Chinese Zodiac

“Chinese Zodiac” is a movie written, directed, produced, and starring Jackie Chan. He plays a treasure hunter named Asian Hawk or JC. JC and his team of relic hunting specialist are traveling the world to find 12 bronze heads representing all 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. A wealthy snob named Lawrence (Oliver Pratt) has a hefty reward waiting for them if they are able to complete this difficult task. However, there are many people and many hazards awaiting the team as they try to acquire all 12 heads. The only way to find out what happens to JC and his team is to watch the movie.

I am a huge Jackie Chan fan and have loved most of his movies, but “Chinese Zodiac” was a huge disappointment. The great fight scenes and typical Jackie Chan comedy is deep in this movie, but there were other factors making this my least favorite Jackie Chan movie of all. For instance, the story seemed straight forward and simple enough, but I felt it lacked focus and there were too many unnecessary side plots thrown into the mix. Also, for some of the action sequences and fight scenes, as entertaining as they were to watch, they felt too long and time consuming taking away from the actual focus of the movie. Lastly, the English dubbing was a bit off, poorly done, and hard not to miss. The music and the scenic visuals were nicely done, but not enough to save this frustrating movie.

If you like watching action movies and usually like movies starring Jackie Chan, do not watch “Chinese Zodiac.” I would say this is Jackie Chan at his worst because the movie felt sloppy and badly planned out. He has written and starred in so many other great movies and I recommend watching any of those instead. This movie is a total skip and should not change your perception of the legendary Jackie Chan. I was not sure what he was thinking in making this movie, but for those reasons I am giving “Chinese Zodiac” a “D-.”