This review may contain spoilers
Half History channel -half comdey/action
Where to begin? Watching this movie feels like watching two one-hour movies smushed together to create this two and half hours “movie.”In the first half, it feels like Jack’s modern group is just wandering around, lecturing the viewer about Chinese history, while the scenes set in ancient times are just reenactments you’d see in a history documentary. Then, in the second half of the movie, it shifts into a comedic action film with a hint of nationalism.
Sometimes, it feels like a vanity project for Jackie Chan, yet at the same time, he’s hardly in the movie and often feels like a background character in his own story. It was supposed to be a great love story between Jackie’s Zhao Zhan and Meng Yun, but they don’t share enough screen time to make their relationship engaging. It ends up feeling more like a one-sided love story between Meng Yun and Hua Jun. I suspect the limited screen time is partly because they spent a lot of money de-aging Jackie, which adds to the “vanity project” vibe. Meng Yun’s love for Zhao doesn’t feel essential to the plot but seems forced because it’s a Jackie Chan movie. The ancient storyline could easily be about war and revenge, and it wouldn’t change much of the overall plot.
The one bright spot is Peng Xiao Ran’s Xin Ran and her romantic pursuit of Lay Zhang’s Wang Jung. This subplot kept me entertained throughout. Her character is genuinely funny and engaging. Honestly, they should have made her the reincarnated horse, Lei Zhen, instead of giving that role to the gamer, since the horse Lei Zhen has a more substantial character arc than Zhao Zhan. “It sacrificed its life in the past for its master and returned in modern times as a woman to pursue its man again.”
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This review may contain spoilers
Hm... Where should I even begin this...Story about Archaeological expert Professor Chen who discovered a jade pendant. Since he discovered this jade pendant, he started having dream about a girl and a general.
In this dream, the girl [Meng Yun(MY)] is running from a man (Huduna). Later we find out that Huduna is a king who wants to married MY. Huduna wanted to merried MY not only because she's pretty, but because MY also hold the key to greater treasure that been kept by Great Shaman.
In the real world, Professor Chen also try to discovered this treasure. But of course not because he wants to keep it for himself, but to give it to the country and to learn about this missing history. So how the treasure hunt ends...?
That's pretty much the story without giving anymore spoiler. Now what I like and don't.
What I like:
+ Great landscape. Especially in the end
+ Good acting skill. Jackie chan movie never disappointed me with their character acting skill and combat scene.
What I don't:
- Quite boring story. This basically remake of myth with a little different story.
- The joke on the AI generated face. They try to make Jackie Chan younger but this one of the the bad results of the failed CGI. From the comment, the younger general is played by Zheng Ye Cheng. Such unfortunates for Zheng Ye Cheng.
Overall just watch if you're the fans of the actor/ess played here
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Painfully boring
Watching any form of modern Jackie Chan film comes with its fair share of challenges but A Legend hits a new low for the ageing martial arts star, in this so-called legacy sequel to The Myth. Sure, the film is lavishly produced, with plenty of sweeping landscapes, and suitably epic set pieces, however, it commits the cardinal sin of being unmistakenly boring and a slog to sit through thanks to some abysmally erratic pacing. The film tries to cram in way too much for its runtime and feels like two distinctly different movies crowbarred together, it's rather sad since I know Stanley Tong has been capable of so much better. The elephant in the room is of course the horrific de-ageing job done to Jackie Chan during the scenes set during the Han Dynasty, it looks like someone just got a picture of his face and slapped it on the body of a younger actor, it can be genuinely disturbing at times. If you're expecting Jackie to throw a few moves, then you'll have to wait till the last act before he finally gets down to business. Although it sadly stands as a consolation prize and comes too little too late. I will say however, I did like Nathan Wang's musical score despite the very cheesy and stereotypical soundscape. There’s a noticeable lack of adventure in A Legend, it falters with a largely self-serious tale of action fantasy and a central romance that feels more cringey than it does profound. I highly doubt Panda Plan is gonna be much better.Was this review helpful to you?
