Prior to taking on the task of directing Jet Li and Jason Statham in the upcoming actioner "Rogue," Phillip G. Atwell had immersed himself in another genre where he worked with big name, rough-and-tumble tough guys: hip-hop music videos.
With projects for 50 Cent, Eminem, and Xzibit under his belt (coincidentally, all rap stars who’ve thrown their hats into the Hollywood arena), Atwell also directed an episode of the gritty cop drama "The Shield" before signing on to helm Lionsgate’s newest East-meets-West secret agent saga. RT’s Phu Bui-Quang and Senh Duong sat down with him on the Vancouver set of "Rogue" to learn more about the first-time feature director’s action sensibilities, working with action choreographer Corey Yuen, and opting out of wire work for some real-world butt-kicking action.
Rotten Tomatoes: You’ve directed TV shows and music videos before, but this is your first feature film. How is the transition from those projects to feature film?
Phillip G. Atwell: In terms of actually being on set directing, there really isn’t any difference. While my background is in music videos, most of my videos were narrative based, and narrative basically coincides with trying to complete continuity and making things make sense, and that’s pretty much the long version of a film. So I feel like this is the natural transition for me to make, from videos to film, just because our videos were never really abstract. And I like to think I was telling good stories.
RT: Did any other action movies or directors influence how you’re currently putting together this film?
PA: I would say the people I admire as directors are the Ridley Scotts and Michael Manns…directors who are pretty much in a position to call it as they see it, and shoot it like they want it.
Those two directors have films out that I really thought were strong and powerful, and that’s what their careers are built on. In terms of action movies, that sort of action is more the "Collaterals," and the "Black Hawk Downs," and "Gladiator." Those to me are the action films that I gravitate to.
Jet Li taking care of business…the super deadly assassin business, that is.
RT: Can you describe a cool scene in the movie or a stunt that will be performed?
PA: There’s a lot of stuff happening in the film that I think is pretty cool. Corey Yuen is playing an active role as action director and choreographer, and some of the stuff he’s doing is really amazing — watching him and the Hong Kong team come in and work, and their work ethic.
Some of the work that we’re doing is being very creative. We’re creating things in the moment, and it’s really organic and it feels kind of cool, so I hope that comes across on camera as well. This isn’t a film that has any wire work in it … there are no high flying acts. The idea is to try and do real people doing real things, with a little bit of a movie flair. Some of the stuff may stretch the bounds of reality, but not that far, not far at all. I think everything that’s done in this film is capable of being done in real life. Not that I’m advocating anyone to do anything that they see in this, but it’s in the realm of reality.
RT: It was reported that the budget for this film was around $40 million, so there’s probably not a lot of special effects. Are you trying to give it an old-school style, with raw action, martial arts, and, as you said, no wire work?
PA: It’s not so much designed to be a martial arts film. You may see martial arts in it because it’s a form of fighting, but it was not the prevailing thought to make it a martial arts film. We were just going to make a film that would be somewhat gritty — you know, as gritty as possible. It really didn’t matter what the budget was; if it was twice that, my sensibilities would be to make it more real, as opposed to doing other things.
When the Wachowski brothers made "The Matrix," they pretty much established themselves and that as their genre, as their thing. So until someone comes up with their new thing, people should stay out of that realm, until they can do something that’s really effective and really unique that can stand on its own. I’m trying to give "Rogue" its own niche and place. It’s not designed to compare to any of those other movies, it’s just designed to be in a realm of its own.
RT: In "Rogue," Jet Li is playing the bad guy, which he’s only done twice before ("The One," and "Lethal Weapon 4"). Do you find it hard to portray him as the bad guy with his built-in audience?
PA: I think that it’s going to be something new for the audience to latch on to. We’re not trying to take away from any of the Jet Li fans who are used to seeing him save the day. We’re really interested in people seeing Jet Li in a new way, or just a new understanding. The story is very complex, and all people make decisions to do certain things so hopefully this film as a whole will speak to his fans and his audience.
RT: There are quite a few international stars in this cast, including Corey Yuen. Is your goal to reach an American audience or to appeal to an international audience?
PA: My ambitions as a director would be to make a film of the world, and that means you make an international film that has appeal in America. When you say Asia, you say Japan, and there are a lot of Japanese in this movie and I would never want to do anything that would offend them.
At the same time, there are Chinese people and I want them to go watch this movie and not say, "well I didn’t like the way they portrayed that." This film is about a darker side of life and people who do bad things. And we’re not saying all Japanese people, or all Chinese, we’re really talking about two groups of people who have issues with each other, and that’s the world we’re kind of in. The overall idea was to make a film where there is English spoken, there’s Chinese, there’s Mandarin spoken, there’s Japanese spoken, there’s a little Spanish spoken, so it incorporates the world that we live in — not all the world because we left out a few languages, but it incorporates the world so there is a more international flavor, and I like that aspect of it.
RT: How is your interaction with Corey Yuen? Do you have an idea of the action sequences or do you just let Corey do his own thing?
PA: Well the way it’s worked out is as we go along, we’ll get to a scene and either he’ll have designs on something and ask me how I feel about it, or I’ll say, "this is the intention, this is where we start it dramatically, and this is where I like to end up." And then what he’s gonna do is the bridge between that.
RT: Have you seen any of Corey Yuen’s films?
PA: I’ve seen a couple of them. In terms of this particular film, I think it’s a challenge for all of us because this is adapting Corey’s traditional style and turning it into more of a realistic "what could happen" style and still using him, and so you get a little bit of both worlds.
Corey Yuen and Jet Li on the set of "Rogue"
RT: So there’s less wire work?
PA: There’s none. I don’t think we’ve used a wire yet. All the stunts have been real, as far as I know. I really don’t think there are any wires.
RT: Are you in favor of one or the other?
PA: In general, it serves the purpose of the film. When you talk about films like "Crouching Tiger," or "House of Flying Daggers," those films I could watch all day and not be bothered by the fact that there’s wire work. At the same time, in a film like "Collateral," there’s the level of violence, or if you watch "Heat," or "Gladiator," all those films equally have the same style. You watch and it’s like they say there’s no wiring, but you see them climbing up a wall. All those are entertaining, but my world is more grounded in reality, and those are the kind of films that I’ll try and continue to make. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do a special-effects film, I’m just saying I feel I would have to find some sense of reality on those films.
I’m sure there will be some scenes that will be enhanced for our film, but we’re not shooting a green-screen movie. We’re on practical real locations, and guys are jumping off of rooftops to other rooftops and it’s actually them doing it, and there are no wires and they’re jumping through windows, there’s nothing pulling them through the window, they’re diving through windows. We’re trying to be as real as we can while also be as safe and cautious as we can at the same time.
RT: You had mentioned the possibility of this becoming a trilogy. Will the ending be left open, or is the movie self-contained?
PA: The thing I like about this film is that, hopefully if it turns out the way everyone wants it to, you’ll enjoy watching it and watching and watching it and maybe that will be a thing that spawns something else.
I can’t really say, but most films that have actors of this caliber, with Jason and with Jet, it’s easy to say that all of the movies that these guys have done could have sequels. Jet’s "Kiss of the Dragon" could have gone on, "The One" could have gone on, "Unleashed" could have another film, Jason’s "Transporter"… he could transport forever.
So hopefully this film will have that same kind of quality to the ending, that’s really what it’s about. The success of the film is basically on not if I think it’s good, because I’m not making this movie just for myself. There are a lot of people whose careers are involved in this film, including mine, and this is what we do for a living. We want to entertain people. We want them to be able to get out of their normal life, come to the theater, be entertained, come home and put in a DVD and say "oh I want to watch that movie" and take you away from whatever you were doing that day. So that’s the idea. If we do that successfully, then maybe they’ll want us to do it again and see a little more of it. That’s the idea.
RT: Were you intimidated at all by working with two huge actions stars like Jet and Jason?
PA: You should check my resume again (laughs). I’ve been around guys who were at the top of their game, where you couldn’t get out of the trailer because there were people at the front door. It’s a different world.
I love working with these guys. This is a calm world. We’ve had a couple situations out here, but when you’re dealing with music stars, it’s all day, every day, no matter what. It’s a different animal. Movie stars seem somewhat unapproachable sometimes, but music stars, somebody opened the gates on those guys, they’re free. It’s not an intimidation thing; at the end of the day, we’re all trying to get the same thing.
I respect their work, and if anything, it’s like if I was a tennis player and I had to play with Agassi, my tennis game probably would get better. So having an opportunity to work with these guys, you come to work knowing that the expectations are a lot higher, because the game is a lot bigger. That’s how I see it."
Click here to read Phu and Senh’s report from the "Yanagawa Motors" set of "Rogue," and check out the first few pics of the Jet Li-Jason Statham flick! Keep posted for more interviews with the legendary Corey Yuen, the lovely Devon Aoki, and The Man himself, Jet Li!
