Very well executed

Better Late Then Never

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

When I started watching this movie, I really wasn't expecting too much of it. Probably a 5-7 at best, considering the poor critic ratings. However, this movie certainly exceeded my expectations! And don't worry, this review won't contain any spoilers! In terms of the actual plot, it was nothing spectacular and at times hard to follow along, but if you put that fault aside it was very entertaining! At times it had some humour which is always nice, and the fight/action scenes were terrific in my opinion! It was really cool to see some of the stunts Jackie Chan had to pull off! If you like Jackie Chan, this is not a movie you will want to miss out on! If you're looking for something a little humorous with some action, this would be a great fit! Not the best movie out there, but definitely worth a watch!

This is not a good movie but it has elements of great movies of the past. Like Jackie Chan fighting people in creative zany ways. Comedy. There was also a big jungle fight scene. Jackie Chan, being the forward thinking philanthropist that he is, decided to make the jungle pirates an ethnically diverse clan. To quote Jackie ""If you notice, I cast a black guy, a Filipino guy, a Japanese guy, and so on. In Hollywood movies, the bad guys are always black. I always thought to myself, 'Why are they always black?' They're not." Despite the fact that his statement about bad guys always being black in Hollywood movies has absolutely no basis in reality, I am sure it is believed by many people around the world because Jackie is respected. This politically correct illusion gave him an opening for some real comedy gold. There was an explosion and a Sambo black face result that would make a 1930's cartoonist proud. And then the there's the one black pirate who can do nothing but grit his teeth like an animal and just generally be a simple minded fool. The comedy in this movie reminded me of a much more crass version of the comedy stylings of Micky Rooney in the classic Audrey Hepburn flick "Breakfast at Tiffany's". It was also reminiscent of the general Chinese netizen reaction to Condoleeza Rice all those years ago. I believe that this movie is meant to inspire Chinese nationalism in multiple languages. I get it.

I have long been a Jackie Chan fan for over 30 years now. To me, the man is one of the most amazing human beings alive today, and rarely fails to entertain!Unfortunately, when he made the move to Hollywood, those moments of failure came a little more than often.Thankfully, he son caught on, and before we knew it, Chan was back in HK giving his true fans what they all really wanted... Good HK styled Jackie Chan action!Jumping to 2012, the announcement and release of the 3rd part of some of my favourite Jackie films, the Amour Of God series, came to us in the form of Chinese Zodiac.Almost instantly, there was a host of fans and critics slamming the film, stating how ridiculous it was, awful plot, okay action scenes and heavy use of CGI.Lets face it folks, the most amazing action star in the world is over 60 now. Old enough to be your granddad! So please tell me, what are you expecting from him?Chinese Zodiac is one of the most fun, funny, and action packed Jackie Chan flicks we have had in a long time! It is as close as we have got since the turn of the century, to a hark back to the golden age of Hong Kong cinemas best in the 80's and early 90's.It shines as one of the best family films and action comedies out there, and is never out of our DVD player at home!Nodding to some of the best moments from Armour Of God 2: Operation Condor, we see Jackie and his fresh faced cast tackle pirates, police, spy's and gangsters as they globe-trot and kick ass in a bid to collect the infamous bronze heads of China.Hilarious and action packed, Chinese Zodiac is just simply brilliant an features a hell of an end scene that shames most Hollywood action flicks today!

I was bored on an airplane recently and was just browsing the available films when I saw this one from Jackie Chan. Although it didn't bode well that I had never heard of it and Chan himself is not quite the force he once was, I do still have a soft spot for his style of action and comedy so I figured I'd give it a try. Plot-wise it is a little messy as JC is what appears to be an art or relic thief acting for a large corporation, although the film sorts of gives us a "he's OK though" context by having everything he steals be something that has already been stolen from its rightful national owner. This theme sits in the background of the film and it rather uneasily gets round to making a comment on the status of national treasures being held in the museums of other countries or in private collector's hands due to historical invasions or skirmishes. It is a valid topic to raise but it doesn't do it particularly well and it doesn't sit with the rest of the film.This "rest of the film" is a mix of comedy and action, although both are fairly light in terms of their tone and impact. The action is decent but it is hard not to see it in the shadow of what Chan used to be able to do; god help me but he can still move better than me despite being decades my senior, but I would have still liked more from him or the film as a whole. There was only really one scene where I felt he was at his best – which was the fight with the security guards, mixing physical skills with physical comedy in the way he does best. Although the supporting cast have physical talents in spades, they are not well used – perhaps because Chan didn't want to be so far behind them. Everything still moves well and there are some good sequences but only one or two impressive moments. This isn't helped by how much poor CGI there is. The effects and many sets feel cheap – the jungle being a particularly bad example for many reasons.The comedy helps cover up for this though because everything is delivered with a silly feel of a daft romp and as such I was more forgiving to the material for what it didn't do. Although it is daffy, I did find the constant language switches and translation jokes to be amusing and make the silly action feel like less of a problem. I would still have liked some more impressive sequences to lift the film though because without these and with what it does do, it didn't ever get above being a bit of silly fun. Chan has good presence in these films and is comfortable with the mugging comedy but he does seem a lot less hungry than he did – this is understandable but it is a shame because he seems to set the bar in the film. The supporting cast are decent despite having very many national stereotypes instead of characters. JC's gang are quite funny and work well with Chan and I liked Yao Xingtong and Zhang LanxinChinese Zodiac is not a great film but for those who have seen quite a few Chan films, it is certainly far from being his worst. The action and plotting is basic but this is helped to a certain degree by how silly the comedy is, giving the whole thing the feeling of a silly romp which makes the viewer more forgiving to the low standard and poor effects. Chan fans may enjoy it for this but it probably isn't good enough for a wider audience, which I guess is why it didn't really get one.