03-19-2010, 11:27 AM
Long-winded rant: I confess. I'm a stalwart Jackie fan. You all know it and it taints my Jackie film reviews. I enjoyed Spy Next Door because I got to share that with my kid (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1890">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1890</a><!-- l -->). I enjoyed Shinjuku Incident because it was such a departure from the standard JC film (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888">viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888</a><!-- l -->). Take this for what you may but I loved Little Big Soldier. It's the best kung fu flick to come out of Asia this year so far.
LBS is a comedy drama buddy flick and 100% pure Jackie. There's been a wave of medieval Chinese period melodramas like Yen's Empress & Warriors (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888">viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888</a><!-- l -->), Red Cliff (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1069">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1069</a><!-- l -->) and Li's Warlords (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1052">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1052</a><!-- l -->). Frankly, that genre has been taking itself too seriously and has been getting played out. In fact, LBS is a lot like Warlords in its grim anti-war message. But this is Jackie, the king of comedy kung fu, doing what he does best - making us laugh. LBS is laugh-out-loud funny. One scene in particular was so funny that it totally floored me - I was laughing so hard. Gone are the big stunts (what do you want in his mid 50s?), but Jackie still delivers some tightly choreographed fights. No one choreographs like Jackie. His fights tell a story, not just of fighter against fighter, a story about benches and branches and other inanimate objects that get in the way. Jackie plays an aging scam artist soldier who survives battles by playing dead. He captures a prince and gets caught between the enemy militia and a warring barbarian tribe. Let the hijinks ensue! LBS is shot in spectacular locations around China and really goes for that world of arms and armor, terracotta buildings and dust. It's a fast and funny plot, moving quickly from poignant drama to comic schticks with hairpin turns. It's gets a little melancholy by the end and lacks that big fight finale, but delivers in a somewhat predictable and satisfactory conclusion. It's the first film of this year that has made me want to get a subtitled version.
Short review for ADD PPFYs: This is a total DOOM Flick, if I can secure a subtitled version.
LBS is a comedy drama buddy flick and 100% pure Jackie. There's been a wave of medieval Chinese period melodramas like Yen's Empress & Warriors (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888">viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1888</a><!-- l -->), Red Cliff (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1069">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1069</a><!-- l -->) and Li's Warlords (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1052">viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1052</a><!-- l -->). Frankly, that genre has been taking itself too seriously and has been getting played out. In fact, LBS is a lot like Warlords in its grim anti-war message. But this is Jackie, the king of comedy kung fu, doing what he does best - making us laugh. LBS is laugh-out-loud funny. One scene in particular was so funny that it totally floored me - I was laughing so hard. Gone are the big stunts (what do you want in his mid 50s?), but Jackie still delivers some tightly choreographed fights. No one choreographs like Jackie. His fights tell a story, not just of fighter against fighter, a story about benches and branches and other inanimate objects that get in the way. Jackie plays an aging scam artist soldier who survives battles by playing dead. He captures a prince and gets caught between the enemy militia and a warring barbarian tribe. Let the hijinks ensue! LBS is shot in spectacular locations around China and really goes for that world of arms and armor, terracotta buildings and dust. It's a fast and funny plot, moving quickly from poignant drama to comic schticks with hairpin turns. It's gets a little melancholy by the end and lacks that big fight finale, but delivers in a somewhat predictable and satisfactory conclusion. It's the first film of this year that has made me want to get a subtitled version.
Short review for ADD PPFYs: This is a total DOOM Flick, if I can secure a subtitled version.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse