Review of Chinese Zodiac (2012) by Marischa B — 20 Oct 2014

Well! What does one say about this oriental version of a sort of mixture of Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Indiana Jones, James Bond and The Hangover (plus a few more)? Crazy? Yes. Funny? Sometimes. Action? Most of the time! I notice that some other reviewer has said that this was sprooked as Jackie Chan's last starring role and, the way he flung himself around in this one, that wouldn't surprise me one bit! The guy was 58 years old when Chinese Zodiac was made but moved like a 20-year-old! He deserves a very long rest!

There were a couple of very noticeable (to me) anomalies that I couldn't quite reconcile myself to. One was where characters were handling gold bricks like they weighed next-to-nothing. Anyone who has actually handled one that size would know that a girl certainly couldn't hold it between her thumb and forefinger. Gold is bloody heavy! Believe me. The other was the skydiving scene which lasted so long that, at typically about 25000 metres per minute would have to have been from a height about three or four times the maximum height that the aircraft they jumped out of could fly. I wish I'd timed it but then I didn't know what was coming until afterwards.

All in all though, a fun spoof that didn't require too much serious attention as long as you don't expect too much.