Gong fu yu jia

Well, not all Bollywood. Not enough dance routine to make that claim ( Unless like me you count Jackie's Kung Fu fighting as dancing)

I herd some Bollywood director was suppose to film it but backed out leaving Chinese cinema veteran Stanley Tong to fill the void. It's a great action adventure film (with a bad title) in what looks like it could be the sequel to Armour of the Gods or Operation Condor (which in America would be considered Armour of the Gods 2).

Jackie Chan plays Jack Chan (Really?) an archaeologist looking for a treasure that connects Chinese and Indian culture, and when he finds it this ultimate Bollywood Archetype comes after him for it.

It's not Jackie at his prime but he's at his best mixing humor with action. You'll See him do little stunts like jump through a luggage carrier with style (most of us half his age can't do that) and you'll see him do some really good old school kung fu moves like he did in Fearless Hyena.

But he's too old to be breaking bones for our enjoyment. Instead, he provides us with typical action movie fluff. Not to say that's bad. There is a car chase in the movie that is pretty fantastic.

This was an excellent return to the Jackie from yesteryear.

In 647AD India, leader of the elephant legion Arunasva revolts against his ruler Magadha. Magadha sends General Bhima with treasure tributes to guide Wang Xuance back to the Tang Dynasty to request for military assistance. Bhima and his men are lost with the treasure. Wang makes it back to China and returns to India to rout Arunasva. Professor Ashmita is from present day India. She arrives in Xi'an to recruit Chinese archaeology professor Jack Chan (Jackie Chan) to find Bhima and the lost treasure. The group finds the lost army in an ice cave only to be attacked by Randall leading mercenaries. He's trying to clear the name of his rebel ancestor and steal the treasure.

This movie is problematic for several reasons. The action is OK but the movie struggles whenever the action stops. The movie starts with a big CGI battle. It looks too video-gamey. The inferior CGI is excusable but it's not a good start. It's also a lot of exposition to unpack. It doesn't need to be when the audience is willing to follow a lost army without learning the Sino-Indian history.

There are some beautiful people but there are also some limitations on the acting. It doesn't help that the writing gets stale at times. I love Jackie Chan but he should be more Indiana Jones. Starting as a professor with all the tech gadgets make him less appealing. Instead of an action hero, he starts too much as a bookish techie. Then there is the treasure hunt. It goes from one place to another on flimsy excuses. There's no reason why Magadha would send a key to the underground treasure to China. The movie ends in a Bollywood dance off. I understand the attempt but it sucks out any remaining tension. This has the potential of an action adventure but it suffers from ongoing stumbles.

The biggest nonsense I have ever seen. There is no worse CGI in any film. Embarrassing fake friendship from China to India. Super bad acting. All the actresses are models. Top! Jacky Chan looks like 100. When the Chinese resort to Tibetan armies in the Middle Ages, you know about the propaganda level. Only playable in India and China.

Why? Seriously, just why? Jackie Chan once again delivers a boring adventure movie that doesn't even come close to the heights of his early career in the 80s and 90s. Kung Fu Yoga is boring, dumb, way too cartoonish, and not that fun.

I have the same problem with this that I did with Chan's other 2012 action/adventure project, Chinese Zodiac (2012). Both movies focused way too much on the adventure plot, with way too little of a focus on why everyone loves Jackie. Yes he's funny and likable, but we want to see him fight and do stuns and there is painfully little of that here. The girls' roles were obnoxious and not well fleshed out, and the scene with the hyenas was ok, but a little annoying. The villain is not very evil, and too OTT. He's annoying, and seems like a villain from a Disney movie. The ending has to be one of the weirdest movie endings I've ever seen. Like, the entire cast does this big choreographed dance, and they sing. Seriously, what?

Stanley Tong, obviously trying something new, should stick to his usual action territory. This movie's marketing made a big deal out of him directing, which is fair as he's responsible for some of Jackie's all-time best vehicles. Here though, he abandons everything everyone loved about his previous works for this strange, strange movie.

There are some fun action scenes. The fight in the ice caves, the street fight, the fight with the briefcase, the car chase (in which Jackie drives a car with a lion in it), and the final fight. The long climax in the caves with the artifacts is very derivative of Indiana Jones e l'ultima crociata (1989), and while the final fight is ok, it's a little short.

I can't recommend this one, and even Jackie Chan fans should exercise caution. It's not very fun, and much screen time is given to people we don't care about. It seems here that Jackie's losing his edge for the action scenes, but he proved that he obviously still has it with The Foreigner (2017) in the same year.

Hi Jackie Chan.. Everyone loves you in India.. but please stop acting in lame movies like this. I recommend you to act in next part of rush hour or..even reboot Armor of God franchise.. Please.. we do not expect you to do such low budget bad movies.. this is very disappointing.. this is a really bad movie and a poor choice.. you are a legend.. why would you accept such lame movies? I don't understand this.. please do something new.. Entire world loved Armor of God franchise.. you should make more squeals of that one rather then such dumb movies.. It is really sad to see your reputation going down by poor choices made by you.. please on the love of Jesus.. be vise when you select movies.. we are really waiting for some amazing movies from you as everyone loves you a lot.. please make something cool... thank you..