Like the History Channel adapting an Asian Hack n’ Slash game into a tv movie.
There’s not a single second of “Dragon Blade” that
doesn’t have modern B-movie direct to video masterpiece written all over it,
other than the fact that it is one of the most expensive films ever produced by
the Chinese market.
The film has so much capital and production put into
it that it barely even qualifies for this series but rather than allow myself
to be bogged down by the minutia of whether or not it should join the pantheon
of Fromage classics such as “The Scorpion King 4” and “Wolf Town,” I have
instead decided to relish the fact that this may be the only time Fromage
Fridays ever gets to enjoy a $60 million feature starring Jackie Chan, John
Cusack, and Adrien Brody.
Defining exactly what “Dragon Blade” is can be
somewhat difficult, as the film itself seems to be confused as to whether or
not it’s a straight historical drama or an action fantasy blended with aspects
of historical context.
Jackie Chan stars as Huo An as the captain of a
company of soldiers dedicated to protecting the people and mediating the peace
of a Chinese region of heavy international trade known as The Silk Road.
Serving the people of The Silk Road puts him in the path of Lucius, a Roman
general (Cusack) leading a Legion to protect the child brother of a corrupt and
power hungry politician that has set his sights on The Silk Road after granting
sanctuary to Lucius’ legion.
If that sounds surprisingly dense for a film of this
nature, that’s because it both is… and isn’t.
“Dragon Blade” is dryly written and straight forward
in its plotting but the film bizarrely caught in between a place of high and
low quality due to an obvious passion for the project at odds with the actual
skill o filmmaking.
Direction of various visual techniques both Eastern
and Western is the star of the show. While Huo An’s espousing of emphasizing
non-lethal combat and China’s belief in “fighting to protect and love instead
of spreading hate” can borderline on propaganda, Chan gives one of his best
dramatic performances in years. Furthermore, where Cusack’s casting as a
hardened Roman general would be laughable anywhere else and is slightly so
here, his chemistry with Chan and earnestness almost makes it work on an odd
stylized comic book-esque level of cheesiness, a notion echoed by Brody’s
laughably inconsistent performance of a psychopath that is neither intimidating
nor charismatic, and just about summarizes the film in a nutshell.
The sense of brotherhood that grows between the
Roman legionnaires and the Chinese soldiers as they bond over participating in
one another’s traditions and adopting new techniques and practices is cliché and
massively hokey but oddly effective and endearing. It makes the endgame of the
climax believable and bolsters the best aspect of the film, its superb action
and fight choreography.
“Dragon Blade’s”
fights are frenetic, creative, and highly impressive, worthy of a better film
than they are ultimately attached to, which draws attention to the baffling
inconsistency of the film as a whole.
Exposure to this movie’s hour and a half runtime is
like watching an A grade production with B grade acting built on C grade
writing held together with D- level editing. The cuts and transitions of this
film are so terrible, so awkward in their inability to communicate the scale of
what’s going on or establish exactly where all of its story elements are in the
grand scheme of things that it could almost sell the movie as a “Black
Dynamite-esque” parody of Kung Fu films, existing as a joke with basis in just
how absurdly terrible it can get.
The final result is a film that is undoubtedly a
blast in a popcorn sense but sadly makes you linger on how close it is to being
something more. It’s a shame because you can truly see the makings of a cool
new Chinese action classic thanks to the prime ingredients at work underneath the
terrible craftsmanship of the finished product.
Unfortunately, for all of its potential to break
into a territory of higher quality, “Dragon Blade” may ultimately be an
excellently produced and stylish B-movie, but is a B-movie nonetheless.
Four Shatners out of Four
Bottom Line: Is "Dragon Blade" a legitimately good underrated action film, or a laughable but fun Friday Night B-movie blast featuring big names? You Decide, I'm still debating with myself.
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