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The inaugural release of Shout! Factory’s new line of Hong Kong films long blocked from American distribution due to rights issues, The Jet Li Collection presents five of the martial arts star’s earliest and most beloved hits. Though Li had been a star in mainland China since his film debut in 1982’s Shaolin Temple, he found wider success a decade later with his lead role in Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China series. The films in this set all came out between 1993 and 1994, a super-concentration of hits that made the actor the new king of Hong Kong’s action scene.

Compared to Hong Kong mainstays like Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, who blended serious technique with comedic timing, Li harked back to the era of stoic warriors like Bruce Lee and Jimmy Wang. That makes him an odd fit at first glance for Cory Yuen...

While the Taiwanese genre scene has seen plenty of stellar and high-end success recently in the wake of titles like “Mon Mon Mon Monsters” or “The Sadness,” Taiwan first emerged on the zombie market with this effort from genre director Joe Chien back in 2012. Keeping things straightforward for this first go-round toying with the genre, not only would Chien improve on this style later on in his career but so did the rest of the country with later genre efforts advancing nicely from what was started with this one.

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Following a viral outbreak, a radiation leak from a nuclear power plant spreads a mutated virus across Taipei which starts to turn the populace into flesh-eating undead. The government tries to prevent the spread of the zombie plague by creating a quarantine zone and sending in Swat teams to evacuate civilians and wipe out the ghouls.

Jackie Chan and longtime collaborator Stanley Tong strike out miserably in their seventh film together. Vanguard is a bumbling CGI spectacle with a ludicrous plot, terrible acting, and strained nationalistic themes. The fight scenes are decently choreographed, but lost in the barrage of cartoonish gun violence. The film elicits minor chuckles with fleeting moments of slapstick humor. The laughs are the sole bright spot. Vanguard is a big disappointment from two of China's storied filmmakers.

Vanguard starts on a festive note during the Chinese New Year celebration in London. A wealthy businessman, Qin Guoli (Jackson Lou), and his trophy wife are kidnapped in broad daylight by vicious mercenaries. Little do they know that Qin is being tracked by Vanguard, an international security firm for elite clients. Vanguard's CEO, Tang Huanting (Jackie Chan), activates nearby agents Lei Zhenyu (Yang Yang), Zhang Kaixuan (Ai Lun), and Mi Ya (Miya Muqi). They rescue Qin,...

The collaboration of director Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan has given us six films so far, including the Chan directed and Ton produced “Chinese Zodiac”. The last time they collaborated was on “Kung Fu Yoga” which was a very forgettable fare. Their seventh collaboration “Vanguard” is almost upon us and we have the full trailer for the film right here.

Synopsis

Covert security company Vanguard is the last hope of survival for an accountant and his daughter after he is targeted by the world’s deadliest mercenary organization.

The trailer for the globe-trotting film promises exciting action scenes. The film also stars Yang Yang, Ai Lin, Zhu Zhengting, Jackson Lou and Mia. It releases in Mainland China on January 25th, 2020, with an international release expected to follow soon after.