Chinese Zodiac (2012)

Jackie Chan has been making movies since 1962. As he is almost 60 now you could think he might take things a bit slower. The opposite is true however if you look at what he has done for this movie. He is the writer, director, lead actor, producer, executive producer, cinematographer, art director, unit production manager, catering coordinator, stunt coordinator, gaffer, composer, theme tune vocalist, props and stuntman. That earned him a Guinness World Record for most credits in one Movie, which previously was held by Robert Rodriguez. With so many credits there is a risk that Chan has spread himself too thin.

According to Wikipedia this movie is a pseudo reboot of the Armour of God series. Not having seen those I can not comment on how this movie relates to them. Jackie Chang plays JC, a thief who specializes in stealing precious art. In the spectacular opening scene we see how he, together with his team can perform heists not unlike those seen in many other heist movies. What makes the start of the movie so exciting is that once he has to escape he makes use of a special suit, with wheels everywhere. It makes for a thrilling sequence in which Jackie Chan rides underneath cars and uses the suit in imaginative ways. It is immediately clear you are watching a Jackie Chan movie. Once JC returns to his boss he receives the assignment to get his hands on 12 bronze heads, each of them representing the animals of the Chinese zodiac. They are extremely valuable and hard to get. It is a job which will take him to various places all over the world, while others are also trying to get these valuable items in their possession.

There are some expectations you might have of a Jackie Chan and the movie delivers on them. There might be less fighting scenes than a couple of years ago, but the ones present are a joy to watch with a “couch fight” being a very imaginative one. I never expect deep emotional content within Chan’s movies and Chinese Zodiac does not have that. It is light entertainment and even though there are moments this movie tries to give a message to the viewer about cultural heritage and how important it is that items are returned to the rightful owner it does not quite fit when the main character is a thief making money doing the exact opposite. If you look past that though Chinese Zodiac is a fun, although not amazing, movie.