This past December, the man and legend that is Jackie Chan released his 101st film, a film titled Chinese Zodiac that he wrote, directed, starred and pretty much did everything in. It set box office records upon its release in China but since then all his been quiet on the Chinese Zodiac front. This past week, Jackie Chan came to NYC and brought with him a newly edited 107 min. version of his film for the North American audience in which he reprises his role as his Asian Hawk character from the Armour of God series with this film marking his last “large-scale action picture.” Does it live up to the hopes and dreams of a comical yet action packed quality adventure that we expect with a Jackie Chan film? After watching it that doesn’t seem to be the case.
In Chinese Zodiac, Asian Hawk (or JC as he’s called in the film) and his team are hired to steal 12 very valuable bronze statues that represent each animal of the Chinese zodiac so that they can be auctioned off. After meeting a young antiques expert who is all about preserving the artifacts and giving them back to China, JC and his team of thieves and misfits go on a crazy adventure around the world to steal the zodiacs and return them to China where they once belonged.
The one thing that bothered me most about this film, and is probably what led me to despise other aspects of it too, was the use of dubbing. Almost all of the Asian actors, including Jackie at times, had English voiceovers so that they could interact with all of the English speaking characters in the film as they travelled around the globe (I’m actually curious how it worked on set). The problem is the dubbing made the performers sound insanely corny, diminishing the quality of their actual performances while also exposing how childish and simple the script and dialogue actually was. For example, there is a line where someone yells “my poor backside!” Backside? Seriously? At least say the word butt, it sounds like a proper English teacher reviewed the script, made it rated G and then said let’s go into the studio and record it. When you watch the film you realize this movie wasn’t made for adults but rather for families with small children, I would imagine it’s like the art heist equivalent of Journey to the Center of the Earth (which I haven’t seen).
The film does have a few goofy moments that’ll give you a chuckle, specifically a scene in which pirates get stung by a ton of bees and all of their faces swell up in over the top and ridiculous ways. There are also one or two actions scenes which include Jackie’s trademark humoristic fighting style that garners some good laughs.
Jackie always tries to have positive messages in his films because he knows kids watch him and look up to him and this film is no difference. This movie is all about doing the right thing, redeeming oneself and not being [
too] selfish. The film wraps up all cozy as one would expect with even some of the enemies becoming friends out of nowhere.
The only saving grace of the film, and this by no means makes up for everything else, is the action. Jackie still puts his body on the line for crazy stunts and hasn’t lost his ability to choreograph great action sequences. The opening scene of the movie starts off with a chase involving cars and Jackie Chan speeding down the street in one of those 31 wheel roller suits. Later on in the film there’s a pretty cool skydiving battle and a massive fight in a warehouse where Jackie takes on at least 50 guys. The best scene though was a couch fight in which the two fighters couldn’t leave the cushions, it was pretty impressive and downright awesome. These scenes were the best in the film and shows that Jackie still got it.
After a recent string of solid films out of China like Little Big Soldier and Shaolin, it pains me to say that Jackie’s Chinese Zodiac isn’t what his fans would normally have hoped for. Unfortunately, the lack of laughable humor and the too childish/family friendly nature of the script coupled with the annoyance of an English dub detracts from the overall enjoyment the movie. The story of the art heist and the relationships amongst the characters were the focus of the film and that’s why no matter how great the action was, it could never make up for the laughable dialogue and poor dubbed delivery that supported the average story.
Rating: A few cool action scenes but the dubbing makes it impossible for purists to enjoy the film which, for me, was a real bummer (5/10)
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