Review | Film review: Jackie Chan's Dragon Blade
Not so long ago, Lunar New Year celebrations would not have felt complete for Hong Kong film fans without taking in a festive Jackie Chan movie (think 1992's or 1995's ).
Starring: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody
Director: Daniel Lee Yan-kong
Category: IIB (English, Putonghua and many others)
Not so long ago, Lunar New Year celebrations would not have felt complete for Hong Kong film fans without taking in a festive Jackie Chan movie (think 1992's or 1995's ).
But while 2015 saw the action star's latest film open on the mainland and other selected territories on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Hong Kong cinema-goers have had to wait four extra weeks to check out this "East-meets-West" period blockbuster, which sees Chan sharing action as well as dramatic scenes with John Cusack and Adrien Brody.
At the start of , the claim is made that "this story is inspired by true events". Still, it's easy enough to see many people looking upon a tale that involves Romans interacting and clashing with Chinese and other Asian peoples on the Silk Road as way too fanciful to take seriously; and having "present day" scenes featuring a couple of not particularly credible archaeologists (Vanness Wu Jian-hao and Karena Lam Ka-yan) bookending those which take place in 48BC do not help make matters seem any more plausible.
But if you cast aside any inclination to think this unlikely yarn is rooted in reality, you will find it entertaining, intriguing and, at times, even moving.
