finally gets a limited U.S. theatrical run beginning today. As Li notes, many people have seen it on DVD, an experience he says doesn't do the film justice.

Several years after making the film and with another against-type role in ``Unleashed'' due out next year, Li declares himself extremely proud of his ``Hero'' work.

``I think directors like Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou are artists,'' says Li, who had to turn down a role in Lee's ``Crouching Tiger'' after his wife became pregnant. ``They use martial-arts films to tell their own stories. Also, I think the production values (are) much bigger and stronger than before. With $30 million in China, we can pretend like (this is) a $70 million production in America.

``It was two years ago, but I remember every detail by heart,'' he continues. ``I cried twice when I read the script. I love this film.''

Dressed entirely in casual head-to-toe black, Li sits comfortably for an interview in a hotel suite. He is, at 41, still boyishly handsome, with a quick laugh and a certain self-deprecating air. His English, while spoken with a heavy accent, is perfectly comprehensible and he rarely needs assistance from an assistant/translator who is sitting in the room.

The same technology that makes a cinematic ballet like ``Hero'' or ``Crouching Tiger'' possible can also, Li acknowledges, extend an action performer's career. Decades spent first in competition (Li retired at the age of 20) and then in film do take their toll. Intense training - and occasional recovery time - are part of his preparation for every new project. Li says he meditates, bikes and plays badminton to help maintain energy.

Seven years ago, Li became a practicing Buddhist, an event that - the actor says - has made him take a closer look at his professional projects. Much of his focus for roles now involves mental meditation and ``internal training.''

``We need to understand about the circle of life,'' says Li. ``Everybody goes through that journey. I like philosophy. I learn in martial arts we have good and bad, highs and lows. These last few years, I went to India and Tibet to learn mentally and understand life and responsibility to the others.

``Today I'm still working. Tomorrow, maybe after one movie, two movies, your career is finished. OK, then I'd go do something else.''

Kicking it in the U.S.

Li was 35 when he made his American film debut playing the heavy opposite Mel Gibson and company in ``Lethal Weapon 4.'' He followed up that franchise film with a ``good guy'' role in the Shakespeare update ``Romeo Must Die,'' with the late Aaliyah, directed by ``Lethal Weapon'' cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak.

Those early American films, and subsequent B movie action films like ``Kiss of the Dragon'' and ``The One,'' have not always pleased Li's avid overseas fan base.

``Of course ('Lethal Weapon 4') comes out and everyone says, 'Oh you're very dangerous; you're the bad guy. But in Asia, you're a good guy,' '' says Li. ``A lot of Asian people don't understand why I'm doing that because they think it's not fair. You need to think deeply. In Asia, you're famous, but in the States, you're not.''

In ``Unleashed,'' (which also has been titled ``Danny the Dog,'') Li plays a slave who received no education except training in lethal street fighting. Danny eventually has his horizons broadened by a blind piano tuner played by Morgan Freeman.

``This is not like a normal action film either, it's like a drama,'' says Li of the film, which is directed by Louis Leterrier and co-written by Luc Besson. ``The big difference between animal and human being is the control they have over their feelings. I try to say to an audience - and teenagers - you need to understand from martial-arts films. You need to know about family and friendship and responsibility.

``As a Buddhist, I start thinking about what I can return for people, what is the right information. I don't want to see the teenagers in the world only knowing Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li kicking ass. After kick ass, it's empty.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Jet Li: A new kind of Hero

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) The Oscar-nominated ``Hero,'' starring Jet Li, has earned more than $100 million in Asia and Europe. It gets a limited U.S. theatrical run starting today.