Tigri all'assalto

I went to see RAILROAD TIGERS because Jackie Chan is in it... and found a nice mix of comedy and drama as an inept group of railroad thieves during the Second World War discovered they were Chinese first and out for themselves second.

I have been watching a goodly number of Chinese movies in the theaters over the last few years and have been impressed by the manner in which those movies mix and match elements from genres that, for more other national cinemas, seem impossible; a movie might start as a Noir caper, turn into a coming-of-age romance and mutate into a time-travel story. So, looking at RAILROAD TIGERS, I don't see much stretching. Service comedies began to penetrate the cinema with WHAT PRICE GLORY? in the 1920s; comedies in which thieves and con men discover a love of country so fierce that they are willing to die for it were handled well in the 1940s with MR. LUCKY; so this movie, which starts off as slapstick and ends in a desperate, deadly battle, is neither disrespectful nor unprecedented. It is simply well done, thanks to Mr. Chan and and a cast and crew that includes a fine performance by Kai Wang as the former warlord's soldier who finds his commitment to China in the face of Japanese oppression.

Finally a nice Jackie Chan movie, that reminds on the old days and let forget the so many bad movies he has done in the last decade. This one is funny, full of action, with a good cast including a cameo of andy lau. Even more enjoyfull speaking chinese and some japanese, so I recommand to watch in original, because much more fun. Also great to see jackie acting together with his son. Could be about 15 minutes shortes, but still nice jackie-movie.

I have seen this movie twice. The tempo of the plot seems to be a little jerky, but, the plot is followable and enjoyable. If the viewer is looking for a well written smooth story be prepared for disappointment. The main thing this movie has is entertainment. It is humerous with lottsa Jackie Chan action. Try it. You will like it.

The Bad: I'll start with the Bad because that's sort of how Railroad Tigers starts...badly. Within the first 30 minutes, we get at least 15 unnecessary character title cards, detailing every single person involved in the narrative. It's clunky, ugly, and distracting, as is the incessant editing. My GOD, does Ding Sheng love cutting. There are so many unnecessary cuts that it actively makes the film feel longer than it is.

The movie takes a while to get going, but I'd say the when Jackie Chan and his band of brothers go to steal explosives from the Japanese Army, the film finds its footing. But man, the first bit of this movie is very rough. It's hard to tell what's happening, we're constantly getting introduced to characters, and no scene is ever left to breathe. I also felt the film had a few too many characters, not all of whom are given time to develop.

The Good: But, Railroad Tigers transforms into a genuinely fun, interesting, often hilarious action comedy when the train gets rolling. I was impressed with the stunts and physical comedy; the slapstick is an art Hollywood has long forgotten, but I'm happy to see it's alive and well in Asia.

I like how lighthearted the film is, despite the heavy setting. It deftly manages its tone; being serious when necessary, funny when it has to be. The Japanese are not presented as hyper incompetent (so you question how they ever conquered so much of China in the first place, ala RRR and the British) but they are made fun of constantly and tastefully. It's poking the eye of fascists, but ensuring they are still a formidable threat. Hiroyuki Ikeuichi may be typecast as an OP Japanese general, but he's a genuinely fun villain.

Chan and his band of brothers are great. I really grew to like these guys and felt genuinely moved by their dedicated to their country, putting themselves and their personal interests aside for the greater good. It is an admirable moment in Chinese history and i think it's a story - especially in our world of rising geopolitical tensions - many non-Chinese viewers could benefit from as well. In that spirit, Jackie Chan is *in* this movie, but it's not a Jackie Chan movie. He's one part of a whole - and barely a main character at times - and the film is better for it.

I also liked how tasteful the violence was; it was realistic at points, funny and slapstick at others, but didn't go overboard with the gore. I find a lot of Chinese films have this issue (The Mermaid, anyone?) where they are tonally inconsistent because the filmmakers insist of a bevy of blood and gore, for no reason. Thankfully, we're spared that here.

The Ugly: I love scallion pancakes, and if you do too, you'll be disappointed by how they're depicted in this movie. These guys eat A LOT of them, and you're expecting a golden brown, crispy pancake with little flicks of green scallion and deep brown hoisin sauce, right? Well, here they appear more like folded paper with big sticks of celery. A shame. These things should be presented as gloriously as they taste.

One is never too late for a Jackie Chan's movie, especially a comedy action movie of his. First of all, the way the story plot being presented is very straight forward like, literally doing a presentation with sub-titles of what to expect in the scenes as we go along. It's clean cut in such a way and you won't feel any interruptions. And with the theme on, 'let's do something big in this lifetime' coming out from average railroad workers, you know you are going to be in for rides filled with laughters. The bgm matched well with the scenes and helped to raise the dramatic-ness from the comedic aspects.

To me, the most crucial point of this movie fell on the good chemistry among the quite star-studded casts. They matched each other so well in their rhythms and one can really feel their comrades and brotherhood, which at times really what made their actions/sayings funny. There were many times that I was really laughing my heads off and I knew this movie is such feel-good humor movie worth watching. I like how Jackie Chan was not a one-man show in this movie and helped to bring out the acting skills of others casted in this movie through their interactions. In fact, it was an eye opening for me to see Wang Kai with his supposedly 'cool-I-know-what-I'm-doing-in-war' Fan Chuan character turned out to be a hilarious character with his constant 'rational' thinking. Another hilarious character akin to Fan Chuan was the Japanese Captain played by Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, which I see in the movie as to now wonder why he and Fan Chuan 'battling' it out the most.

I got to admit that my initial thought before I started to watch this movie was half expecting it to be typical China-produced war era movie, focusing much on patriotism. However, despite this movie having its patriotic moment, it wasn't shove down the audience throat like the usual ones. The feeling of "patriotism" (wanting for the freedom fighters to win despite their average tricks and fighting skills) was somewhat built into me as I watched the progress of how desperate this group of average men, dreaming of doing big things as they kept putting it in the movie, wanted to help the army to blow up the bridge.

I am not the type who rewatch but if I ever do catch this movie on TV or something, I won't mind rewatching just for the laughters.