11-29-2005, 01:03 AM
Technically, this was a VCD, but there isn't a section for VCDs now, is there? NOTE: There are spoilers in this review.
The Myth is Jackie Chan's latest effort, just released in the rest of the world recently. Here in the home of the free, it's unavailable, and may well be suffer from 'no official US release' like his last effort, New Police Story. But in Hong Kong, the VCDs come out before the movie to generate buzz, or something like that. I have no idea why it works that way there, but it does. And despite Jackie's recent Chinese TV commercial with our Governator against pirates like ED, HK (not to be confused with Haggis) is a bay of pirates that goes back centuries. For the record, the VCD I just watched was an official release for the HK market, with English subtitles.
But who cares about platform and piracy issues? What about The Myth?
The Myth is part of what I'm dubbing right here and now, 2K+HK cinema. OK, maybe I need to work out that term. Maybe, my buddy August West will figure out something more clever in his upcoming review on http://www.KungFuMagazine.com. 2K+HK is Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, Hero, Legend of Zu, post-Crouching Tiger. The Myth doesn't quite rise to the level of those films, but it's in the ballpark. It's high fantasy with that weird cantopop music video CGI, that you sort of get used to after a while. What? Jackie doing CGI? Oh yeah, he does, and some very strange and cheesy stuff.
What is the Myth about?
Jackie plays a Qin Dynasty general (China's 1st Emperor, who built the great wall and the terracotta warriors and was depicted in Hero). In fact, there's a huge Hero-like battle scene with armies in the desert and plenty of terracotta warriors. Jackie also plays an archeologist ala Indiana Jones/Lara Croft/Operation Condor (an early Jackie film where he fights 4 huge black women in the finale and an equally wonderful sequel). It's one of those two-timing, dream vs. reality kind of plots. There's a great Bollywood-esque sequence featuring the stunning actress, Mallika Sherawat (Jackie is huge in India, potentially bigger than any US star). Sadly, her part is only in the beginning and despite Jackie's promise in the movie, he never returns to her. There's a Matrix-like weightless fight in, well, I won't spoil it, but it's quite a surreal scene. There's some amazing panoramic scenery, shot on location in China and India. There's some nonsense about meteorites too. No, there's no Davy Crockett, but if there was, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference. It's a long film, a bit self-absorbed as Jackie tends to be, but classic HK cinema, stealling scenes from everywhere and pasting them together into a wild montage. In the end, despite my early skepticism, there actually was a plot that made some modecum of sense. Personally, I don't think they should have bothered with the 'sense' part, but that's got to be the influence of western film on Jackie.
Does Jackie still have it?
Well, I'm a huge Jackie fan and at 50, he still turns in some very imaginative fights. Nobody choreographs like Jackie. Nobody juggles props, does the weird acrobatics, and makes fights genuinely funny like Jackie. He's not as fast, but he's still agile as a cat and his fights continue to be a joy to watch.
Are there enough fight scenes or is there too much plot?
Tough call here. The best fights are up early and they are really quite good - brilliant signature Jackie fights. In contrast, there's one bloody scene where Jackie stands upon a mountain of bodies. There's an interesting decaptiated head's eye view, but that's a bit of a spoiler, sorry. Plus there's some great CGI horse fu. The finale fight is a bit of a let down, and you have to work through some major plot issues - and a music video - to get to it. If he had gone back to Mallika in the end, I would have been happier. In fact, if it had stayed in India, it would have been freakin' awesome.
Is The Myth good?
I was entertained throughout it, but again, I'm a huge Jackie fan. Hk Jackie Chan films can be an acquired taste - they all have this consistency, that being Jackie, who never strays far from character. For example, in this film, his character is named 'Jack Chan'. It's better than Tuxedo or Medallion, but that's like saying Police Story is better than the Protector. I'll have to see what my buddy August thinks, whenever he gets around to writing that review.
The Myth is Jackie Chan's latest effort, just released in the rest of the world recently. Here in the home of the free, it's unavailable, and may well be suffer from 'no official US release' like his last effort, New Police Story. But in Hong Kong, the VCDs come out before the movie to generate buzz, or something like that. I have no idea why it works that way there, but it does. And despite Jackie's recent Chinese TV commercial with our Governator against pirates like ED, HK (not to be confused with Haggis) is a bay of pirates that goes back centuries. For the record, the VCD I just watched was an official release for the HK market, with English subtitles.
But who cares about platform and piracy issues? What about The Myth?
The Myth is part of what I'm dubbing right here and now, 2K+HK cinema. OK, maybe I need to work out that term. Maybe, my buddy August West will figure out something more clever in his upcoming review on http://www.KungFuMagazine.com. 2K+HK is Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, Hero, Legend of Zu, post-Crouching Tiger. The Myth doesn't quite rise to the level of those films, but it's in the ballpark. It's high fantasy with that weird cantopop music video CGI, that you sort of get used to after a while. What? Jackie doing CGI? Oh yeah, he does, and some very strange and cheesy stuff.
What is the Myth about?
Jackie plays a Qin Dynasty general (China's 1st Emperor, who built the great wall and the terracotta warriors and was depicted in Hero). In fact, there's a huge Hero-like battle scene with armies in the desert and plenty of terracotta warriors. Jackie also plays an archeologist ala Indiana Jones/Lara Croft/Operation Condor (an early Jackie film where he fights 4 huge black women in the finale and an equally wonderful sequel). It's one of those two-timing, dream vs. reality kind of plots. There's a great Bollywood-esque sequence featuring the stunning actress, Mallika Sherawat (Jackie is huge in India, potentially bigger than any US star). Sadly, her part is only in the beginning and despite Jackie's promise in the movie, he never returns to her. There's a Matrix-like weightless fight in, well, I won't spoil it, but it's quite a surreal scene. There's some amazing panoramic scenery, shot on location in China and India. There's some nonsense about meteorites too. No, there's no Davy Crockett, but if there was, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference. It's a long film, a bit self-absorbed as Jackie tends to be, but classic HK cinema, stealling scenes from everywhere and pasting them together into a wild montage. In the end, despite my early skepticism, there actually was a plot that made some modecum of sense. Personally, I don't think they should have bothered with the 'sense' part, but that's got to be the influence of western film on Jackie.
Does Jackie still have it?
Well, I'm a huge Jackie fan and at 50, he still turns in some very imaginative fights. Nobody choreographs like Jackie. Nobody juggles props, does the weird acrobatics, and makes fights genuinely funny like Jackie. He's not as fast, but he's still agile as a cat and his fights continue to be a joy to watch.
Are there enough fight scenes or is there too much plot?
Tough call here. The best fights are up early and they are really quite good - brilliant signature Jackie fights. In contrast, there's one bloody scene where Jackie stands upon a mountain of bodies. There's an interesting decaptiated head's eye view, but that's a bit of a spoiler, sorry. Plus there's some great CGI horse fu. The finale fight is a bit of a let down, and you have to work through some major plot issues - and a music video - to get to it. If he had gone back to Mallika in the end, I would have been happier. In fact, if it had stayed in India, it would have been freakin' awesome.
Is The Myth good?
I was entertained throughout it, but again, I'm a huge Jackie fan. Hk Jackie Chan films can be an acquired taste - they all have this consistency, that being Jackie, who never strays far from character. For example, in this film, his character is named 'Jack Chan'. It's better than Tuxedo or Medallion, but that's like saying Police Story is better than the Protector. I'll have to see what my buddy August thinks, whenever he gets around to writing that review.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
