DJariya

Brian T

"Especially In Association With People's Daily Communication Co. Inc."

Lest anyone feel that Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong's allegiances haven't been transparent enough up to now . . .

Since any mention of the insidious soft power behind Mainland Chinese films gets knickers twisted around here, I'll leave it at that. For now.

Moving on, though, at first I assumed that the cringey English dialogue in that second trailer might be from a dub job for us overseas proles -- since it doesn't always seem to match the mouths (or certain scenes) over which it appears -- and that the actual film would be in Mandarin. I've heard some of these actors (aside from Chan) try to do English in other films and/or TV shows and it's painful. But then I found out that Stanley Tong's barely teenaged daughter (who, y'know, watches action movies 'n stuff) is officially credited with the film's English dialogue, which I fear will only make matters worse. The trauma of 2017's China Salesman comes creeping back.

I see they're also doubling down on the 'little fresh meat' in this one, which is pretty much a prerequisite these days but rarely ever results in convincing characterizations in these kinds of macho action spectacles. But then there's only so many Donnie Yens and Wu Jings and Jiang Wens 'n Wus to properly flesh out tough-guy roles nowadays.

DJariya

New trailer:

DJariya

New 2020 trailer



This opens January 25th in Asia. No news yet if it's getting a domestic release,

Brian T

I'll watch this for sure, eventually, but man, that CG . . . seems like they studied their physics using slot car sets.

dex14

Ash Ketchum

I had to look up the film on IMDB to find out who the lead actress in it is. Here's what IMDB says about her:

Brian T

Well, if you loved her in KUNG FU YOGA and, well, not much since then . . .

Chan has tried to introduce a lot of 'discoveries' in his Mainland movies – often with big publicity pushes in that market and virtually nowhere else – most of whom bring little to the table besides looks. The 'little fresh meat' notion in Mainland cinema reached a point of ridicule ages ago, with an abundance of models, Youku Toudu and other social media "celebrities", non-pro and semi-pro athletes, martial arts students, promotion girls (aka PG's), and anyone else who thought themselves pretty were landing lucrative TV, film, movie and sponsorship contracts. I suppose it happens everywhere to some degree these days, but it's more egregious in Mainland cinema because so few of these people bring any kind of gravitas to the roles they're handed in these big budget spectacles, and many aren't around very long.

Makes one miss the days of Chan utilizing actresses who were already established long before they got to his pictures, and had solid careers afterward all the same: Maggie, Michelle, Brigitte, Anita, Sally, Rosamund, Carina . . . quite a long list actually.

devilshalo

Who started the trend tho? Was it Shu Qi and then everyone wanted to be like her because she actually succeeded? Did the Twins come after her?

Brian T

Hard to say exactly who started it, and in terms of Chinese cinema, the trend encompasses more than just Chan's films for sure. In Hong Kong circles, though, Shi Qi had about 25 movies under her belt (not including the Taiwanese nudie stuff) before GORGEOUS, and she remained a reasonable attraction pretty much ever since. The Twins were after her in both the industry and in terms of working with Jackie, but they earned a shot in big budget 'event' pictures by becoming one of the biggest HK pop music acts of all time in a very short period. Both had appeared in several movies prior to any Chan pics, and both have had decent runs ever since (the Edison Chen scandal notwithstanding). I do think Chan 'debuting' or sort-of-debuting noob actresses kinda happened during this period, though: anyone remember Miki Lee in MR. NICE GUY? Michelle Ferre in WHO AM I? Or Maggie Lau in THE MYTH? Welp. Once China flipped him, he certainly did (and still does, occasionally) nab top Mainland female co-stars for his movies – Fan Bing-Bing comes to mind – but probably as many forgettable newcomers because, as noted, that's just the trend. Flavours of the month, I guess. And top yoga instructors! Hardly new in China or anywhere else, but they have virtually zero recognition in the west the way some of the HK legends did back in the day, which added to the appeal of not just Chan's pictures but Hong Kong movies in general to this day.

DJariya

Here's the U.S. trailer



Opens November 20th. According to the trailer, there is a special fan event screening with Jackie Chan. From seeing a lot of these Asian movies open here, it's more than likely a short video or interview with Jackie introducing the movie.

DJariya

So this comes out in theatres this week with shows starting tomorrow.

However, here in CA all movie theatres are closed due to coronavirus surges here. So I won't be able to see it until it hits VOD it looks like. I know it's been out in Asia already, but I won't pirate it.

Rotten Tomatoes score isn't good. 35%

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/vanguard


I know some of you don't like her, but Grace Randolph did review it and gave it a positive review. She said it's very fun with lots of action.

DJariya

So this came out today at Red Box and I rented it.

Overall it’s kind of boring. Really uninspired action sequences. Lots of CGI and green screen. There’s even CGI animals.

Jackie doesn’t really do much action wise. His team of young agents does the majority of the work. I will say there’s some really nice looking cinematography, especially in the Dubai sequences. I think this is slightly better than Kung Fu Yoga among his recent films. But none of his recent work can top The Foreigner, which I thought was his best film in the last 10 years.

I’ll give this a very generous C- Or maybe a 5.5 out of 10. If you really want to see this, get a cheap DVD rental at Red Box. Don’t buy this.

csant

Ah, I was going to rent this but now I'll wait to see it on whatever online platform it comes out on. lol

L Everett Scott

That's a pretty decent summary. Was it my imagination or were there clipping issues with the CGI lion?

This movie continues that well-worn tradition of 'don't talk about/show pictures of loved ones before a mission' if you don't want to tempt fate. It seems like a good deal of the vehicular action was done someone who watched the latest Fast and Furious movies and responded with 'Hold my beer.' The trouble is that this movie didn't have the kind of budget that Universal can pull together so the CGI cars have a video game quality to them--I noticed this on a pretty small screen, so I can't imagine the rendering looking any better on a proper-sized TV. It really doesn't help that the movie goes balls out with outrageous vehicles. The V12 Vanquish from Die Another Day all of sudden looks completely plausible, invisibility cloak and all.

As for the young upstarts, no one really stood out. If JC was looking for breakout stars in the bunch, this movie certainly did a pitiful job of making any of them shine.

I don't recall loving Police Story IV: First Strike or Who Am I? when Chan started doing the globe-hopping adventures, but in retrospect, those look like masterpieces compared to his recent output.

dex14

Already did... Had some Amazon credits. Oh well. I'll sell the digital and make most of it back.

What is with a CGI lion in both this and Kung Fu Yoga?

bluetoast

I remember Jackie Chan used to be against guns in action, at least in terms of his characters needing to use firearms. It’s funny seeing these images of him going all out with automatic weapons.