![]() Why? Well, because the story took forever to go nowhere, and it was just loaded with too much filler and nonsense in terms of situations that failed to come off as funny and entertaining as it was intended. It was primarily the storyline that was the issue for me. And it was a struggle to sit through the movie. So writers Jackie Chan and Ming Chi Tang didn't really manage to deliver a very wholesome, nor entertaining movie. And of course I opted to do so as the chance presented itself, with it being a Jackie Chan movie and all.īut I have to say that this 1978 action comedy sort of fell short of being something that entertained me. And you wonder why it exists.Reviewed by paul_haakonsen 3 / 10 It failed to entertain me.ĭespite the fact that I have always liked the movie from Jackie Chan, then it wasn't actually before now in 2022 that I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 1978 action comedy "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu" (aka "Half a Loaf of Kung Fu"). Either way, Kung Fu Yoga is not a film it’s a tourist guide. Or the kinds who failed cultural studies class in college. Tong and his crew, from the film, look like the kind of people who come to India, pay for a “slum tour”, go back to their countries, patting themselves on the back, claiming to have understood an entire country. Here, we’ve snakes, snake charmers, magicians, men in turbans, a sage levitating in air, gulaal. To milk its ‘Indian-ness’, director Stanley Tong sets it in a local market, which looks less like a place and more an exhibition of orientalism. One scene, in particular, where Sood’s underlings are chasing Chan and his colleagues, is laughably bad. Because, obviously, what says India more than a brown man on a camel in a desert? Besides China and Dubai, a major part of the film is set in India, and it’s in this portion that Kung Fu Yoga reveals its laziness and insularity.įor instance, since Sood plays a man belonging to an Indian royal family, he is introduced via a scene where he’s riding a camel in a desert, with a bird perched on the back of his hand. It’s a terrible part, made even more terrible by the actor’s constipated, annoyed look.īut, easily, the most annoying bit about this film is what it considers passes for India. Maybe Sood’s character doesn’t need a treasure maybe he just needs a therapy session. Only the strong survives” “In here, I’m the government.” When he’s told to not wear shoes inside the temple, he almost ends up killing the priest. ![]() I call it make it happen” “I follow the law of nature. Then there’s Sonu Sood, in the role of an avaricious angry man, who says such lines as, “Some call it destiny. Kung Fu Yoga’s physical comedy too looks forced and, in many scenes, plain embarrassing. Moreover, violence disguised as comedy, and comedy disguised as violence – a trope as old as it’s yawn inducing – just doesn’t work in this film. #Jackie chan kung fu yoga movie 2018 crackJust a glimpse of what passes of as humour in this movie: a character wiping her running nose on the sleeve of another, people slipping from tree branches, Chan getting trapped with a lion in the car and asking the beast, “Do you understand English?” This film made me nostalgic, because we used to crack better jokes in high school. Trying – it must be said – a little too hard. When it’s not being monotonous, it’s trying to be funny. In fact, this snoozefest masquerading as a film is an exercise in tedium. Sure, not all stories are inherently engaging, but it’s a filmmaker’s job to make them watchable and interesting: by skillfully varying the tone, by structuring it smartly, by popping up surprises. Now combine the two and you get – no surprises here – Kung Fu Yoga.Ĭentered on a Chinese archaeologist, Jack (Chan), who is trying to locate a lost treasure in India, Kung Fu Yoga’s story is so formulaic and predictable that you feel bad for anyone trying to make money out of this movie. Now, Yoga: India, Indians, exotica? Bang on. In fact, so little thought has gone behind this film that it can be deconstructed just by its title.įirst, Kung Fu – what images come to mind (think quickly, think without nuance): China, martial arts, Jackie Chan? Good. #Jackie chan kung fu yoga movie 2018 seriesRight from its first few scenes, where everyone in China is talking in English (really?), Kung Fu Yoga is a series of misfires, wearing inauthenticity on its sleeves like a badge of honour. ![]() Because this 102-minute film is anything – a litany of lame jokes, a case against sleeping pills, a testament to human stupidity – but entertainment it is not. The latest Jackie Chan-starrer, Kung Fu Yoga, an action comedy, like most movies, begins with a customary disclaimer whose first line reads, “This film is produced for entertainment.” That is the film’s first joke.
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