A Legend Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

A Legend Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 17, 2025

If special effects technology has gotten to the point where it can supposedly offer a believably "de-aged" Jackie Chan for large swaths of this film (and that "believable" part is probably a debatable thesis to begin with), some may wonder if maybe that other technology, namely (sorry for the film title pun) A.I. Artificial Intelligence, had an even less felicitous hand in "writing" A Legend's silly screenplay. A Legend is supposedly the third part of a trilogy which began with 2005's The Myth* and then continued with Kung Fu Yoga, though this particular "triptych" is made up of pretty disparate "panels", and in fact I'd probably argue the three films may succeed better as standalone entries than in any attempt to link them. I, ever the contrarian, actually liked Kung Fu Yoga more than The Myth, something that is evidently the opposite of how many fans reacted to the first two films, but I'd be highly surprised to find out that any fan would rank A Legend as towering over either of its predecessors, and in fact it may be a hard sell to convince anyone this film is even the equal of the former two.

*Note: The link points to a Region B disc. As of the writing of this review, there is no Region A Blu-ray release of this film.

The film opens in more or less traditional wuxia territory, as a princess named Meng Yun (Gülnezer Bextiyar) "meets cute" with Zhao Zan (Jackie Chan in that aforementioned "de-aged" state, a general in the Han Dynasty. This opening vignette offers some really gorgeous cinematography but is otherwise almost laughable in its "recycling" of any number of tropes fans of what might be termed feudal Asian fare have seen countless times before, including everything from a female skilled at both horse riding and martial arts, and a seeming "love at first sight" interchange between Zhao Zan and Meng Yun. When that vignette suddenly dissipates since it's supposedly a dream being experienced by modern day archeologist Professor Fang (a "non de-aged" Jackie Chan), it's the first sign that there's some kind of connection between past events and what's going on at a current day dig.

The problem with all of this is that neither time frame is especially interesting. The "historical" side of things at least offers some reasonably lush production design elements and that aforementioned rather striking cinematography, even if its story is ridiculously cliché ridden. Making things even more disjunctive is a really odd tonal shift between the at least relatively more serious historical scenes and just spectacularly unfunny "comedy" bits woven through the modern day side of things. But it's probably the kind of "mutant Botox" look of the de-aged Chan that will potentially be the biggest stumbling block for viewers attempting to get swept up in the story.

A Legend Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Legend is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. As of the writing of this review the IMDb doesn't really offer much technical information and I haven't been able to dredge up anything authoritative online, but this is a frequently rather striking looking digital capture, with some especially resplendent hues in the historical sequences and appealing detail on practical items like sets, costumes and, well, "non de-aged" faces. The CGI on Chan in these scenes may actually ultimately provoke laughter in some, but the rest of the surrounding material tends to look fantastic. The contemporary side of things probably understandably pales literally and figuratively by comparison, though fine detail levels can still be quite precise looking on fabrics and some of the dig environment.

A Legend Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Legend features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in either Mandarin or English (as usual with Well Go USA releases, there are also Dolby Digital 2.0 options in both languages). I didn't notice any real differences between the two in terms of general mix and overall amplitude as I toggled between them, but I listened more consistently to the Mandarin track throughout. There is good engagement of the side and rear channels throughout the historical sequences, especially in some of the battle scenes, and Nathan Wang's score also frequently engages the surround channels noticeably. Things are probably a bit more sonically reserved, at least in the early going, in the modern day sequences, until things start to "collide". Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

A Legend Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:46)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Packaging features a slipcover.

A Legend Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some curmudgeonly types (ahem) might joke that instead of "standalone" entries in this particular ostensible "trilogy", at least A Legend might be referred to as a fallalone offering, since it pretty decidedly misses the mark in both of the ultimately intertwined stories it attempts to tell. Some of the historical sequences have beautiful sets, costumes and especially cinematography, but they're all window dressing for a kind of pantomime play version of countless plot machinations many will have seen elsewhere. The modern day side of things is potentially even more problematic, with supposed humor that arguably completely fails to connect. Technical merits are solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.