El mito

Ever since Jackie Chan's rendezvous with Hollywood in Cannonball Run (1981) (which incidentally was advertised in Hong Kong as Jackie "co-starring with Bert Reynolds"), he has been true to his unique brand of action – part comedy, part choreography, part acrobat – but never true martial arts such as what Jet Li delivers. (A remote analogy of the Sphinx – part woman, part beast, part god - but nothing of a man in it). And this went on for what seem like an eternity, both in local and Hollywood productions. Then, approaching mid-life, Chan started to try new things – e.g. pure romance in "Bo lei jun" (or "Glass bottle") (1999) and pathos in "New Police story" (2004).

In "The Myth", he takes things even further, by giving us both an old clowning around Jackie Chan and a new all serious Jackie Chan, in two parallel stories, present and ancient. Good intentions and efforts notwithstanding, Chan's portrayal of a general of woeful countenance in the ancient Qin dynasty is just not convincing, maybe because of things as a simple as his stature or that his face is too familiar. As a result, the love story on which obvious emphasis has been placed never quite gets off the ground. What we are left with then is pretty much the old Jackie Chan flick. Still, with the multi billion dollar (HK$) budget, an international cast and some pretty clever ideas (as the "rat glue factory scene" everybody mentioned), this movie IS entertaining. As well, although the "historical" portion is not exactly a resounding success, it does add another dimension to the movie.

One final note – at half-century point, Jackie Chan finally yields a bit on his resistance to wire work and CGI. While we are all proud of his steadfast determination to do all the dangerous stunts himself, the laws of nature dictate that there are things that you just can't go on doing forever.

Credit to Jackie, he does try to do something different with his Hong Kong films. It would be easy for him to churn out countless sequels to already established series, but he does try to vary his output. Well, that is in as much as the constraints of his fans expectations and his established film persona will allow, anyway. The Myth, as a film, suffers paradoxically because of these two things; trying to satisfy by offering something new, while fulfilling audience expectation based on Jackie's previous output. The historical side of the film works best, providing Chan with a role (Army General bound by honour, compromised by love) that is unfamiliar and more interesting largely because of that. The action is more gritty and brutal in these sequences, with lots more blood on show than in typical Jackie fare. The present day character is classic Jackie, though the comedic set pieces and brief fight scenes don't have quite the inventiveness or sparkle of yesteryear. You can imagine the glue factory scene in particular being more involving and exciting if it had been choreographed twenty, or even ten, years ago. Stanley Tong's handling of the material is, due to the nature of his script, very uneven. The presentation of the modern day settings is fine, if a little uninspiring; especially when you consider some of the film's spectacular locations. However, the historical battles look and feel dull and lack any kind of epic quality. This may have been down to budget constraints, but watching the film you feel that if more clever camera-work had been employed, this effect could have been conveyed. Ultimately, it's a pity Jackie wasn't brave enough to do a straight, serious historical action/drama, because under The Myth's familiarity there's a different Jackie Chan film trying to get out.

What do you expect when you see a movie like this? Something huge with thousands of extras and perfect computer effects? Check. Archaeology action like Indiana Jones? Check. Tragical love story with beautiful lady? Check. Speedy stunts, fights and fun like in the good old Jackie Chan flicks? Check. Judging by the sum of its parts, this ought to be the greatest movie of the 21st century. In reality, it's not quite so. 2 tremendously entertaining hours, yes, but not a perfect movie.

What are the reasons? I'd like to name three. First, I always see Jackie Chan with a helmet, desperately trying to keep a straight face, when I am supposed to see the general. He just isn't that type of guy. The dreams or historical flashbacks are therefore less convincing than the scenes from the present day. Second, the whole anti-gravity stone thing has much too much Spielberg in it. The myth could have remained a myth, in other words: the audience doesn't always want a scientific explanation why things happen, especially if it's as unlikely as this one. Third, I think what neither worked well in this movie is the villain. From the moment he appears and does the usual "I'll steal the big Blah to rule the world" villain routine, the rest becomes predictable. If the screenplay had dared to move along a different path, it would have evoked less of the "seen it before" feeling. I enjoyed it, but regrettably it's not without the little flaws mentioned.

Well, it almost feels like two separate movies. I liked the half of the movie that takes place in modern times, that has some vintage Jackie Chan moment, like the fight in the glue factory or the tomb raiding fight in India, these scenes alone bring us back to a younger Jackie Chan era like Projetc A and Mr. Canton and Lady Rose. But the other half of the film, the epic historical stuff, is very, very cheesy, even the fights, which a loaded with CG for this half of the film, don't spark any positive reaction, and Jackie trying to play a serious, melodramatic role doesn't quite cut the mustard either. However, Tong uses brilliant cinematography for the old era China part of the film and I must compliment the film for some of its use of music. Overall, the story doesn't hold up as being remotely plosible. But thanks to some great comedy and other funny moments (that I don't think were meant to be funny) the film is still enjoyable. It's not Jackie's best, but it is better than most things he's put out in recent years, with the exception of New Police Story--which I think is his best in a long time.

This is a much better movie than previous jc movies made in Hollywood! There is more of a story and more drama. The scenery is excellent. It really brings out the beauty China and India has to offer. After reading several comments from reviewers i can not understand that they did not like this movie. Yes it's more serious, yes it is not typical JC action. But people forget JC is not up to his stunts because of his age. Still he kicks ass like the martial artist he is. I am a Jackie Chan fan since i could watch movies (5 years old)! And i have always liked his movies until he made real bad ones in Hollywood! Since his return in Hongkong you can see the improvement (maybe freedom he has making this movie)! The use of CGI was fitting for this kind of story.Honestly i really was moved by the story. People who love action you will get what you want,amazing stunts and the best martial arts! Also you romantic lovers will not be disappointed! I have only one point of criticism and that is the abrupt ending! But overall one of the better (Jackie Chan) movies made these last years.