1 of 4 | Jackie Chan, seen at the 2024 premiere of "Ride On" in Japan, plays a dual role in "A Legend." File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI |
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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- At 70, Jackie Chan continues to experiment with new modes of cinema while delivering his trademark action. A Legend, on DVD, Blu-ray and digital video-on-demand Jan. 21, isn't always successful, but is an atypical film for Chan that ultimately pays off.
A Legend opens in the Han and Hun era, but jumps to present day, with Chan's Professor Fang leading an archeological dig for Han Dynasty artifacts. Those artifacts lead him to dream of Han soldiers Zhao Zhan (also played by Chan) and Huajun's (Zhang Yixing) battles against Hun forces.
The historical action scenes more closely resemble Braveheart battles than the comical action of Chan's usual, and best fare. They still prove more exciting than some of his dour action dramas like The Foreigner or 1911.
Martial arts touches distinguish A Legend's battles from typical Hollywood historical epics. In one scene, a soldier who is out of arrows flings his bow like a slingshot, and each performer executes impressive acrobatics throughout the film.
In the flashbacks, computer effects make Chan appear younger as Zhao Zhan. The effect is as convincing as Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny or Robert De Niro in The Irishman -- which is to say, it is not.
Zhao Zhan does not look like the young Chan of Drunken Master, or even the middle-aged actor in his Rumble in the Bronx era. Rather, he looks like a video game version of Chan that would probably be fun to play.
The problem is, even if Chan is performing the scenes, it no longer has to actually be him if they can put his face on anyone. Chan's legend has always been performing his own stunts, which was never 100% true in the first place, as he would use doubles to make filming elaborate fight scenes more efficient.
But, you watch a Jackie Chan movie to see him move. When it's a different face, at best, it obscures his still impressive feats, and at worst, causes viewers to question if it's even still him.
Making up for the artificiality of the de-aging effect, it does look like director Stanley Tong coordinated armies of real men on real horses in the historical battles. Typically, those scenes have gone the way of digital effects in Hollywood movies as well.
The modern day archeologist story pays off in a more traditional, comical Jackie Chan fight sequence in an ice cavern. Alas, there are no outtakes of stunts gone wrong during the end credits.
A Legend's plot is reminiscent of another Chan/Tong collaboration, 2005's The Myth, which also included flashbacks to historical legend. In that film, Chan was the same age in modern day scenes and in flashback, and it had more of his comedic action.
At over two hours, A Legend has one too many subplots. A romance between Fang's assistants is cute but slows down an already bifurcated plot.
Fans of Chan and Tong's collaborations will get enough action out of A Legend. It's not as relentless as Supercop and Rumble in the Bronx, or even their more recent Vanguard, but if their new efforts fall short, they still deliver some of their trademark thrills.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.