All hype and myth
STRICTLY FOR JACKIE CHAN FANS: Myth
Myth
Genre: Fantasy /Adventure
Cast: Jackie Chan, Mallika Sherawat
Director: Stanley Tong
Storyline: A warrior, reborn as an archeologist, has to the princess and save her First Emperor's treasure
Bottomline: Strictly for Jackie's cult.
The biggest myth about the latest Jackie Chan movie is that Mallika Sherawat has a role.
The Indian actress plays a glorified cameo, the dancing beauty living in the land of snake-charmers and levitating sadhus. She does one brief stunt, gets saved by Jackie after she gets stuck onto a conveyor belt full of rat glue before she waves him, and the rest of us, goodbye in the first half, after less than 5 minutes of screen time in all.
The next biggest myth about the movie is, this is Indiana Jones-meets-Crouching Tiger, with the plot involving the hunt for the First Emperor's treasure and the immortality pill, hidden from civilisation until archaeologist Jack (Jackie Chan, of course) has visions of his last birth as a warrior designated to protect princess Ok Soo (Hee Seon Kim) and the First Emperor's treasure.
This Asian movie comes across as a very cheesy low-budget spoof with tacky effects, only redeemed by Chan's energy and visual effects-defying stunts.
So when Chinese warriors with swords speak English during a dramatic exchange, it comes across as funny.
The other myth about this Stanley Tong movie is that it's a festival film showcasing Asian cinema and culture. Wrong.
The movie does India gross injustice and the dubbed version blurs all lines across Asia, making the mishmash of Indian, Chinese and Korean cultures come across as yet another homogenous stereotype of Asia often portrayed by Hollywood.
Another myth the movie shatters is that Chan is getting old. Nope.
The craziest action hero in the history of cinema is still a delight to watch.
No one his age could be any fitter, as he jumps, runs, fights with the comic ease that has entertained us over two and a half decades. It's so good to see good old Jackie defying age.
A friend warned that this was Jackie Chan's 'Baba.'
That's true considering that this one is a disaster born out of hype, with no substance to flesh out the ambitious plot.
Strictly for Jackie Chan fans.
Sudhish Kamath
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