Chinese Zodiac (2012)

Incoherent, ridiculously silly and juvenile, Chinese Zodiac may have one or two good Jackie Chan action sequences, but the plot and dialogue are beyond stupid. The young cosmetically marketable Chinese stars are simply slapstick foolish and this VERY pro-China movie about retrieving past Chinese artifacts and bringing them back to China is a total mess. Take one part National treasure, throw in some Pirates of the Caribbean and one dash of Goonies, and you end up with this abomination that borders on one of the most unwatchable movies ever. Whoever directed this mess should be shot point blank in the head for making such a mess. Poor editing, terrible dialog and dreadful writing make this one to avoid at ALL COSTS. That's 2 hours of my life that I won't get back.

Fmovies: In the past 3 decades Jackie Chan has successfully developed and maintained his own kind of genre full of unbelievable action, acrobatic fights, thrilling moments, unlimited fun and decent humour entertaining all age groups ranging from the innocent kids to the intelligent old. His latest offering is also made on the similar format showcasing all the essential ingredients of a Jackie Chan film but still cannot be rated at par with his earlier classics since its not that exciting as it may seem from its short synopsis.

This time the heist specialist or treasure hunter Chan takes up an assignment to deliver the 12 bronze heads of the Chinese Zodiac, stolen from Chinese dynasty's Summer Palace centuries ago. The location of few of those heads is known but the rest need to be discovered and brought back. Chan and his crew are hired to find these 12 bronze heads and the film is all about their adventurous expedition to complete the collection.

It begins with a novel, exciting & well shot sequence where Chan is escaping from a mansion after completing his ongoing mission. It sets the mood right and you are all game for watching something very exciting and exceptional coming up in the next reels. But unfortunately, despite having some great action sequences, CZ12 doesn't turn out to be that entertaining as expected. The fun and humor element is not the same as found in Chan's other movies and the characters are very weak, foolish and forced which are not able to impress at all. Particularly the bunch of pirates and the girls are simply there to act as few silly characters in the film and nothing more.

A major negative feature of the film is the use of French and other foreign languages in it for a considerable period of time without any English subtitles on the screen, which forces you to keep watching it helplessly like a fool. After few initial good moments the screenplay becomes directionless and only aims at the thrilling actions sequences thrown in to keep the pace going. The camera-work is truly superb as usual and the background score successfully manages to excite you in all those well conceived brave scenes, especially the ones involving the sky diving and volcano sequences.

So if you are a die-hard Jackie Chan fan from decades, then this film will surely remind you of his gems such as ARMOUR OF GOD (1986) and more. But at the same time, will not give you a similar experience in the theater watching the miracle man. Yet, CZ12 might impress many young viewers not familiar with the amazing living legend called Jackie Chan. And at the age of 58 (with more than 100 films), I can't even imagine any other person in the entire globe performing such risky and unbelievable stunts all alone by himself like a rubber man.

To say it all, as a true fan of the maestro I loved watching CZ12 and its crazy sequences but as an exciting adventure project its not upto the mark if compared to Chan's earlier gems and could be a lot better (keeping in mind its interesting plot). The man is there in the entire film standing tall as always and if this is supposed to be his last major action project, then it surely deserves to be seen by all his fans as a must for this one reason alone.

This is the type of Jackie Chan movie which you just need to relax and don't think too hard about the plot. It's a fun adventures movie that has the nostalgic feel of his past Armor of God films.

The movie itself is quirky and just overall fun. It is a nod to his past films with the overacting and weird dialogue. It reminds me of his late 80's-90's stuff. CZ12 is a modern version of those films.

The plot itself is quite interesting and it was hard to follow at first but as the story progressed, it made sense. All in all, the film is a modern and updated version of his past Armor of God movies. This is for today's generation who have not seen his earlier work. Older fans might be disappointed if they expect it to be like his older work. Remember, just take off your nostalgia glasses and enjoy for what it's worth.

Chinese Zodiac fmovies. First off, I'm surprised that this gem of an action movie actually gets a lower rating than Jack Reacher, which has got to be the worst action movie I've has the misfortune to watch (and fell asleep in during some scenes).

But then both films are only recently released, especially Chinese Zodiac, which I think has yet to be released in US, so I'm sure given time, it will get the rating it deserves, which is a solid 8 - 9 stars.

Having watched these 2 films back to back, one can't help but to compare them. Both are produced by the starring actors, but the overall production quality of Zodiac in terms of action sequence, casting, dialogue, storyline and chemistry between the characters far outshines that of Jack Reacher.

Also, when you talk about producing a film, Jackie Chan has got to be the most actively involved producer, as established by the Guinness World Record for "Most Credits in One Movie".

The storyline flows seamlessly with many laugh out loud moments in between. It is not just some mindless action movie, instead in the midst of all those impossible intricate fight sequence, it aims to teach us the importance of appreciating and preserving our history, and not to forget our own roots.

Last but not least, Jackie Chan has outdone himself. If he is hoping to go out with a big bang, this is it.

What can I say, for the haters just do not watch movies if they are not your taste just to find faults in them, most Jackie Chan's movies are meant to be fun and not to be taken too seriously even though there is always a lesson to be learnt. This movie has gone back to the 80s classics in my opinion and it is fantastic. The plot and all involved were great. Never serious and never meant to be. The stunts and fight scene are all great and fun and jaw dropping what a 58 year old man can do. I am a huge fan a I was not disappointed. Thank you Mr Jackie Chan for an awesome movie.

For all of you that did not enjoy this movie go and watch something else that you normally like because watching a Jackie Chan movie you know what to expect, you got it all here, Action, stunts, comedy, fun. All in all 10/10 for me and I hope we will still see Jackie Chan making more......

Wow - even if its not one of his greatest works. JC made an action movie for 10 mil $,earned two Guinness World Records: "Most Stunts Performed by a Living Actor" and "Most Credits in One Movie" and he did that with 58 years. Even if there are bad reviews from the critics, i must say as a fan, i am not disappointed. Really proud to chose this man as a hero of my childhood. This movie is suppose to end his carer. He has outdone himself in this one. Shows that his heart is with China's heritage. Even if you don't like his naive perspective of the world, we should strive to it. That is far from reality, but we can give it a try. The last worldwide action hero. Thanks for being a roll model my hats off to you.