21 years later in Chinese Zodiac, Jackie is playing the same treasure hunting adventurer in search of long lost treasures.
What is interesting n 2012 Jackie Chan filmed several scenes in the Aerodium Latvia vertical wind tunnel in and this converted into impressive sky scene where he is trying to save one of the treasures eventually falling down without a parachute on volcano nearly dead. And I can bet like if I was supposed to bet on march madness this trick can make jealous any base jumper in the world.
As a sequel to his two old school films Armour of God, it follows the similar Chan’s formula with tricks, jumps, adventures and well-choreographed fight scenes… but a bigger budget and an age of actor (58) do not give quality to this film. If 20 years ago Jackie had a passion and creativity now it is just a business and it is aggressively multi-national and designed for maximum market appeal.
The acting is not so good, the script is still thin and sometimes reminds very cheap Asian comedies and action movies which have been made in 80-90s. Talking about stunts and fight I can say that fight scene w/ the couches against Taekwondo champion turned stuntman Alaa Safi is in pretty in line with 80’s Jackie standards. But in general, fights look like sparring but not a serious battle to the death like it was before.
A major fight scene cost more than US$10 million, but JC’s right hand Bonnie and her opponent’s fight looks far more interesting than a final Jackie’s warehouse confrontation.
Clocking in at just over two hours Chinese Zodiac may have action, comedy, stunts, beautiful damsels and sophisticated gadgets galore, but what it lacks is the soul in its story and it becomes something of a vanity project for Jackie Chan… even his trick with chewing gum lost its screen power.
The combination of Indiana Jones-style adventures with Chan’s signature brand converted Armour of God series into most successful and action-packed films, but CZ12 is too far from it and definitely not the best Jackie’s movie… and I only hope that Jackie will not bury his another popular franchise Police Story next year.
Chinese Zodiac already has grossed over the US $138,000,000 at the Chinese box-office, but most of the world fans would be disappointed with it.
