I’ve got a lot of great stuff planned, so get ready for that. Let me know what you guys like and what you don’t and I’ll get it all sorted out!
Details on Super Hero’s First Films
Fight of the Week: Choose Your Weapon Level 2
Jackie Winst Best Choreography at HK Film Awards
Distant Shores is Cancelled and Images for Ninja 2
New Trailers for Once Upon a Time In Vietnam and Fists of Legend
The Hong Kong Film Awards recently took place, and Jackie won the category of best action choreography. While other action films weren’t as prominent, I think this award was well-deserved. I mean, the man was 58 when he did this film, and he can move better than people half his age.
Jackie also wrote a special message about his award on his website:
Many years ago, I remember my dad saying to me, “Don’t just be an action star; you need to be a good actor because you can’t continue to do action when you’re 60. But a good actor can act for many many years.”
I still remember those words very clearly, and it’s also my motivation to achieve my goal. After the Huading Awards ceremony several nights ago, CZ12 (aka Chinese Zodiac) also won Best Action Choreography at the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards last night. My stunt team partner, He Jun, received the award with me on stage, and on the stage he thanked all the past and present Jackie Chan Stunt Team members and brothers who are now located all over the world. When I heard him say that, I felt so emotional because over the many years, the Jackie Chan stunt team has accompanied me throughout the continents around the world. They’ve helped bring out the spirit of Chinese martial arts and demonstrated professional discipline to the world. No matter how long I decide to continue with doing action, the spirit of martial arts will remain and will be handed down to future generations.
Right now, what I really want to say to my dad is that I started from not knowing any martial arts to all the acting I’ve done up until now, I haven’t let you down and I haven’t let my fans down! I want to share this award with all the action stars out there!
I think that Jackie easily deserved this recognition and he worked his butt off for it. While the movie may not have been as amazing as we all hoped, it still has some creative and awesome fights. Case in point:
Congrats to Jackie and the team! If this is indeed Jackie’s last big action film, it’s the icing on the cake, for sure!
It’s good to be back home! Be sure to read up and don’t miss a thing!
Posters for The Huntresses and Donnie Yen Creates Super Hero
Fight of the Week: Dragons Forever End Fight Choreo
Stephen Chow to Star in Journey Sequel?
Background Info
Jackie Chan returns to play the role of the Asian Hawk for the third Armour of God film. Named Chinese Zocidac, the film promised all of the signature characteristics that made Jackie Chan films so memorable. Chan also stated that the film would be his last “big action film,” making it a swan song of sorts for him as well. With so much riding on the film, would Jackie be able to deliver and satisfy fans around the world?
Story/Characters
The Armour of God series has always been about finding lost treasures and the adventure that follows. It’s a simple hook that can get people engaged and give writers the creativity to mix fact with folklore. While the core mystery is interesting enough for Zodiac, everything happens too conveniently. I can’t count the number of times where the characters magically “stumble” into where they were headed. It happens too often and makes the story feel rushed. There are some sub-plots in the film, but they are pretty much left alone until the end, making you forget about them early on. I personally would have rather seen the movie split up into 2 parts so that the pacing could have been more manageable.
As with any other Armour of God film, Jackie has acquires a crew throughout the film that helps him on his voyage. These characters go from tolerable to borderline annoying. JC’s personal crew is actually a pretty well-managed group. They each have their own tasks and characteristics, even if they don’t stand out that much individually. The characters that bother me are the ones the team meets on the trip. One girl won’t stop shoving national pride down everyone’s throat while another has “my great grandfather” in almost every line she speaks. I wish that these two characters were toned down so that I could sit back and enjoy the action. The villains don’t fare very well, either, since their actions primarily just fuel the next setpiece. More backstory would have been cool, but I can see why they got the short end of the stick.
Action/Choreography
Jackie did say that Zodiac was going to be his last big action film, and he satisfied his fans in some aspects. The film starts off with a bang and gets the blood pumping. Sadly, things kinda simmer down from that point. The fights are pretty good, but nothing really great happens until the last fight. I think this fight should be in a class of its own because it is so creative and well done. It reminds me of why I am a fan in the first place and how great Jackie’s choreography can be when the wheels are turning. Overall, I feel like Jackie missed the mark a little, though, since I prefer the smaller stunts to the high-scale big ones. It’s the sense of him being in danger that makes his stunts so memorable, and this film might have been too ambitious to compete with Hollywood. That being said, you gotta give the man props for doing what he does at the age of 58.
Own it, Watch it, Try it, or Skip it?
So, here comes the big question. How does it all stack up? Chinese Zodiac is a decent film, but not one of Jackie’s best. Jackie knows that his body isn’t what is used to be and that it won’t hold up, so it’s really not fair to compare. However, that doesn’t forgive the story and characters for being so bad. Most will be put off by these two elements before they get to see Jackie’s real creativity shine. As a fan, I say the film is worth a try just to see a few of the better fights and sequences, especially for those that haven’t seen a “Jackie Chan” film. Of course, there are other films that can be used to show them the same thing. It’s clear that nobody can do what Chan does, and I think it’s worth a try just to see that the man still has the passion to put himself out there for the sake of his fans.
Try it
Chinese Zodiac 2D+3D Blu Ray (HK Version)
It’s been a crazy week, but a lot of stuff to check out. Don’t miss a thing!
New Trailer for the Borderland
Gordon Liu Reported Missing (UPDATE!)
While going around promoting Chinese Zodiac, Jackie sat down with Channel News Asia for an interview. In it, he talked about his recent accomplishments as well as how it is to work with him. There are two parts, but I thought they were both fun to watch. Check them out:
It looks like Jackie runs a pretty tight ship, but that’s also how he gets things done. I guess I’d rather have a person be hands-on than just lazy, and I’m glad that Jackie is doing his part. It’s easy to see that a lot of love and dedication went into the film. I’ll be doing a review for Chinese Zodiac soon, so be sure to give it a look.
Source: SuperChan’s Jackie Chan Blog
Chinese Zodiac is almost out, but there are still a lot of countries that haven’t seen the film yet (like the US!) While in Korea, Jackie encountered a case of piracy, and revealed some details regarding the official release.
“While promoting CZ12 in Korea, a fan asked me to autograph a video. I said that the official one isn’t out yet, this is pirated. When he found out he immediately threw away the video. Sigh, every time I see counterfeits I would be very heartbroken because I don’t want viewers to watch anything that is roughly produced and illegal. Here again I urge everyone to boycott piracy. In the official video I will add over ten minutes of unreleased footage, like scenes that were left on the cutting room floor and my fight scene with Kwon Sang-Woo and a French fighter. They are great. In addition it will also have a lot of behind the scene secrets, like the 8 locations on 5 continents, special effect scene production trilogy process, comparison with the initial set designs to actual constructions. The high quality edition is worthy of viewers’ collection! Thank you everyone!”
I’ve already got my copy pre-ordered and eagerly await it’s release. Are you guys excited about this “unseen” fight? I hope that it was just cut for time, and that we’ll be able to see that Chan magic once more.
By the way, those of you that want to get the film should check out Yesasia.com If you haven’t ordered anything before and get something over 30 bucks, you can get 5 bucks off your order. Just type in 5FEBRUARY when you check out. Just be aware that the coupon is only good until February 28th, so get your pre-orders ready.
Be sure to check your region codes and make sure that it will play on your unit. I’ll have my review of the film up in the upcoming weeks, so be sure to give it a read!
Source: HKTopten
This week was pretty insane. Lots of good stuff, so be sure to look around. Check out the forums too!
Guest Post:Charles Malcolm’s Top 10 Kung Fu Movies
Martial Arts Movie Junkie Forums Now Up
Looks like this weeks is starting out as a weird one. I’ve come across some news that I just can’t classify, so I’ll give it to you as is.
First, John Woo has expressed interested in directing the third Expendables film. In a recent interview, Woo said:
I am a big fan of all those guys and I will do it but I want less studio and producer interference. I want to shoot the movie the way I want. That’s the difference making a movie in China and Hollywood. In China, The Studio and producer allow flexibility to the director. One thing for sure is, I want it to take place in China.
He also talked about a fight between JCVD and Jet Li, but that’s pretty much impossible if you’ve seen the sequel. Take this news with a grain of salt, as it most likely won’t happen. Still, I can’t help but think about how cool something like that would actually be.
Next is some more news to believe as much as you want. Even though Jackie has supposedly “retired” from big action films, he’s talking about a sequel to Zodiac. When asked what he would like to do, he answered:
“In part one, I knocked out my opponent. When I realized that she was a girl, I flew to save her and was thanked by her people. In the end, I became friends with the villains who tried to steal the 12 zodiac statues. If there is a chance to film a sequel, I want to bring those villains back, this time as my friends, who will help me in return.”
Looks like Jackie isn’t done with action just yet, at least. I know that Zodiac had mixed reviews, but it will be curious to see how Chan deals with the reigniting of his classic style.
Lastly (and maybe only real news) is a trailer for Donnie Yen’s next film, titled Together. It’s actually three stories in one, and Donnie’s will be rather strange if the synopsis is anything to go off of.
One of the stories features Donnie Yen and Michelle Chen as an odd couple. Donnie plays a traffic cop, “Mr. Cool” who never smiles due to a rare disease. During an operation, Donnie meets Michelle, a patient with amnesia, and spends most of her time looking for her deceased fiancé. Donnie and Michelle fall in love eventually, but one day, Michelle goes through another episode of amnesia and completely forgets Mr. Cool.
Still don’t think it’s real? Check out the trailer below:
I’m glad that Donnie is trying new things, and it’s pretty much like is comedic outing last year. That being said, this story just sounds so weird. I’m sure he’s just stretching his acting chops, and that we don’t have to worry about him calling it quits for a while.
So, what do you think of today’s “news?” What did you find the strangest or most interesting? Feel free to post in the comments!
Sources: budomate.com, chinesefilms.cn, and fareastfilms.com
