Martial Arts Overpowers Story

For the first time ever, two martial arts legends, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, star in a movie together. Expectations were high, but not quite met. If the movie had been a satire, or even a parody, of an old-fashioned Kung Fu film, then it would at least have been satisfying; unfortunately, director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco tried to go for the real thing.

Jason (played by Michael Angarano), a wimpy Kung Fu movie-obsessed teenage boy from Boston, is forced by bullies to betray a friend, an old Chinese pawnshop owner (Jackie Chan with a lot of makeup). When things get out of hand the old man gives Jason a staff which transports him to another world, probably ancient China.

After meeting up with an immortal named Lu Yan (also played by Jackie Chan) they set out on a quest to give the staff to the Monkey King (played by Jet Li) in order to stop the evil Jade Warlord (played by Collin Chou). Along the way, they are joined by Sparrow (played by Liu Yi Fei), an orphaned girl intent on avenging her parents, and by the Silent Monk (also played by Jet Li).

Here are the movie’s good points. Though it is an English-language film-no subtitles or voiceovers here-it is an excellent attempt to emulate Chinese movie traditions. For example, the film is replete with martial arts fighting. The choreography in that respect is creative, high-grade, very entertaining, and slightly reminiscent of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” I refer to that movie because there was a lot of that weird walking/flying through the air. Jackie Chan does an especially great job with the humorous “drunken fist” style of fighting.

Now for the bad points, and there are more of those. The plot definitely took a backseat to the choreography. Character development was even worse. Like many of this film’s predecessors, the kid is shown to quickly develop Kung Fu skills, using a montage of waving his arms in a waterfall and swinging a stick really fast. “The Karate Kid” at least made its kid work for it.

The problem with this movie is that it’s mostly just cool fighting moves. It’s fun to watch at first, especially the fight scene between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but quickly becomes boring. There was plenty of room for improvement if the Kung Fu had been cut back even a little. The romantic development between Jason and Sparrow is half-assed, some of the personal history and motivations of the characters remain a mystery, and some of the plot is just plain convoluted. It wasn’t until about half-way through that I figured out that the Jade Warlord was an immortal. A little more explanation of Chinese mythology would have been a great help.

So here’s the judgment. This movie is a great fix for Kung Fu movie fanatics. The fight scene between Jackie Chan and Jet Li almost makes the movie worth the ticket. Unfortunately for those who need high drama and deep characters, the movie will be a disappointment.

MATTHEW BLACKBURN
Culture Writer

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