What can I say about this film other than the fact that it was an interesting watch. I never heard of this movie and to be honest most of Jet Li's 90's films are almost forgotten or lost compared to his post American/millennium run of movies. Somehow though this had enough in it to make it worth a view.
Jet Li plays the King of Adventurers along with several friends played by Japanese born actor Kaneshiro and newcomer Charlie Yeung who both give well timed comedic beats that compliment Jet's character even though sometimes they fall short. The film reminded me a lot of Jackie Chan's Armor of God films, and very close to that style of genre, but what makes this stand out is its reliance on developing narrative told by the perspective of its characters similar to Rob Reiners Princess Bride, or Bryan Singers Usual Suspects . I'm not too keen myself on these movies if they're not executed in a way as the movie's I've listed, and I feel that's where this movie sort of falls short.
I want to address the humor in this film first. I'm not familiar with mainland China's sense of humor and what they believe as being funny or comedic, when I can only relate to the entire catalog of Jackie Chan films and he alone has that edge over the likes of Jet and Kaneshiro.
The second is the multiple narratives being told by multiple characters to finish the story within the film. This makes it very uneven and hard to follow since you have one story taking place while another is completely fictional within the world of the film. Then you through in fight scenes, along with some dated CGI and humor and you got a recipe for a film that is doing a lot while not doing enough to balance it.
What I can say that sells the film is the action set pieces that without a doubt are the highlight of the movie. From practical trains rampaging through a village set, all the way up to an epic duel with fire swords toward the climax of the movie keep you around long enough to see what might make you scream out in hilarity. I found the action to be mostly fun, if not humorous for what it was aiming for and that was good enough for me.
If you ever run across this movie on Youtube, and are a big Jet Li fan that must add this to your watch list then give it a try, but good luck finding a copy of this film on DVD which I don't believe was released in North America. All in all, I recommend to anyone who are fans these particular films
6/10.
Jet Li plays the King of Adventurers along with several friends played by Japanese born actor Kaneshiro and newcomer Charlie Yeung who both give well timed comedic beats that compliment Jet's character even though sometimes they fall short. The film reminded me a lot of Jackie Chan's Armor of God films, and very close to that style of genre, but what makes this stand out is its reliance on developing narrative told by the perspective of its characters similar to Rob Reiners Princess Bride, or Bryan Singers Usual Suspects . I'm not too keen myself on these movies if they're not executed in a way as the movie's I've listed, and I feel that's where this movie sort of falls short.
I want to address the humor in this film first. I'm not familiar with mainland China's sense of humor and what they believe as being funny or comedic, when I can only relate to the entire catalog of Jackie Chan films and he alone has that edge over the likes of Jet and Kaneshiro.
The second is the multiple narratives being told by multiple characters to finish the story within the film. This makes it very uneven and hard to follow since you have one story taking place while another is completely fictional within the world of the film. Then you through in fight scenes, along with some dated CGI and humor and you got a recipe for a film that is doing a lot while not doing enough to balance it.
What I can say that sells the film is the action set pieces that without a doubt are the highlight of the movie. From practical trains rampaging through a village set, all the way up to an epic duel with fire swords toward the climax of the movie keep you around long enough to see what might make you scream out in hilarity. I found the action to be mostly fun, if not humorous for what it was aiming for and that was good enough for me.
If you ever run across this movie on Youtube, and are a big Jet Li fan that must add this to your watch list then give it a try, but good luck finding a copy of this film on DVD which I don't believe was released in North America. All in all, I recommend to anyone who are fans these particular films
6/10.