Jackie Chan is old. And in Namiya, he is really old. First of all, kudos to the makeup team for doing a good job. It could've been better, but it wasn't off putting. Namiya is a movie about three teenage runaways who hide out in an abandoned general store after committing a burglary. Through a series of supernatural events, they are connected to the kind old owner of the store who lived many years ago. The story is about how the lives of these three orphans are changed by this man named Namiya.
In paper, it looks good. It has an interesting theme and it has the potential to be a feel good family entertainer. And to be fair, for the most part, it tries. The movie maintains a certain charm but it's let down by bad and unbelievable storytelling. It's quite a stretch even for suspension of disbelief. When watching the movie, all I see is how well this movie could've been. The storyline is unnecessarily complicated, and even for a fantasy film, quite unbelievable.
Being a die-hard Jackie Chan fan, I was so delighted to see him in a completely unusual role to which he does justice. Unfortunately, everything good about the movie was that: Jackie Chan being loveable. That however, doesn't even amount to how badly the movie was executed.
In conclusion, all I see in this movie is a missed opportunity. Something that could've been an entertaining feel good movie turns out to be a "what on earth is going on" movie. Wouldn't recommend it as a movie, but maybe just check out the trailer and a few clips for Jackie's sake.
