Legendary Amazons by Jackie Chan Tokyo Showing

The other day I had a chance to go to the Japan premiere of a new film produced by Jackie Chan called Legendary Amazons. The film is based off of the same source information as The 14 Amazons, another Hong Kong film made back in 1972. The story itself is set in 11th century China and follows a story from the Yang Clan generals.

 As the Song Dynasty emperor at the time neglects state affairs to endulge himself in personal pleasures, the government becomes corrupt and the rival state of Western Xia invades. In the battles that ensue, the last man standing in the Yang Clan (a family of generals who dedicated their lives to protecting the state) is killed, and his widow (along with the widows of all the other generals in the clan) take up arms to continue their husbands' legacy.

 I found out about the film because the premiere was taking place at Theatre N in Shibuya, the same place that premiered the Yakuza Hunter movies I did, and Nakadaira-San (Yakuza Hunters' producer) told me him and Asami (Yakuza Hunters' main actress) were asked to come by to give commentary after the film played. While this means I had to watch the film with only Japanese subtitles to follow, I still found it ceaselessly entertaining. Not because of the story itself (which didn't seem like it would make any more sense in English) or even the action, but simply because it was a total throwback to the ultra-wire-happy, chop-sockey Kung Fu flicks of the 1970s. While I was watching it, all I could think about was Friday nights with the homies eating pizza and nachos, getting wasted off of hard lemonade laughing at how crazy everything in the movie was. I don't know if that's what Jackie was going for with this one, (or what exactly they spent the $5million budget on) but if so he really hit the nail on the head. I loved every second of it.

 At one point in the film, the main actress was giving what seemed to be a pretty serious dialing and she due to how cold it was, she actually had a runny nose...and they didnt reshoot it or edit it out. Whether that was done on purpose for dramatic effect or not, I can't honestly say I've ever seen that in a film before. Beyond that, (and the fact that mothers and sons all appear to be roughly the same age for some reason) I won't devulge any of the other great moments that make this one such an incredible Kung fu movie classic, but all I can say is that this is a Kung fu flick just about any dude should love.

The only thing that could make it better is if there were ring girls in-between fight scenes or if for some completely illogical reason (that would probably still fit in the storyline), the 14 amazons were made to fight topless in the cold. The action itself was pretty much as fantastic as it gets and made for an interesting departure from the current trend of MMA working its way into action fight choreography (such as in Flashpoint and IpMan- where in both cases, my Japanese MMA action coach was flown in contribute to the fight scenes) Certainly not saying that that is a bad thing- the fights in both were wickedly sweet- just that this one was refreshingly different from the current trend. As the film was also about a team of heroines, female viewers may even find it entertaining as well. Overall, I would say that if you are looking for something to make you think, this film may not be your first choice, but if you want something you can equally enjoy drunk or sober, with or without subtitles, or alone or at a party, you have found your film. I guess in that respect, the brilliance of Jackie shines through once again.