A few years ago Jackie Chan stated that he was stopping acting in large action projects and focusing on simpler and more intimate films. This is not his exact quote, but it conveys the essence, especially since Jackie himself formulated this idea somewhat vaguely, because it is not clear what his criteria for scale are.
In this regard, his new work "Kung Fu Yoga" (in localization "Armor of God: In Search of Treasure") is something in between. I’ll say right away that his character is not the Asian Hawk, familiar to us from the legendary "To the Armor of God". Apparently, this is his other character - Professor Jack from the film "Myth" (2005), archaeologist and part-time adventurer, good-natured person and kungfuist. And our localizers, as always, came to the rescue, attracting additional attention to the film with the title, and the difference with the Hawk is not fundamental.
The plot of the film is naive and linear, as is usual with Jackie: the search for Indian treasures, travel around the world, car chases, fights, gags, all sorts of fuss, and, of course, a positive moral at the end of the film, decorated with mass dances. All the main blocks of events are ingenuously and unpretentiously glued together by editing, so five minutes ago the heroes were in China, now they are already drilling through the ice, a second later they are already in India, and then in a dungeon with treasures. Other characters act and move in the same way. In general, this is not the genre and the wrong level of film when the plot is thought out to the smallest detail. This is a fun and light-hearted movie to entertain if you're a Jackie fan. Because the mass modern audience is unlikely to be deeply interested in such a movie. I suppose it will seem morally outdated to him.
Jackie still shows that he has gunpowder in his flasks, but he does it in light mode, riding out with old luggage and techniques that have already been used a thousand times, only more simplified. Plus, screen time is given equally not only to him, but also to other characters performed by Aarifa Lee, Zhang Yixing, Mia, Disha Patani and Amyra Dastur.
The choreography is superficial and monotonous, although it is worth saying that the dynamics are quite fast, and there are not very many cables. But it won’t surprise you, since these are mostly self-repetitions, neat (the years are still respectable) Chan’s jumps and leaps, tricks, combinations, positions, situations and combat jokes that we have seen a hundred times. It makes no sense to list all the details - all these elements are spread throughout Jackie’s filmography, and “Kung Fu Yoga” contains a teaspoon from each of his films.
Much emphasis in the fighting game is placed on the character of Aarif Lee, who is trying to keep up with his venerable colleague, but works in a more “youth” style - tougher and more contact-oriented. It is worth noting that it looks good on the screen.
The film is completely optional and background, it is unlikely to make you glued to the screen and follow the adventures of the heroes and plot twists, but it will help while away the evening. Naive typical Chanovsky cinema.
This is not to say that the film is bad - no, by no means. It just came out sterile, not solid, but somehow patchwork, and due to the large amount of green screen and computer animals, completely synthetic, unnatural. But light, relaxed and bright, India is still a very colorful country. There are beautiful locations when it is not a green screen, there is a funny scene with again drawn hyenas and a lion (hello to “Italians in Russia”), there is a small role Eric Tsanga.
If you don't look "Kung Fu Yoga", then you won’t really lose anything. If you watch it, you will smile a couple of times at the familiar humor, familiar scenes and how old Jackie still remains a tireless humanist and always helps all his opponents and enemies.
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Tags: Kung Fu Yoga, Aarif Lee, Amira Dastur, Jackie Chan, Stanley Toon, Eric Tsang
Tags: Kung Fu Yoga, Aarif Lee, Amira Dastur, Jackie Chan, Stanley Toon, Eric Tsang
I looked.
It really is an easy film without any tension. Typical modern Chanovsky cinema. I was pleased by the abundance of beautiful girls in the film and upset by the abundance of bad special effects. Although the scene with the lion in the car still looked funny. Chan is still handsome, although general fatigue is visible. Or the years are dragging you down. But Aarif Lee is great - he looks good both in acting and in action scenes. They made Sonu Soda into a typical villain, which is bad. And his character as a whole is not enough. But the best thing about this movie is the final dance! Bright and cool! :)
Otherwise, it's a solid average to suit the mood.
Yes, I expected something like this from the film. I'll definitely have to watch it.
Does Sonu Sood show anything in terms of action scenes? Or are the stuntmen working for him?
Danil Chupakhin,
He shows, but nothing particularly that any young, physically developed actor cannot show. Stuntmen are mainly required for falls, but for the rest... arms, elbows, pretentious face. He can handle this himself.
I remembered The Pirate Brothers, where the cool Verdi Bhavanta took on 70% of the combat, unlike Robin Shu, who didn’t really live up to my expectations. I hope that's not the case here.