Jackie Chan - Standard Bearer: Little Big Soldier

best Mr. T impression:

"I pity the fool who want to limit Jackie Chan to being just some kung-fu clown!!"

Transposing action heroes aside, its no small compliment to say that Chan has definitely dispelled all such perceptions with this effort, for which he takes double credit as screenwriter and, one can be sure, a major influence on the final product.

Its just before the formative years of the Chinese empire, in a period where feudal lords are battling for supremacy and the idea of one nation is just that, an idea. In reality, harsh conflicts are taking place as the wait for that one overarching personality to unite/crush all parties emerges.

in the thick of that is the battle between Wei and Liang, a turning point of which is a bloody battle by a deserted, aggressively barren mountain pass that leaves everyone on both sides dead - well, almost. The survivor, a Wei general, is taken into captivity by an old, seemingly decrepit and useless Liang deserter (Chan) who aims to take the general back to the Liang side and claim a hefty reward.

Of ocurse, it doesn't quite work out that way, and the pair - through obstacles natural and man-made - become a kind of ancient Chinese version of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48HRS.  Brought to the screen by Deng Shin (Police Story, Knight Underdog), the film had its own torturous journey, withstanding 20 years of development hell.


But now, its here, and its all worth it, at least to these eyes. Of course, there's a lot of intense combat, both armed and unarmed and there is more than enough of the kind of now classic "buffoon kung fu" that Chan - among others -  made famous. But Little Big Soldier has a lot on its mind, and pretty much all of it is worth sharing. In its genre-crossing path it raises some of the same issues raised  by the Jet Li character in Zhang Yimou's "Hero": courage, patriotism, loyalty to individual, nation and ideal, and the corrupting influence of power, but from a very different perspective.

Also intriguing are the many visual cues inserted - a tortoise lumbers across the screen the instant before soldier and general hobble along their way, and even more telling, the flag of one faction is held up in a most unusual and bloody way in the opening scene.

the flag motif becomes even more significant at the end, when the whole story unravels in a way that is initially unsatisfying but, on further reflection, quite natural.

Good though, to see Chan flying his own flag high as a visual storyteller

Ching Pow: A [Cunning] Dancehall movie in "kickaz" guise

Ching Pow is a dancehall movie.

I find it important to start with that bit of overstatement,as there are some, well-intentioned and otherwise, who easily fall for the bait of writing it off based on the profanity and seeming crassness as well as the soft-core sex and other elements that contribute tot he producers' self-styled "NP" (No Pickney) rating.

Bruce Hart (right) with Twin of Twins

Those seeing the movie, which ended what is presumably a preliminary run Sunday night last at the "off-Palace" location of New Kingston's Theatre Place, will actually find a cunning mash-up of classic R-rated martial arts and contemporary dancehall expression, with thinly veiled (and sometimes not) social commentary that has a lot in common with the vintage National Gas magazine of the 1970s, just peppered with expletives - without which, I hasten to add, Ching Pow would STILL be funny.It is, in other words, a roundhouse kick to the gut of the falsely conservative.

Of vital importance to the full appreciation of what producer-director Bruce Hart and provocateurs Twin of Twins have wrought with Ching Pow, are the prologue and epilogue that bookend the main story.

And that main story centres around the kung fu staple of royal succession -this time with a Japanese as well as Chinese twist. The king is dead, the queen is presumed dead (though actually in exile), and their first-born son,(the character is actually given that name in the film, First Born) is working as a tout and pimp outsidea whorehouse, er that should be house of heavenly delights.

"First Born"

There is an honourable sensei, Master Bob (the Marley reference is, of course, obvious),  villain, Bad Muta (also obvious) an inscrutable blind prophet-teacher ad, naturally, a love interest, as well as the assorted expendables who provide fodder for the jokes and contribute to the body count.


Family, betrayal, megalomania and love - yes love in all its varied stripes are part and parcel of the narrative, but it is in the imposition of contemporary Jamaican dialogue, that Ching Pow really succeeds. Sound and visuals are so expertly melded, and the Twins - who provide the bulk (if not all) the voicings are so on-point with their expressions, that the film's conceit of disillusioned yardies transplanted to the Orient becomes not merely plausible, but readily acceptable. People all over this planet are ultimately motivated by and react to, the same things, regardless of the varied brushstrokes of culture and language: the guy wants to get the girl (and vice versa), the bad guy wants to run the world, and good somehow always conquers evil - even if "good" starts out as a egotistical, whoremongering "gyallis".

None of the above is even necessary to having a good time with this movie, provided your sensibilities are sufficiently fortified.  Ching Pow is just the kind of subversion that the country at large ought to be exposed to right now. It may not come to a cinema (God knows there are too few of those left anyhow) but here's hoping it comes near you....soon

Hai-Yaaaadie!!!! Twin of Twins Kick it up with Ching Pow

Having leaped back into the public consciousness with "Up With the Money" their long-form video commentary on today's divisive Jamaica, dancehall duo and agitators, Twin of Twins have gone one better.

The Gaynor Twins have teamed with Jamaican  filmmaker Bruce Hart to deliver "Ching Pow: Far East Yardies."

As the name suggests, is a comedy, which utilizes remixed Kung-Fu film with audio provided by popular Jamaican comedy team Twin of Twins. Cult Kung Fu film, Ninja Death parts One, Two and Three, which recently entered the public domain and is therefore available for public use, has been edited to create one film.

If "Up With the Money nad the Twins' recorded oeuvre is anything to go by, then Ching Pow, should be well worth the time invested, and scores of audience members have voiced that very sentiment.

I'll be adding my own voice of comment after this weekend, when I actually see the production, but I encourage you to not just tak my word for it - go get your Chinses robe and let fly with 'Ching Pow"

Long Live Kung Fu: 'Kung Fu Panda 2' Trailer 2

It starts promsingly enough. Picking up where the first film left off, this sequel zips and bounds and chops its way into your consciousness in the manner we've come to expect from nerd-rebel-provocateur Jack Black.

And then, amidst the one-liners and the body functions, it suddenly veers left into existential family identity reflection. In battling a new weapon being made by the evil Lord Shen (voiced with classic creepiness by Gary Oldman), our hero comes up against the question  that every four-year old asks: "where did I come from?" In his case, that leads to a running sub-plot of very intense scenes that in turn set up the Dragon warriors for a massive confrontation with Shen.

In other words, not your typical kiddie-cartoon feature. In fairness though, our panda hero doesn't lose too much of that bouncy snap-crackle of the first film, but the overall viewing experience is one of considerable duality. Which is understandable when one learns that director Jennifer Yuh's credits - as a storyboard artist - include the "Spawn" TV series and the nihilistic feature film "Dark City".

So, while this sequel won't outright creep you out, there is just enough of the "out there" factor to give more cautious parents some pause, especially if your kids are, say,  under 6 years old. Otherwise, its a pretty decent upgrade of a Hollywood franchise. All of the high-profile voice talent (Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan) does a great job, but Oldman as mentioned earlier, takes top honours, and Dennis Haysbert (the "Allstate" guy; not the "Mayhem" one) also invests his minor character, Master Ox, with palpable feeling.

Its a weird outing - for a big-budget animated feature, but an interesting one.