This had a very dark tone. The pacing was very good even though it started off a bit slow. The biggest negative I would say were the flashbacks being too long, which made the running time close to two hours.
And staying true to its roots, it wouldn't be complete without some cheesy scenes which largely came in the middle when Jackie Chan had a showdown with a henchman.
There were bits and pieces towards the end that just reminded me of the inferior Hollywood's remake of Old Boy. And how both of them also lacked some serious originality.
But what I enjoyed was the story. The setup, the progression and into the big reveal. And I really liked how it ended as well.
I also enjoyed the performances of the antagonist Liu Ye who was convincing enough to be a badass and did as well as he could with the characterisation he was given, which at times the writing was flawed.
Overall, as a sequel in spirit or a reboot or whatever it's supposed to be, it worked very well. This should be the direction for Chan from now on seeing as he really wants to give his body a rest - a body that has served us action / kung fun fans for decades and has served us more than well.
No comments:
Post a Comment