Agentes Vanguard

From the first time I saw the trailer I know it would be a disappointment. Computer effect is too much and so unrealistic. The drifting Ferraris, the lion chase, limousine , explosion, water rapids even the fight scene. What a waste of big name such as Jacky Chan and director Stanley Tong.

Bad acting, bad action scenes, bad CGI, bad story... I could keep going on. There is so much wrong in this movie that I wish I haven't seen this. What's worse is that Jackie Chan is selling his soul to the China movie factory. It really hurts his amazing legacy. So many awesome HK movies and even some decent Hollywood movies. When judging a movie I rather want to keep politics aside but its very hilarious when all those new China movies try to sell how great China is. Like when they tell a story about an activist and portrait western people as wildlife hunters but don't say anything about a lot of Chinese people buying that stuff for "health" issues. 3 stars only because there is worse. China is so desperate to show the "pretty" Chinese people in their movies that acting becomes 2nd importance.

The film is sold as "a" Jackie Chan movie, with his name first, but he only has a supporting role, now he must have young actors do the spectacular stunts. The film is both ridiculous and spectacular. Jackie Chan is now a bloated old man who relies on young actors for the action sequences, but it works, because the style of the fights is indeed Jackie Chan's, mixing humor, use of props and destruction of the scenery, for the intimate sequences, and big chases and stunts with a lot of technology and vehicles for the outdoor sequences (with CGI porn support). As usual, we travel a lot (London, Africa, Middle East).

The ridiculous side is the emphasis on the Chinese and their philosophy, posing as a teacher. The ridiculous aspect is also due to a pile of clichés, do-gooders and postcard shots.

The humor during the fights and action sequences always works well and is welcome. The action sequences are interspersed with a plot that we don't care about. But also interludes filled with good feelings and mawkishness (cf. The clichés and postcards mentioned) The CGI porn is limited: many shots look like cartoons and point out the lack of budget of the film (it is true that to visualize it on a smartphone or a tablet, this is enough).

Good idea of franchise though, which can be declined indefinitely. "Vanguard" is a private security company that defends "important" people, that is to say rich. A whole program, just like the political mediocrity of the film.

Let's start with the positives. The fight scenes are pretty awesome, always clear with some cool moves.

The negatives. Where to start. Any action other than the fight scenes ranges from mediocre to bad. The CGI is awful yet used repeatedly, even on things that you don't expect them to CG. The story is nothing. The characters are nothing.

Most hilarious is that for some reason, even 40 some years later, jackie chan movies are terribly dubbed. And i don't mean dubbing with a different language. I mean voices speaking the same language as the character, yet never sounding like they're coming from them. I counted four different times when i saw how a character looks and then laughed out loud when they spoke.

By the end of the movie i cared about nothing. And the non-fight scene action became so monotonous and redundant. I was asking myself "why am i still watching this?" and i almost forgot about the hilariously blatant chinese propaganda (1 viewing, 6/9/2021)

If you expect to see a movie in the style of those in which Jackie Chan is casual, and also a good fighter and acrobat, and the movie is engaging and funny, you are wrong. The positive characters are exaggeratedly devoted to the employing company, Vanguard, being such an exemplary discipline and obsessed with fulfilling their mission at all costs, like soldiers in the Chinese army. They are, at the same time, like a family whose guiding parent is Jackie Chan, thus becoming unbelievable and downright annoying. Many of the fight and action scenes curl up the absurd. The scenes that were supposed to have an emotional charge are so misinterpreted that they have become hilarious. And with the technique presented, it was exaggerated, being more than phantasmagoric. I didn't expect Jackie Chan to agree to star in such a poor quality film, although I'm convinced it wasn't a low-budget one, but he's not the only one doing it. I couldn't give the movie more than 3 stars.