Yuen was born in
Guangzhou, Guangdong,
China. With a support of
Ng See-yuen, he achieved his first directing credit in 1978 on the seminal ''
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, starring Jackie Chan, followed quickly by Drunken Master''. The films were smash hits, launching Jackie Chan as a major film star, turning
Seasonal Films into a major independent production company, and starting a trend towards comedy in
martial arts films that continues to the following two decades. Yuen went on to helm other
star vehicles for such figures as
Sammo Hung in
Magnificent Butcher (1979),
Yuen Biao in
Dreadnaught (1981),
Donnie Yen in
Iron Monkey (1993),
Jet Li in
Tai Chi Master (1993), and
Michelle Yeoh in
Wing Chun (1994). Yuen's works, particularly his action choreography on
Fist of Legend (1994), attracted the attention of
the Wachowskis, who hired him as the martial arts choreographer on
The Matrix (1999). The success of this collaboration, plus his action choreography on the following year's hit
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, made him a highly sought after figure in
Hollywood. He went on to work on the first two
Matrix sequels, as well as
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004). More recent action choreography duties in
Hong Kong cinema have included
Kung Fu Hustle (2004), starring
Stephen Chow, and
Fearless (2006), starring Jet Li. Yuen also choreographed the action sequences in
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), a Hollywood martial arts–adventure film, which was the first film to star together two of the best-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. He worked as a fight choreography consultant on
Ninja Assassin (2009). In late 2010, Yuen released his first film as director since 1996,
True Legend, starring
Vincent Zhao,
Jay Chou and
David Carradine (in a minor role). Yuen went on to work as stunt co-ordinator in two South Indian films,
Enthiran (2010) and
I (2014), both directed by
S. Shankar. In 2015, Yuen directed
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, re-creating many of his signature action choreographies. The annual and highly anticipated Hong Kong International Film Festival was held for its 45th edition in April 2021. Yuen is one of the six veteran Hong Kong filmmakers who contributed segments to the
Johnnie To-produced anthology film
Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. The other filmmakers who directed segments are
Sammo Hung,
Ann Hui On-wah,
Patrick Tam,
Tsui Hark and
Ringo Lam. The short files were shot entirely on
35mm film with each of them touches on a nostalgic and moving story set across different time periods, with every one acting as an ode to the city. ==Filmography==