Little Big Soldier

Directed by: Deng Shing

Starring: Jackie Chan, Leehom Wang, Yu Rongguang, Yoo Sun-Jung

Synopsis:

A fiercely-fought battle leaves two armies completely decimated, except for two survivors, from opposing sides. Big (Chan), a self-proclaimed coward and natural survivor, takes Little (Wang), a young injured general from the opposing army, prisoner, with the intention of returning home and claiming a bounty. Their journey is a perilous one – not only are there numerous bandits, grizzly bears and duplicitous innkeepers in their way, but Prince Wen (Sun-Jung) and his Deputy general, Yu (Rongguang) are on their trail – and doesn’t have either’s best interest at heart…

Review:

It must have been during the making of Robin B Hood, when Jackie Chan started to consider whether he still had the stamina to make movies which were carried purely by his mad-cap stunts and physical acrobatics. Ever since then he’s been stretching his acting muscles in a number of diverse projects, such as Shinjuku Incident and Little Big Soldier and even the karate Kid remake.

I didn’t think the film noir of Shinjuku Incident suited Jackie Chan – the atmosphere was way too dark and his character way too grey. His character in Little Big Soldier on the other hand isn’t quite so far removed from his usual screen persona, and allows him to still indulge in the crazy acrobatics and stunts while having the room to show off his acting chops.

This becomes apparent early on when we discover that Big Soldier is a complete coward, who survives by playing dead on the battlefield. His armour is kitted out with little gadgets, like a spring-loaded arrow to look like he’s been shot, and blood packs to fool people into thinking they’ve killed him. This isn’t the Jackie persona of old, who’d willingly take on gangs of thugs and win through sheer perseverance. To Big, bravery is a deadly disease to be avoided at all costs.

Little, in contrast, is a skilled fighter and strategist. His army was ambushed, which leads him to believe he was betrayed. It turns out he is correct. Little is in fact a prince and heir-apparent, and his younger brother, Prince Wen, had set him up so he could take over. Little isn’t too keen for a family reunion whilst he is still injured.

Big and Little’s journey through the countryside is quite comical. Big starts off with a horse and cart to carry his prisoner, but this is whittled down with almost each encounter, until Big is forced to carry Little by piggyback! Big and Little’s relationship is akin to Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, each trying to con the other but eventually developing a level of respect for each other. A comical but grim dream sequence perfectly illustrates why Big needs to keep Little alive in order to receive his bounty, meaning that he has to be Little’s protector as much as his captor. At times the bickering gets a little bit too much, but luckily it is well paced with plenty of incidents and encounters to shake things up.

The action is ratcheted up quite a bit by the introduction of a tribe of “barbarians”, who speak their own language, and end up as antagonists to both groups, especially after the barbarian leader’s woman is killed. This brings about the films action packed, three-way battle. Even though Jackie is mainly utilising his skills at avoiding being hit, there is plenty of fighting talent on screen, especially Yu Rongguan. Yu will mostly be remembered for his starring role in Iron Monkey, but can also be seen in Musa, Project S and Rock and Roll Cop. Here he is deputy General Yu, the might behind Prince Wen’s push for the throne. He is obviously the brains, but he is fiercely loyal to his prince.

The rather sober ending to Little Big Soldier marks another departure for Jackie Chan – he also wrote the film, so it is definitely the ending he wanted. Big a fervent patriot all the way through the film, finally contracts bravery.

Verdict:

An interesting departure for Jackie Chan, not only sharing the limelight so prominently but tweaking his screen persona and adapting it to suit his more mature status.

8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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