***The Myth is currently available in a variety of flavors of Hong Kong DVD. Click here for details on all the different releases ***
When Jackie Chan very publicly washed his hands of the Hollywood film industry and returned to Hong Kong his legions of fans around the world breathed an audible sigh of relief. When his first post-return film, New Police Story, hit screens the question everyone was asking was “Will this be it? Will this be the film where Chan finally returns to form after being so horribly watered down and misused in Hollywood?” And in many ways it was. But with the release of The Myth, Chan’s second post-return film, it is becoming increasingly clear that people have been asking the wrong question. Chan has spoken openly about his desire to make more serious films and New Police Story and The Myth make it very clear that he is not just making noise about it, Chan is taking serious steps to overhaul his image. The question is not whether Chan is returning to his classic form, the question is whether he even wants to go back there. Increasingly the answer seems to be no.
Now let’s step back for a moment before everyone gets carried away. Am I saying that Chan’s massively scaled time hopping epic is his move into serious art film? Is The Myth Chan’s answer to Hero? Absolutely not. Chan is, and likely will always remain, a populist film star in all the best ways. What this is is Chan recognizing that he can’t play the child forever. This is not the abandonment of his classic persona but rather a maturation of it. Chan wants to grow up.
Chan stars, as he so often does, as a character named after himself, in this case Dr. Jack Chan, an archaeologist plagued by perplexing, chronic dreams about a Qin era general pledged to protect a Korean princess being sent to the Qin Emperor as a concubine. His dreams have no relationship to his everyday life and yet Jack can’t shake the feeling that they mean something deeper and has grown increasingly obsessed with them, so much so that his girlfriend left him when he started calling out the dream princess’ name in the night. When his long time friend William, a physicist studying anti-gravity, asks him to help research ancient rumors and legends dealing with gravity defying acts Chan is swept into a series of events that increasingly seem to intersect his dreams and he becomes ever more convinced that they are telling him something, guiding him to something he must do.
Chan also stars as General Meng Yi, the figure in his dreams. Meng is a deeply loyal soldier who nonetheless falls in love with the woman he is pledged to protect and deliver. Meng never crosses any lines with the princess but he nevertheless falls deeply in love and pledges himself to her, setting up a story of unrequited love leading inevitably to tragedy.
The Myth, then is two films in one, a modern action adventure film a la Indiana Jones and a period set military epic. As Dr. Chan Jackie plays an older, wiser version of his normal stock character. His desire to shed his image comes through clearly, however. Chan simply does not play for comedy. The slapstick is all left to William, the action sequences – with one notable and truly excellent exception – are played very naturally, and though he can’t help from slipping into his standard baffled mode from time to time he generally carries himself with a decent sense of gravity. It is as Meng, however, that Chan really shines. The Qin general makes fantastic use of the visible aging and sagging features that Chan has been trying to hide for so long. If the doctor is a more grown up version of Chan’s stock character then Meng is Chan throwing down the gauntlet and declaring that he does indeed have more range and can play different characters. Is he going to win himself an Oscar? Not by any means, but he certainly proves himself capable of working with the right material.
In terms of production design The Myth is every bit the epic. The film trots the globe and makes fantastic use of some truly stunning locations and a pair of dazzlingly beautiful international costars. This is without a doubt the strongest a Chan film has ever been visually. The action sequences are strong with one of Chan’s gloriously goofy set pieces – this one on a factory conveyor belt prepping glue pad style mouse traps – to satisfy the old fans as well as some appropriately large scaled epic battling in the period pieces. These parts rank comfortably as the bloodiest fight work in the Chan canon. When the trailers for the film released I openly stated my opinion that the film was either poorly staged or the trailers were incredibly poorly edited. I am very pleased to say that it is option number two. The trailers looked bad, the film looks fantastic. Concerns about some of the action set in ancient times appearing slightly unrealistic are answered handily by the fact that since they occur in dreams they are meant to be slightly larger than life. Whoever had a historically accurate dream that fully obeyed the laws of physics, anyway? How boring would that be?
With all of this going for it The Myth is sounding like a new classic but unfortunately it also has some major flaws.
Problem one, particularly jarring in a Chan film, is an over reliance on CG graphics. In some cases they are needed but in others Chan is very clearly replaced by a CG double for stunts that he would have done himself without blinking an eye in his prime. It is a clear and sad reminder that Chan’s physical abilities are in decline and is a serious blow to the devoted Chan die hard.
More serious to the story however, are some significant script problems. Chan has worked with a close group of collaborators for quite some time now and he has remained loyal to them here, which is certainly admirable on a personal level, but the simple fact is that the writing crew that was good enough to churn out chop socky flicks is simply out of their depth here. The film starts strong but by the end you’ve had far too many plot holes and serious gaps in internal logic, not to mention a real world villain who appears out of nowhere and whose motivations and degree of knowledge make no sense whatsoever, to take the film entirely seriously. It aims high, but its reach exceeds its grasp. Through the first two acts the film maintains an admirable balance between the ‘real’ world and the ‘dream’ world, intercutting easily between them, solidly establishing the full range of characters, and giving the love story ample time to grow naturally. In the third act, however, it’s as thought the writers suddenly panicked and realized that they were in uncharted territory. Rather than allowing the story to reach its natural conclusion they reached back to what was familiar and inserted, seemingly out of nowhere, a completely unnecessary and largely nonsensical villain figure to create a big, noisy finish completely out of step with the tone of the rest of the picture. Then, as though they realize that they’d made some sort of mistake with this line they abandon it as suddenly as they brought it in, without any sort of proper resolution. Rather than relying on the emotional core of what they’d built until that point the writers opted for the hollow whiz-bang of a big, effects driven ending out of touch with the core of what the film is trying to do as a whole, an ending that distracts from the film’s deeper story and doesn’t even look particularly good while doing so.
With The Myth Chan has aimed to make an action adventure serial for adults, one rooted in a serious love story. He comes close to making a classic but in the end the flaws in the script cut it off at the knees leaving you with a technically accomplished and entertaining film that proves Chan’s desire and ability to grow up but demonstrates just as much that if he is to grow he is inevitably going to need to leave some of his old time collaborators behind. Though its flaws are unavoidable The Myth is, nonetheless, far superior to all but a few of Chan’s Hollywood titles and a sign that he is far from done. The growing pains are evident but the fact that Chan wants to grow at all when it would be far simpler and more lucrative to retreat back to the past gives me great hope for Chan’s future. Is the Myth perfect? No, but it is very entertaining and hopefully a sign of good things to come.
Great review Todd, I've been wondering about this one for a while.
Very good review, fairly pointing out the good & the bad. Jackie has said that in "the old days," they used to come up with three great action sequences, and the script was only meant to tie the three together somehow. That won't cut it anymore; obviously, if a piece is mainly dramatic, it needs a cohesive story that's fleshed out before filming begins.
Of the three credited writers, Stanley Tong has never been known for his writing; Li Hai-Shu I couldn't find any info on; but Wang Hui-Ling may be the same person who co-wrote CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON and EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN for Ang Lee. Wonder if they just didn't allow enough time to get the script right.
Yeah, I commented on the CG myself but didn't want to get too specific in the review so as not to spoil things. I didn't mind the kicking horse myself, as it's the sort of thing you actually do read about in a lot of old legends and I thought it had a certain goofy charm to it. The _flipping_ horses, however, were another matter. The CG that really hurt for me were the shots of Jackie flying down the hall at the end, and the leaping from rock to rock that he so obviously would've done himself ten years ago. ANY CG in a Chan film just feels inherently wrong to me so anything that obvious is just really jarring ...
As for the historical stuff, I was aware people had raised issues but don't have enough of knowledge of the era to talk meaningfully about it so I just stayed away rather than criticize someone's historical accuracy while getting it wrong myself.
Thanks, Todd, for the review.
OMG... I thought I would never say this about one of Jackie's movies, but this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life. For that reason only, everyone should watch it. I think all major flaws are already covered, so I won't go into details, but... what's up with close-up shots of Jackie's face as General Meng Yi... every single one is squeezed horizontally to make his face skinnier. Just watch it, you'll know what I'm talking about. This is sad... very sad.
Yeah I hopped on the net and did a search on the movie right after I watched it 'cause I was so disappointed with the ending.
I definitely agree with the CG comments. While I like that chinese movies are trying to be more technical... part of the draw of Asian movies, especially movies with a lot of stunts and martial arts was that there would not be a lot of "fake stuff". Even in the more serious epic, Hero, I did not like some of their use of CG (did anyone else think those CG arrows were incredibly fake and distracting from the movie?).
The plot, most of all the ending was very much a let down. Jack, the main character, after finding the woman of his dreams (LITERALLY!) just lets her drift away, then simply turns and runs away while the place assumedly crumbles around her?! Woah. What happened to the brave general and the need to find out the secrets of the dream that haunted you for so long?
just noticed i made a mistake in my previous comment. i meant Qin, not Tang dynasty.
I too thought this a bit disappointing, but as far as the CG was concerned I thought it was far better than The Legend of Xu. Chinese CG still has a ways to go before it can match the likes seen in American cinema, but I thought The Myth's CG was at least an admirable effort.
Nice movie...i like this movie .. but i hate the ending of the movie... desiponted.... ^.^ but nice.... and the actor& actrs are gooodddd congratz guys
yup....this dvd has a dvd commentary track translated by none other than me, a canadian! :)
i'm not kidding, folks.
and yes, Wang Hui-Ling is the same writer from "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"
all u ppl critise jackie's movie the myth, let me see u do better! u ppl should learn to appreciate more! yes it has its flaws like most movies but overalll i believe it was a very entertaining watch with good action from jackie chan ranging from comedy fighting (glue scene) to sum violent action like the great memorable scene (spoiler) wen jackie fights to his death against hundreds and hundreds of soldiers. it also had a beautiful soundtrack sung by jackie himself. his acting skills wer on show too and it jus shows dat jackie can do more then jus fight. i jus cant wait for his next movie project bb (baby), new police story and the myth shows he is bak on trak!
this is a good film , i've seen this last week
you can buy this dvd on the yesasia webside
or follow this link
http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1004081558/code-c/section-videos/
I agree with almost everything said in the review, except for the fact of Chan really needed to use CG doubles for some stunts. I know Chan and I know Stanley Tong, yeah I also know Chan is getting older, but we must remember he is very different from the rest, you know what I mean. I don´t know exactly why they decided to use a CG double in one scene, what is clear is that Chan did not need to use it, he was himself doing the same stunts in this movie. Maybe they wanted to try this type of CG action in the movie, but anyway, Chan does not need this type of effects in his movies
I thought the movie was a pretty good film, and I definitely believe Jacky Chan did a great job play both roles (not to mention how gorgeous Concubine Li is). The film itself, however, seems to be lacking many critical components and leaves me feeling unsatisfied for it seemed incomplete. The first disappointment, which hopefully someone can clarify for me, was why Jack left Concubine Li in the end. I’m first confused by Jack’s reasoning for saying that he was not General Meng Yi—is there a symbolic meaning behind this? My first interpretation was that Jack was still General Meng Yi, except in another time, for how else could he have such dreams and be able to fight with his sword as well as he did? Then all a sudden he says he’s not him causing Concubine Li to wait there forever for a person who will never come. I don’t understand why Jack did not try to get back into that place to get her. The myth in the movie is also unclear in that the master Jack encounters says that Jack proved the myth to be true that in 2000 years the General would return. This shows us that Jack is the returning General, so how could he say he is not in the end? Is there a theme that we cannot be one we are not? But isn’t he still the general? Possibly this filmed ended this way to make it dramatic? This tragic love is one of the many unfinished parts in the plot of the movie.
Another confusion is his relationship with the Indian woman. What was her purpose? It seems like he was supposed to fall in love with her but he never returns. Maybe someone can also help me understand how the immortal pill works. If they are immortal, how was it that the soldier who was protecting Concubine Li dies? Or at least he got shot and bled, which inferred that if shot in the head, he’d die. Also, can someone clarify what happened with the whole retrieving of the pill for the Emperor? Who was fighting in the war? It seems like there were all for the Emperor. Were those separate clans? Who is the Chancellor? Why did he want General Meng Yi to die? Did he want the emperor to die so that he may become the Emperor? That part is extremely confusing to me. And was the tomb that Jack messes up, the Emperor’s tomb? Why was his sword there then? Lastly, in the end, when the villain was walking the stairs, almost to the top, what was up there? Was the immortal pill there?
I think the film does a poor job at concluding the film. It started out great, but really became very messy toward the end. I don’t see what the main theme was. Hopefully someone can explain all these questions for me. Thanks!
It has higher production value than most films produced by other countries except Hollywood. It is a fantasy, a myth... so do not take it too seriously and it is not 100% accurate.
Emperor Qin does have an underground palace that was filled with mercury. With better technology and finance, they would evacuate it. From the myth, they did have pills to live for ever for the emporer, so why the two live today.
It is a nice touch to explain why people can fly - the power of a rock from outer space creates a vacuum. Horse fighting horse is another nice touch too. Using CG is not a big deal to me as I want to enjoy the movie but not to argue with the movie. I totally enjoy it from the beginning to the end. You can call me a dumb but happy person and I call you a smart but sad person!
Hi
Just one small claification here: JC did not use doubles throughout the shooting of TM, and there was no CG doubles involved. Cheers! :)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
i went with high expectation but
ended up feeling greatly disappointed especially with the ending.I was hoping for something more than the usual Jackie's trademark but,it is really a typical JC movie and there was nothing extraordinary other than some nice cinematography.
Jackie Chan has never used doubles in his movies, except for some cases in which he was recovering from an injury and when he was forced to do it in US market
Have you lot saying there's no CG doubling in The Myth actually seen the film? There is one scene - it's in the escape from the temple with the sword - where Jackie leaps across a gap onto a rock. It is VERY obviously done with a CG replacement for Jackie rather than having Jackie do it himself.
True, but notice before that, Chan performs exactly the same leap himself, without any wire, so I guess why they decided to do a second with CGI, perhaps Jackie and director Stanley Tong wanted to try something different in the movie, but obviously it is not a good idea.
I really enjoyed this movie. I find this movie one of Jackie Chan's best movies.
To: Hoai Doan
Most of your questions can be answered by reading China's History during that period of time. Secondly, Jack left Concubine Li in the end because he wasn't Meng Yi himself. He is a reincarnated form of Meng Yi. The princess at the very last second confirmed Jack wasn't Meng Yi, therefore she chose to not follow Jack out of the place. Concubine Li said somewhere in the movie that she'll wait for Meng Yi until he comes back. Since Meng Yi hasn't come back yet, she still stays to wait, hoping Meng Yi will show up to keep his promise. Because Meng Yi himself before leaving to retrieve the immortal pill swore/promised he will come back to her. Therefore making this movie extremely sad at the end, since Meng Yi and Concubine Li could never be together. As for the chancellor and the Emperor, I believe they the Chancellor wanted the Emperor dead; so the Emperor's son can take the throne to rule. Since the chancellor didn't want the Emperor to live, they asked Concubine Li and the friend of Meng Yi to first test out the pill. The pill allows anyone to live forever, to not age.
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if anyone has more information on the rational behind the epic love story / plot in MYTH. It’d like to hear an enlightened perspective on why the movie ended the way it did. Jackie Chan’s own website doesn’t go into the philosophical aspects of the love epic and I find that a little disappointing, since I would have to either figure it out on my own, or seek other people’s opinions.
In particular, even if the Jack was a reincarnated version of General Meng Yi, why would Princess/Concubine Ok-soo not follow him out of the collapsing cave? I could understand her reasoning that its not the ‘actual’ person General Meng Yi, but it IS his soul, so in essence it’s still Meng Yi, because there is no other in the universe that is or could ever be more like the original Meng Yi. And since Ok-soo somehow has the dedication and conviction to persevere for all eternity waiting for him, it would seem silly that she would have found him (his soul, and thus the ‘essence’ of Meng Yi) at long last and refuse to go with him. So she kept her promise until the end, waiting for the Meng Yi she now knows will never come, and gets here original wish of death 2000 years later being crushed by falling rocks inside a massive cave.
Or maybe Meng Yi did keep his promise. For the short period of time that Meng Yi spends with Ok-soo alone in the cave, perhaps Meng Yi used Jack’s physical body in order to finally be with Ok-soo again? Maybe the whole reason Jack gets all these weird dreams was because Meng Yi had to keep his promise to Ok-soo, and he had chosen Jack to be the medium to use his body to get to Ok-soo. So in that case Jack is not the Meng Yi reincarnated at all, but rather the spirit of Meng Yi has temporality usurped Jacks body so that two could be together for a short while. So they both kept their promise. Ok-soo waited for Meng Yi for 2000 years. (Personally I applaud both Ok-soo and that soldier protecting her inside to cave for not screwing around with each other, cause 2000 years inside a damn cave with nothing to do can get quite frustrating, but I guess after about the first 200 years they got used to it) Meng Yi’s general kept his promise. And Meng Yi himself kept his promise too, he did come back, he just didn’t specify for how long.
They (Ming Yi and Ok-soo) lived a lifetime in the few moments they had together before Meng Yi’s spirit disintegrated back into the death of which he came from, and Ok-soo and the Qin era soldier died in the caves. In the end this is what would have happened had Ming Yi not have been killed on the battlefield that fateful day 2000 years ago. He and Ok-soo would have been together, be happy and in love, and eventually they would have both died, except it turned out to be prolonged for two millenniums and the happily ever after stage was cut short. But they got what they wanted. So good story.
i think everyone was great, exept the writers. there were so many loopholes to the story! and i totall that the ending sucks.. it was a big dissapointment. but all in all, it was a good movie.
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