The Gist:
Captain Huo An (Chan) and the rest of his Silk Road Protection Squad, a squad enlisted in keeping the peace, are framed and sentenced to work construction at Wild Geese Gate, once fortress to General Hun. Also a Roman General named Lucius (John Cusack, yes you read right) arrives at the ruins and demands supplies. After a scuffle an unlikely friendship brews.
The Review:
Inspired by true events, so this movie claims. By now though we have come accustomed to that disclaimer which really means, “Some of this happened, but that would be too boring so we spiced it up,” or something along those lines. Zack Snyder did it with 300 and that was a helluva lot of fun to the point we could let the over exaggerations go. Same goes for Dragon Blade, while I myself am not a history major on, well anything, I doubt the events went the way depicted in the movie.
Chan plays Huo An, a pacifist who dares not to hurt anyone ( I wonder if he has a traumatic backstory) who is appointed by the emperor as a guard for the Silk Road Protection Squad. The movie begins with Huo and the rest of his men stopping a battle while he uses only defensive moves when attacked with his oversized wrist gauntlet. Not long after he and his crew are sent to Wild Geese Gate to reconstruct the walls. Cue many glorious establishing and sweeping eagle eye shots of Silk road and the gate itself which is a whole town sized fortress.
The movie picks up pace when Cusack arrives as Lucius who has his own small army behind him and demands to be let in. Chan says no and then in one of the highlights of the movie in shared Wtf-ness and awesomeness, Cusack and Chan have a sword fight. The fight itself is a faceoff between traditional Chinese martial arts and the Roman Legion’s styles choreographed by Chan himself.
Adrien Brody is mostly kept in flashbacks which keep disturbing the narrative by coming in and out every here and then. Flash backs are good and can work wonders, when done right, here we’re given some unnecessary ones from scenes we just saw a few minutes ago. I mentioned 300 before and director Daniel Lee does try and take some cues from Snyder’s love of the slow motion button, only problem is the actions isn’t cranked down but the reactions of the actor’s faces which don’t give much anyway. In all fairness Chan is trying the most to show some emotion while our American chums just grunt and look all moody.
The film’s major saving grace though is the final climatic battle which turns into Battle of the Five Armies For Real, because it’s based on a true story remember. I must warn though that the shift in tone goes from slightly light to full on neck slicing, skull bashing, blood spewing dark once Brody is on the scene, and what started out as meh turns into something of an eye opener.
The Verdict:
Dragon Blade is flawed but enjoyable. Picking the best bits from both Asian and Hollywood is a tricky task, Lee was almost there but doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head.
Certificate: TBC
Director: Daniel Lee
Starring: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody
Running Time: 127 minutes
Release Date: 16th January
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