He’s also incredibly expressive, which to a western audience may come across as “cheesy” but I personally love it. Give Rush Hour a shot and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.
If we're getting into Jackie Chan movies, though, one cannot leave out Drunken Master
Another one of his that I really enjoyed was Who Am I, but I haven't seen it in probably a decade.
I also really enjoyed his recent one with Pierce Brosnan— The Foreigner. It has a far more dramatic tone than the others, but it's great.
Not the same kind of movie (and not Jackie Chan), but Kung Fu Hustle is definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it. I also always thought that Bjarne Stroustrup kind of looks like The Beast in Kung Fu Hustle (it's the hair and glasses).
http://www.stroustrup.com/xBjarne2018.jpg.pagespeed.ic.hePTB...
https://cinema1544.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-beast.jpg
Who Am I, First Strike, Police Stories, Armour of God, Mr. Nice Guy are all great, too.
They're good for kids because they are funny and full of action without being grim or dark. They're easy to follow, even for young kids, because of the lack of shaky cam and fast cuts.
They're good for adults because of all the crazy choreography and stunts.
Police Story is definitely my favorite!
Drunken Master is pretty good!
Drunken Master II (re-released in slightly edited form as "Legend of the Drunken Master" in the US) is the one that's typically regarded as a bona-fide classic masterpiece.
I had to look it up, but I'm definitely referring to the first one in this case. I don't even think I've seen the second one!
Guess it's going on the list
I wouldn't recommend watching it. It's really missing a lot of the charm of the original.
Partially because Chan is older in those movies and is a little less physically capable.
But IMO mostly because of Hollywood's unfortunate style of directing fights and martial arts battles.
Traditional Hong Kong martial arts movies use a lot of wide and long, unbroken shots. You can really see the performers performing these physical acts of skill and beauty -- you see their entire bodies, it's almost like watching performers on a stage. Which is of course Chan's background.
In contrast, Western directors typically use a lot of fast, tight, jerky, almost seizure-inducing cuts. A closeup of a fist hitting a face. A closeup of an elbow hitting a knee. A closeup of a face showing somebody's reaction to the pain. Etc. etc etc. There's much less continuity. 98% of the scenes are probably shot by stunt/body doubles. It doesn't take a lot of talent for an actor to pull off a scene like that, at least not compared to the traditional HK style where the actors have had a lifetime of martial arts training.
Of course, those are vast generalizations. You can name plenty of counterexamples from both schools!
Perhaps one of the most best(worst) examples of hollywoods "type" of fight scene - yes this is from netflix but more in reference to any semi-large scale film production in the west.
Rumble in the Bronx is an insane movie that is US based, better then Rush Hour.
His heightened capacity for emoting is arguably as good of entertainment as his stunt skills.