5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Chinese archeology professor Jack teams up with beautiful Indian professor Ashmita and assistant Kyra to locate lost Magadha treasure. In a Tibetan ice cave, they find the remains of the royal army that had vanished together with the treasure, only to be ambushed by Randall, the descendent of a rebel army leader. When they free themselves, their next stop is Dubai where a diamond from the ice cave is to be auctioned. After a series of double-crosses and revelations about their past, Jack and his team travel to a mountain temple in India, using the diamond as a key to unlock the real treasure.
Starring: Jackie Chan, Amyra Dastur, Sonu Sood, Disha Patani, Yixing ZhangAction | 100% |
Foreign | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS:X
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Mandarin: DTS Headphone:X
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, Mandarin (Simplified)
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Those of you who have been jonesin’ to see Jackie Chan take part in one of those huge dance finales that often populate Bollywood extravaganzas (and you know who you are) will be happy to know such a sequence does in fact cap off the hit or miss Kung Fu Yoga, a film whose very title hints at its cross-cultural sensibilities. Jackie Chan, playing a “character” named Jackie Chan, is in full on Indiana Jones mode here, as an archaeologist on the hunt for long missing treasure. Kung Fu Yoga doesn’t just lift a foundational ambience from the Harrison Ford franchise, it goes so far as to steal one of the passing jokes in Raiders of the Lost Ark with regard to an enamored student, though in this case that adoration is aimed not at Jackie but at his goofy teaching assistant. The film actually begins with a wild “historical” sequence that almost looks like a scene cut out of Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, with its sometimes curious combo platter of Asian and Indian influences, but it’s soon revealed that this sequence is merely a depiction of one of Jackie’s university lectures. Without wasting much time on silly things like character development or even explicatory exposition, a visiting Indian professor named Ashmita (Disha Patani), whose family has had a long held map which may point the way to the hidden treasure Jackie had been referencing in that aforementioned lecture (what are the chances?).
Kung Fu Yoga is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Digitally shot with Red Dragon cameras and finished at a 2K DI, this is an often enchanting looking visual presentation that benefits from the almost unbelievable array of different locations that were utilized. The film can segue seamlessly from the frozen arctic tundra to the desert sands surrounding Dubai at the veritable drop of a hat, and the transfer preserves the unusually wide gamut of colors that attend such changes. Especially notable (and clearly visible in the accompanying screenshots) are some really lush purples and blues that pop up with fair regularity. Detail levels are routinely excellent, highlighting some of the really intricate patterns in some of the costumes (even "simple" costumes like a tweedy blue jacket Jones wears). There are occasional lapses in detail levels in some of the snowbound scenes, where backgrounds tend to wash away in a frozen ocean of white, but perhaps surprisingly a lot of the underground material preserves generally high detail levels and above average shadow detail. The only recurrently soft imagery tends to be some of the CGI, which looks patently artificial some of the time, especially in the opening "historical" vignette.
Kung Fu Yoga has a fantastically detailed and at times wonderfully raucous DTS:X mix in the original Mandarin, though most of the characters (especially the Indian ones) lapse into English with fair regularity. There is ubiquitous pinpoint placement of effects, especially in some of the underground sequences, where the supposedly claustrophobic environment doesn't preclude spatially realistic placement of effects like dripping water or more cacophonous sounds like booby traps that are set off. There is some excellent panning material in the incredible car chase, and low end is frequently exploited as well. Dialogue comes through cleanly and clearly with excellent prioritization despite the noisiness of several key sequences.
If you don't worry too much about a lack of character development or a couple (okay, maybe a lot) of pat contrivances in the plot mechanics, Kung Fu Yoga easily provides what most fans of Jackie Chan come to his films expressly in order to experience: fantastic action set pieces combined with often goofy humor. This film is unusually scenic courtesy of a wide array of often stunning locales, something that helps it elide some of its narrative hurdles. Technical merits are first rate, and Kung Fu Yoga comes Recommended.
The Armour of God / Lung hing foo dai
1986
Tai Ji 2: Ying Xiong Jue Qi
2012
十二生肖 / Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac / CZ12
2012
2016
Tai Chi 0
2012
2017
'A' gai wak
1983
2016
2015
Su Qi-Er
2010
封神传奇
2016
方世玉 / The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk
1993
Hai Phuong
2019
The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women / The Monkey King 3: The Land of Beauty
2018
2013
忠烈楊家將
2013
風雲:雄霸天下
1998
新少林寺 | Collector's Edition
2011
Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom
2008
大兵小將 / 大兵小将 / Dà Bīng Xiǎo Jiàng
2010