REVIEW: Kung Fu Yoga

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Jackie Chan should be studied in media courses at university.  He is by far the biggest example of a downfall by a global star.  He made action masterpieces in the 80s and 90s. Now he is making absolute rubbish like his latest Spring Festival release, the Chinese-Indian adventure comedy Kung Fu Yoga.  Directed and written by Stanley Tong, a man once admired for action classics like Police Story 3: Supercop and Rumble in the Bronx, the film travels across China, the United Arab Emirates, and India, following Jackie (ingeniously named "Jack") and his group of archaeologist-explorers (including Indian Princesses played by the beauties Amyra Dastur and Disha Patani) to hunt down a jewel that will show them the path to the ancient treasure of Magadha.  Much like Chan's previous explorer flick, Chinese Zodiac (also written by Tong), this film is very, very silly.  And lazy.  So much of the film uses visual effects (the entire pre-opening-credits scene shows an animated Chan battling ancient Indians).  It makes the finished product feel incredibly tacky and ugly.  The choreography is also overbearingly silly and repetitive.  It seems to have been made through the eyes of an 8-year-old.  Digitally-created lions, hyenas, wolves, and snakes are absolutely harmless animals (throwing snowballs will deter a pack of wolves).  Fights are fun.  Villains are incompetent.  And dancing makes everything just hunky-dory!

I don't know why I put myself through these Jackie Chan experiences any longer.  He has lost all desire to produce quality entertainment.  Or quality humour.  Or even quality stunts.  It's all just so shit.  It doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest.  It is made purely for fun, but the fun is so stupid, and not endearing at all.  I guess Chan doesn't have to try very hard anymore because his films are solely made to appeal to one audience; Mainland China.  And as a movie-going audience they are not very demanding.  As long as they get a few laughs and some hot, young, popular celebs/singers to fawn over, they're happy.

The silliness in Chinese Zodiac was tolerable, but my patience has ran out.  Chan has no more "get out of jail free" cards.

D+

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