Boy, I haven't written one of these in a long time! I've had control of the Netflix queue for a while, and I'm pretty picky about what gets rented. Every now and then, a lemon slips through. The last time, it was Warriors of Zu Mountain. This time, it's Jackie Chan's The Myth. I'd heard that The Myth was a bit of a stinker, but I popped it into the queue anyway. Recently I was in the mood for a little martial arts action, and my choices were limited, so I kicked it up to the top and prepared myself for some fun. Surely, I thought to myself, the movie must at least have some good parts. It had two, and one of them was incredibly short. The Myth seems to be Jackie Chan's attempt to do a wu xia/historic epic, but also one of his trademark current-day movies. As such, it tells two stories at once, one set in Medieval China, and one that takes place in China, India, and maybe some other places in the here and now. Chan plays characters in both stories. As the modern day archeologist, he's pretty much at home. He's playing every character he's ever played: the likable guy who happens to be able to kick some serious butt when need be, and he'll usually look a little apologetic about it. Classic Chan. As the historic general, well, he's OK. He really doesn't make use of his trademark fighting style and stunts here, and because the story is mediocre, there's not much to grab your interest. If you've watched more than a few Chinese movies, you've probably seen a better historic epic with better actors and effects. Over all, the movie is disappointing. It's only understandable that at Chan's age, and with how much abuse his body has suffered, that he's had to trim back on the stunts and fights. Still, the film delivers only one amazing fight scene. But what a scene it is! Taking place in the modern part of the story, it features the classic combination of Jackie, two opponents, and one innocent (but effective) female companion.... on a conveyor belt in a glue trap factory. It's clever, it's funny, it's new, and it happens midway in the film, temporarily building up the audience's hope that this is going to turn into the kind of movie we expect. The other good part is that the aforementioned effective female companion is an Indian belly dancer! In an attempt to help Chan's character get away, she starts dancing to distract the guards. This lasts maybe thirty seconds. Seriously! Ok guys, if you're going to hire a professional dancer (and she clearly knows her stuff, her backbend/kick combination in the related fight scene took my breath away), use her. I may be the only amateur belly dancer who also watches Jackie Chan movies, but you know what the majority of your audience is? Men. And do you know what men like? Watching attractive women dance. Your movie needed all the help it could get. I can't recommend renting The Myth. All I can say is that if you do get your hands on a copy, just fast-forward to the rat glue fight scene and skip the rest. You're not missing anything.

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Copyright © 2008 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com