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Overall :
Who watches a Jackie Chan movie for the story ? I know I never did. It never flies high and in this particular case, story and filming are an absolute mess ; but Jackie Chan movies remain fun to watch, especially Jackie Chan's fighting and acrobatics...which is the only reason why I would recommend this movie. I won't lie : giving it a 5/10 is too high for the objective quality of the movie, but my subjectivity cannot give it a bad note.
Story :
If you are curious how not to write a story, you might as well watch this movie. It does a huge fuck you to sense and common ground every five minutes and jumps from a thing to another without a valid reason and is way too quick, nothing feels right. Just...watch...and you'll get it... At least I hope so. As for the ending, I was between facepalming and laughing.
Characters :
You cannot really speak of "characters", even "stereotype" would be too much, they are traits. Sure, there's a try to develop relationships between some characters, but it isn't worked on properly for it to be even credible. And I don't even speak about the motivation of some characters or their unvalid change of hearts.
Acting :
It really varies from one to another. Some are really bad, others are ok, none are outstanding.
Music :
It seems Pirates of Carribean's OST is loved, because some soundtracks certainly sounds like remixes.
Filming :
Oh my goodness, the transitions... I think it's the first time I've seen such a bad use of transitions in my entire life. XD It's so constant to the point it's hilarious how you pass from a moment to another. XD It feels very amateurish. If you want to know how not to do transitions, this movie is a very good example.
As for the scenery...it is ok, most of the time, until you arrive in the jungle...which is the most ridiculous part of the entire movie, not only due to the stage set but also what happens there in general. I'm still laughing thinking about it. I assume there was a huge lack of money, or at least it's the only justification I can give them.
Rewatch Value :
Yeah, it's bad...really bad...but I know I would laugh if I would watch it again. And I would still appreciate Jackie Chan's "martial art". Just for that I could rewatch it. You can call this movie a "nanar" (aka "so bad it's good" or rather, turning funny by how bad it is done).
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Doesn't hold a candle to the first two
Jackie's belated third entry into his Armour of God series, Chinese Zodiac unfortunately lumbers like a cheap DVD knock-off of one of his old classics. It's decent if unsophisticated family entertainment that demonstrates that Jackie can still put together creative and unique action set pieces. The problem stems from the fact that it lacks so many of Jackie's creative staples and goes way overboard in terms of preaching to the choir with characters practically stopping dead in their tracks to put on their moralising hat and deliver some earnest statement about national pride; there is certainly a feeling of toeing the party line found here that won't be found in his earlier films. Dealing with the film is like dealing with Jackie himself: you have to tune out the crappy stuff to appreciate the unique entertainer that lies within. That being said, Jackie doesn't phone it in as would be so easy with a legacy sequel like this, he still has some charisma to burn and despite the ugly and glossy digital sheen that coats the movie, it's very well shot and directed. Outside of Jackie the only other member of the cast I enjoyed was Kwon Sang-woo, he certainly made a good impression here and I hope I get to see more of him in future. Lacklustre, slow and overly long, Chinese Zodiac only hints at Jackie's winning combo of kineticism, martial arts and comedy despite being occasionally strikingly shot and having its share of populist fun, it just really doesn't do justice to Jackie's film heritage.Was this review helpful to you?
