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188
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The Butterfly
Tornado Alley
This review may contain spoilers
Martial Arts Movie meets Sandals and Sword Movie!
In what could be the bloodiest Afterschool Special ever, Jackie Chan and John Cusack bring two disparate societies together briefly and peacefully in BCE China along The Silk Road.
Chan played Huo An, the captain in charge of the Silk Road Protection Squad who believed in all races and cultures living peacefully and equally together along the Silk Road. His crew only used their swords and abilities for defense. Cusack was the Roman general Lucious on the run with his men and with his young, blind charge Publius. Adrien Brody as Tiberius was the Evil brother who blinded his younger brother and murdered their father to gain his father's position, even though I'm not sure that was the correct procedure for becoming a consul.
Huo's crew was framed as gold smugglers and exiled to hard labor at the Wild Geese Gate where prisoners were tasked with rebuilding the city's defensive walls. Lucius and his weary, hungry men happened upon the city and determined to fight their way in. Huo met Lucius and they did battle, interrupted by a sandstorm. The next thing you know everyone was sitting around a campfire, holding hands and singing Kum Bah Yah. In exchange for room and board the Romans helped the prisoners rebuild the wall. The friendships were enhanced by a dance-off of military techniques and then a sing-off of national songs. Of course, the peace couldn't last because the merciless Tiberius and his 100,000 troops was on his way to create havoc.
Director Lee created a beautiful and epic movie visually. The sets, costumes, and scenery were lavish. The story, however, was heavy handed, with choppy editing, and beyond a couple of performances lacking in strong acting. Lee's overuses of flashbacks and flashforwards to try and tie the stories together and create emotional depth simply cut the momentum of the story and felt repetitive and manipulative. Without spoiling anything there were lapses in logic that left me adrift at times in the film. Also, while I am all for peace and understanding for all people, the movie's idealistic message lacked depth and any sort of realism. All of the talks of peace ended in one of the bloodiest battle scenes you'll see. Few characters walked away alive or unscathed. And there was a scene with killer eagles flying in that will make you think of the Hobbit's Battle of Five Armies. The Eagles! All of which was impressive, given that historically speaking the Roman Empire hadn't been officially created at the time this movie was supposed to have taken place. No one had any problems communicating with 36 different nations using the Silk Road, plus the Romans and Parthians.
As for the acting, John Cusack acted like he was lost for most of the movie. Jackie Chan walked around with a beatific smile or look that seemed misplaced in a movie with not only alliances but plenty of betrayals and backstabbing. Adrien Brody overacted, chewing up the scenery as much as John Cusack underacted looking for a place to take a nap. Most of the rest of the cast were serviceable to really dreadful.
The fight scenes, choreographed by Chan, were for the most part entertaining. The earlier fights were creative as you would expect from him, even if he's slowed down, understandably at the age of 60. The final no holds or swords barred battles were blood gushing and could be difficult to watch. There was also an over reliance on slow-mo action scenes that didn't always work to best effect. I wish the squad that carried their throwing swords had remembered them because they were only used in one fight.
Overall, I love the idea of a pacifist message just not the uneven implementation. With an overwrought film score and constant hammering of the movie's theme even in the face of contradictory and gorey violence, somehow the message of all men are brothers felt lost. There were simply too many detriments to this big budget film to highly recommend. Though parts of it were entertaining and it was an interesting concept to mash two film genres together, even if historically inaccurate, the ultimate execution was deeply flawed.
Chan played Huo An, the captain in charge of the Silk Road Protection Squad who believed in all races and cultures living peacefully and equally together along the Silk Road. His crew only used their swords and abilities for defense. Cusack was the Roman general Lucious on the run with his men and with his young, blind charge Publius. Adrien Brody as Tiberius was the Evil brother who blinded his younger brother and murdered their father to gain his father's position, even though I'm not sure that was the correct procedure for becoming a consul.
Huo's crew was framed as gold smugglers and exiled to hard labor at the Wild Geese Gate where prisoners were tasked with rebuilding the city's defensive walls. Lucius and his weary, hungry men happened upon the city and determined to fight their way in. Huo met Lucius and they did battle, interrupted by a sandstorm. The next thing you know everyone was sitting around a campfire, holding hands and singing Kum Bah Yah. In exchange for room and board the Romans helped the prisoners rebuild the wall. The friendships were enhanced by a dance-off of military techniques and then a sing-off of national songs. Of course, the peace couldn't last because the merciless Tiberius and his 100,000 troops was on his way to create havoc.
Director Lee created a beautiful and epic movie visually. The sets, costumes, and scenery were lavish. The story, however, was heavy handed, with choppy editing, and beyond a couple of performances lacking in strong acting. Lee's overuses of flashbacks and flashforwards to try and tie the stories together and create emotional depth simply cut the momentum of the story and felt repetitive and manipulative. Without spoiling anything there were lapses in logic that left me adrift at times in the film. Also, while I am all for peace and understanding for all people, the movie's idealistic message lacked depth and any sort of realism. All of the talks of peace ended in one of the bloodiest battle scenes you'll see. Few characters walked away alive or unscathed. And there was a scene with killer eagles flying in that will make you think of the Hobbit's Battle of Five Armies. The Eagles! All of which was impressive, given that historically speaking the Roman Empire hadn't been officially created at the time this movie was supposed to have taken place. No one had any problems communicating with 36 different nations using the Silk Road, plus the Romans and Parthians.
As for the acting, John Cusack acted like he was lost for most of the movie. Jackie Chan walked around with a beatific smile or look that seemed misplaced in a movie with not only alliances but plenty of betrayals and backstabbing. Adrien Brody overacted, chewing up the scenery as much as John Cusack underacted looking for a place to take a nap. Most of the rest of the cast were serviceable to really dreadful.
The fight scenes, choreographed by Chan, were for the most part entertaining. The earlier fights were creative as you would expect from him, even if he's slowed down, understandably at the age of 60. The final no holds or swords barred battles were blood gushing and could be difficult to watch. There was also an over reliance on slow-mo action scenes that didn't always work to best effect. I wish the squad that carried their throwing swords had remembered them because they were only used in one fight.
Overall, I love the idea of a pacifist message just not the uneven implementation. With an overwrought film score and constant hammering of the movie's theme even in the face of contradictory and gorey violence, somehow the message of all men are brothers felt lost. There were simply too many detriments to this big budget film to highly recommend. Though parts of it were entertaining and it was an interesting concept to mash two film genres together, even if historically inaccurate, the ultimate execution was deeply flawed.
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