Armour of God - Chinese Zodiac

This was the first solo Jackie Chan movie that I have seen for a long while. In "Forbidden Kingdom," he shared the star billing with Jet Li. In "Karate Kid", he even played a supporting role for Jaden Smith! Now comes word that this film "Chinese Zodiac" will already be the last action film of the iconic martial arts star. If that statement alone will not convince his fans to catch it, then I do not know what will.

I think a lot of people shared that idea, even my kids who have only seen him before in "Karate Kid". Today is the first weekend that it is showing in local theaters. We watched this in a movie theater in Chinatown, and that 3pm showing was totally SOLD OUT. It had been quite some time that I have been in a completely full theater in a showing that is not a premiere. It is truly impressive that the audience was composed of fans of all ages.

"Chinese Zodiac" recounts the exploits of a mercenary of historic relics, JC (Jackie Chan), who is searching for the twelve bronze heads of Chinese Zodiac animals which had been looted from the Summer Palace. JC leads a team who works with him, "Mission Impossible" style.

He shares his adventure as well with two plucky ladies: Katherine (a French heiress who would like to him to find her great-grandfather ship which was lost at sea), and a Chinese activist Coco (who is part of a crusade to have Western powers to return cultural treasures back to the countries from whom these were stolen during colonial times).

As with all Jackie Chan movies in the past, the main reason people go to watch it is not really the story, but Jackie's unique brand of comedy- action. This film certainly does not disappoint. It is two hours worth of exciting stunts which only Jackie can deliver. The movie opened with a long sequence wherein he was sailing down a mountain road using a body suit with roller blades all over it. The last scenes involved skydiving in order to recover the last animal head before it plummets into a volcano! There were still so many action scenes in between -- involving dogs in a maze, pirates on an island, a rival mercenary on a sofa, henchmen with photography equipment -- all as exhilarating as they were also funny.

Yes, Jackie Chan's age may be showing (he is 58 now), but he definitely still has IT! The outtakes shown over the end credits show that he was still the one doing all those dangerous stunts and demanding physical comedy routines himself. Though he was uncharacteristically playing a rogue character in this film, like all of his past movies, there are still lessons to be learned at the end, both personally as well as patriotically. Cheesy dialogs and corny acting, yes, but above all it is excellent entertainment, as can be evidenced by the enthusiastic audience response. Come on in and enjoy Jackie Chan's final show!

This is the type of Jackie Chan movie which you just need to relax and don't think too hard about the plot. It's a fun adventures movie that has the nostalgic feel of his past Armor of God films.

The movie itself is quirky and just overall fun. It is a nod to his past films with the overacting and weird dialogue. It reminds me of his late 80's-90's stuff. CZ12 is a modern version of those films.

The plot itself is quite interesting and it was hard to follow at first but as the story progressed, it made sense. All in all, the film is a modern and updated version of his past Armor of God movies. This is for today's generation who have not seen his earlier work. Older fans might be disappointed if they expect it to be like his older work. Remember, just take off your nostalgia glasses and enjoy for what it's worth.

The international thief JC (Jackie Chan) and his team are hired to steal two bronze heads of the Chinese Zodiac by the MP Corporation that is specialized in supply stolen relics to auctions. After many incidents, JC befriends the women Coco (Helen Yao) and Catherine (Laura Weissbecker) and together with his crew, they live intense adventures and betrayals.

"Sap ji sang ciu", a.k.a. "Chinese Zodiac", is a typical Jackie Chan Film, with a naive and funny full of action story. The beginning is breathtaking, with JC rolling and passing by an army and makes the movie worthwhile watching. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Operação Zodíaco" ("Zodiac Operation")

This is a classic late-period style Jackie Chan Chinese action-adventure. Not quite as good as the Operation Condor/Armour of God movies it's supposed to be a sequel to (nor as good as Supercop/Police Story films) but every bit as good as The Accidental Spy, Who Am I?, and The Myth. And I thought all of those were quite enjoyable.

This movie shares all the great features and all of the flaws of Chan's self produced and/or directed films. They have a great sense of humor and the stunt/action sequences are quite inventive. But they are also quite cartoony--the acting is VERY broad--and there's quite a bit in it that defies any common sense. But who really cares, right? This is Chan unfiltered.

The only REAL flaw to the film is the clumsy way Chan keeps inserting his moral messages. He has characters tell us what's right and wrong in very stilted dialog instead of creating situations that demonstrate his points. (not to mention that a few of his morals seem to have been government imposed--"we are not to interfere with the social structure in any way" a protest leader incongruously says as Chan nods wisely and says "That's right!") But I think this will make a fine home video release for the US audience, once they edit out some of the more China-centric chit chat, re-dub the dialog (or at least all the English, which is horribly spoken by the international cast) and replace a couple of oddly inappropriate pop tunes).

I'll be buying it for my JC collection!

For a Jackie Chan movie, then he really went all out this time, putting on an adventure unlike anything he has done before. That being said, I am not saying that his previous work has been less than this movie, it is just that this movie takes Jackie Chan's breathtaking stunts and combines it with an adventure much in the likes of "Indiana Jones", and it actually works out for a nice combination, and a nice change of scenery for Jackie Chan.

As with all Jackie Chan movies, there is a hefty amount of action, martial arts, jaw-dropping stunts and comedy in this movie. And yes, it delivers on all these accounts. And he proves that despite being up in age, then he still is the undisputed master of stunts and this particular style of movies.

There is nothing much to say about this movie actually, as it is fairly what you'd expect from a Jackie Chan movie, and any fans of him will not be disappointed while watching this movie.

Jackie Chan does it again and even gives Indiana Jones a run for his money this time.

I was really surprised when I saw Shu Qi and Daniel Wu make a short cameo appearance at the end of the movie. That really was a nice touch to the movie.