User reviews

Jackie Chan is twelve years younger than Harrison Ford, and can still pull off some impressive moves, but both actors are well past their prime in terms of action movie star power. Ford's last CGI-laden Indiana Jones movie was so bad it gave us the phrase 'nuke the fridge' to describe a scene that is beyond ridiculous. As if to prove he can go one better (or should that be 'worse'?), Chan has given us the Raider of the Lost Ark-inspired adventure Kung Fu Yoga, which is incredibly dumb and almost as much computer-generated as it is live action: it starts off with a really bad CG historical prologue, and just keeps on going with the not-very-convincing digital trickery, delivering CG car stunts, a CG lion, CG hyenas, and CG snakes, frequently against CG backdrops.

Chan plays Chinese archaeologist Jack, who is approached by Indian princess Ashmita (played by drop-dead-gorgeous Bollywood babe Disha Patani) to help find a legendary treasure. Also trying to get his hands on the riches is Randall (Sonu Sood), descendant of the army general who hid the hoard. Or something like that. The plot doesn't make much sense at times, the emphasis on OTT action, not logic. Director Stanley Tong, the man behind the enjoyable Rumble in the Bronx and China Strike Force, delivers one or two 'nuke the fridge' moments of his own, the most outrageous being the high speed chase that sees Chan playing chauffeur to a CG lion.

Not content with just being inspired by Indiana Jones, Tong shamelessly steals iconic elements from Spielberg's movie: there's an attractive female student at one of Jack's lectures who flirts with the professor by drawing love hearts on her eyelids; one of the characters says the line 'I hate snakes'; and the location of the treasure is revealed by sunlight shining through a diamond attached to a staff. Hell, there's even a character called Jones! Sadly, it says a lot about the overall quality of an action film when the most enjoyable scene is the closing, tongue-in-cheek Bollywood dance routine performed by the whole cast (definitely NOT taken from Indiana Jones - I can't see Harrison Ford pulling off any of those moves).

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for dishy Disha Patani: terrible actress but great to look at.

Well, not all Bollywood. Not enough dance routine to make that claim ( Unless like me you count Jackie's Kung Fu fighting as dancing)

I herd some Bollywood director was suppose to film it but backed out leaving Chinese cinema veteran Stanley Tong to fill the void. It's a great action adventure film (with a bad title) in what looks like it could be the sequel to Armour of the Gods or Operation Condor (which in America would be considered Armour of the Gods 2).

Jackie Chan plays Jack Chan (Really?) an archaeologist looking for a treasure that connects Chinese and Indian culture, and when he finds it this ultimate Bollywood Archetype comes after him for it.

It's not Jackie at his prime but he's at his best mixing humor with action. You'll See him do little stunts like jump through a luggage carrier with style (most of us half his age can't do that) and you'll see him do some really good old school kung fu moves like he did in Fearless Hyena.

But he's too old to be breaking bones for our enjoyment. Instead, he provides us with typical action movie fluff. Not to say that's bad. There is a car chase in the movie that is pretty fantastic.

This was an excellent return to the Jackie from yesteryear.

Meandering, aimless plot, bad cgi animals, worse cgi car chase, and campy acting.

Hi Jackie Chan.. Everyone loves you in India.. but please stop acting in lame movies like this. I recommend you to act in next part of rush hour or..even reboot Armor of God franchise.. Please.. we do not expect you to do such low budget bad movies.. this is very disappointing.. this is a really bad movie and a poor choice.. you are a legend.. why would you accept such lame movies? I don't understand this.. please do something new.. Entire world loved Armor of God franchise.. you should make more squeals of that one rather then such dumb movies.. It is really sad to see your reputation going down by poor choices made by you.. please on the love of Jesus.. be vise when you select movies.. we are really waiting for some amazing movies from you as everyone loves you a lot.. please make something cool... thank you..

Kung Fu Yoga is as stereotypical as its title might suggest but despite average acting performances, artificial special effects and a weak plot, it's an entertaining, fast-paced and quirky movie that mixes stunning fight choreography, exotic settings and an intriguing mixture of Arab, Chinese and Indian cultures.

The story revolves around India's lost Magadha treasure in Tibet that is searched by three different parties: Chinese archaeologists, descendants of Magadha royalty and a ruthless group of mercenaries led by another descendant of an Indian royalty. The plot has a few minor but overall predictable twists. While the story is overall of an average quality at best, the movie focuses on fast-paced action- adventure elements in the key of the Indiana Jones movies. Short humorous passages and mythological elements add to the genre potpourri.

There are a few truly memorable scenes in this movie. The opening animated history sequence is quite unusual and starts the movie on an original note to give the audience some background information. The closing dance choreography as well as the vivid soundtrack are also quite entertaining. The best part can however be found in the middle of the movie and consists of a spectacular chase through the streets of Dubai involving a vomiting lion. Despite the ridiculous idea, I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while which means that the makers of this movie have accomplished their mission.

Kung Fu Yoga doesn't take itself too seriously and that what makes its charm. It's an entertaining movie that works best when you switch your brain off and try to enjoy the ride. It offers a colourful, exotic and explosive change from your everyday life. It also marks one of the few major collaborations between Chinese and Indian cinema and I hope to witness more occasions where these two countries join their forces. Kung Fu Yoga isn't an essential movie but an entertaining action- adventure movie for young adults and teenagers in particular.

I can't believe it, Jackie Chan is a LEGEND, he knows how to make action, he knows how to make a good story, but this?!

THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IS THE CGI, look, I know Jackie is trying to go new school with the CGI because he is getting older but honestly this is NOT the way to do it, this was some of the WORST CGI I have ever seen especially considering that Jackie Chan is pretty much considered an "A List" actor.

Here is what gets me though, Jackie Chan knows how to make a good story, want proof? Well he directed "Police Story" and "Project A" movies like that way back in the 80's and even more recent "Who Am I" in 1998...

After that I feel like he's been trying to depend on CGI just too much, I don't really know what to say, it's like the movies he's recently made feel too rushed? Skiptrace, Railroad Tigers, and Kung Fu Yoga ALL FELT LIKE RUSHED HALF ASSED MOVIES...

I don't know what Jackie Chan is thinking... Before around 2010 and below it felt like his movies were perfect, no rush but now since after that it's almost like he's just pumping out movies just for the money and little to no care is gone into them...

Jackie you are from the golden age of cinema, DO NOT ADAPT the CGI, I say just go back to how you used to make movies in the 80's and 90's EVEN THOUGH you can't do the stunts you used to be able to do just use doubles when necessary... YOU CAN STILL DO YOUR FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY, there is nothing stopping you from doing that, people just want to see you doing your stuff and you have a lot to offer just in hand to hand choreography anyway that does not require CGI or any doubles!

But what the hell do I know? We are living in a CGI world now unfortunately...

P.S the only reason I rate this 2 out of 10 is because there were quite a few good fight choreography moments

Reviews here are less than helpful, Jackie is still the man. People complain about the CGI, this movie only cost 35 million to make, not 100, people complian about the script, have you ever seen a Jackie Chan movie? One person even said reboot Armour of God, lol, why? The series is still going, check out Chinese Zodiac, another great Jackie movie, this is a fun movie, check it out

Cheap trash from every aspect. Cheap CGI, really bad acting, awfully bad story. BTW stuffed even with some Chinese state propaganda slogans ('Belt and Road'). I don't intend to start any political discussion, but it sounds really unnatural to add such lines to an action title. I cannot understand how JC could participate in this shameful movie.

A fun, picturesque film that explores different cultures.

It's like Jackie Chan meets Indiana Jones, in China, Iceland, India, and Dubai!

Some reviewers are slamming JC for making this film, but hats off to him for going outside his cultural expectations and comfort zone.

I have to give credit to the amazing cinematography and location sets, I'm guessing this must be one of JC's bigger budget films.

All in all this movie was just plain fun. The car chase scenes with all those expensive cars in Dubai was off the hook, almost Fast & Furious like, but with more expensive sports cars.

It's a shame for all the hateful reviews... JC still has the moves and is still funny and entertaining as always!

Oh, and 'Little Jackie' was also a blast, I hope his stomach has settled lol.

Seriously though... I don't understand what all the critics were crying about!

Yes its got dreadful writing, cheesiness galore, and some cuts that make you raise an eyebrow - but it clearly states Stanley Tong is the director, and lets be honest, no one has ever claimed he's the greatest director in the world. But from Stone-age Warriors to China Strike Force (not to mention his fantastic Chan collaborations), it cannot be argued that Stanley Tong doesn't deliver on action scenes and good old entertainment!

And with that, Kung Fu Yoga is a prime example of Tong pure entertainment. Packed with fun action scenes, gorgeous colours, great fight choreography and a fantastic Bollywood dance sequence, you soon start to see past the imperfect CGI moments and the drawn out boring dialogue to enjoy the film for what it is.

Many critics complained so hard about these little things yet as a loyal HK movie fan of 35 years, I say its something we should expect from Tong at this point. The man seems to have set his focus on the US folk creating a safe, brainless, colourful, family friendly film that entertains and will sell easy, with the bonus of having his money making king of action, Jackie Chan front and centre.

And rightly so!

As a loose sequel to his last directorial Chan feature - The Myth - this latest story is lighter in tone, with less focus on the historic bloody battle scenes, and more on the modern day comedy. That said, we are introduced to the story with a fully animated opening set 100 years ago which I thought was great (and personally would love to see more of) but most critics screamed about and compared it to that of a late 90's video game. I guess given a bigger time and budget, it would have been amazing to see this filmed live-action considering the awesome fight scenes and setting.

But again, such minor yelps considering the entertainment value of the whole thing...

At 62 (at time of filming), Jackie Chan still has the ability to fight, move and charm more than most film stars of his age group - and some even younger. Whether wire assisted or not, he still has it and Kung Fu Yoga highlights some great action moments with him. That said, the highlights of the fighting are handed over to the youth in the shape of the handsome Aarif Kim (Young Bruce Lee) who's moves are as cool as his charm, and I hope he continues down the action route in the near future.

All of the cast get to throw some kicks and punches, with some great results that give a few nods to the fantastic Operation Condor (Armour of God 2), and even Chinese Zodiac. The stunt filled super-car chase through Dubai was a lot of fun and had Tong written all over it, and thankfully - unlike the earlier Chan & Tong flicks - we get a final fight scene with all involved, that includes some fun choreography and great moves!

And just before you start thinking Stanley Tong is giving us back the good old Jackie Chan 'end of film' formula we get surprised and treated to a full-on Bollywood musical number that replaces the NG's and bloopers we always look forward to in a Chan flick. Well, I guess you can't have everything eh? Once again, the critics starting crying about this, but I just don't get why! A wonderfully choreographed number, you can see the genuine happiness in Jackie's face, with a great song and music that sticks in your head. Yes its different, and yes, it does work! The film is a Chinese and Indian production after all with lots of kung fu - but not a lot of yoga - so I'm happy that they closed the film in a typically Bollywood fashion, and done right also.

Kung Fu Yoga doesn't suck! Its good solid 'family' entertainment with great action, comedy and Jackie Chan. Sure, Stanley Tong will never be my favourite director, but he's made a Chan flick that is more fun than The Tuxedo, The Spy Next Door, Skiptrace and for me, even Rush Hour...

And as long I can continue to enjoy watching my hero kick some ass and make me laugh, I'm quite happy to give this the thumbs up!

In 647AD India, leader of the elephant legion Arunasva revolts against his ruler Magadha. Magadha sends General Bhima with treasure tributes to guide Wang Xuance back to the Tang Dynasty to request for military assistance. Bhima and his men are lost with the treasure. Wang makes it back to China and returns to India to rout Arunasva. Professor Ashmita is from present day India. She arrives in Xi'an to recruit Chinese archaeology professor Jack Chan (Jackie Chan) to find Bhima and the lost treasure. The group finds the lost army in an ice cave only to be attacked by Randall leading mercenaries. He's trying to clear the name of his rebel ancestor and steal the treasure.

This movie is problematic for several reasons. The action is OK but the movie struggles whenever the action stops. The movie starts with a big CGI battle. It looks too video-gamey. The inferior CGI is excusable but it's not a good start. It's also a lot of exposition to unpack. It doesn't need to be when the audience is willing to follow a lost army without learning the Sino-Indian history.

There are some beautiful people but there are also some limitations on the acting. It doesn't help that the writing gets stale at times. I love Jackie Chan but he should be more Indiana Jones. Starting as a professor with all the tech gadgets make him less appealing. Instead of an action hero, he starts too much as a bookish techie. Then there is the treasure hunt. It goes from one place to another on flimsy excuses. There's no reason why Magadha would send a key to the underground treasure to China. The movie ends in a Bollywood dance off. I understand the attempt but it sucks out any remaining tension. This has the potential of an action adventure but it suffers from ongoing stumbles.

I've watched Jackie Chan's movies since young. When watching a movie featuring Jackie Chan, you would expect the standard of movie to be that of CZ12, Police Story and Rush Hour. But I was so wrong as the movie started. The CGI was so bad and there were many pointless scenes at the start. There was no chemistry between Jackie Chan and the princess and their scenes are painfully awkward. Some scenes were confusing as there was no purpose in including the scenes. The CGI, yes, it was horrendously unwatchable. Why did they animate everything for the first scene when they can just use a green screen? Even the people were animated! The English dialogue was awkward as hell and the characters sound like they were memorizing lines instead of speaking to each other. However, there were good points of this film. Even though the English dialogue was really bad, the Chinese dialogue flows well(only if you actually speak the language). The chemistry between Amyra Dastur and Aarif Rahman was surprisingly good, despite the fact that they spoke different languages. There were some scenes that was funny. However, all these good points just isn't enough to cover the flaws of the film. Overall, this film is not a good Chinese New Year movie and there are better Chinese New Year films as compared to this movie this year.

5/5

Having grown up with the countless Jackie Chan movies, there is always a sense of excitement whenever there is a new movie available from the master of stunts and martial arts. And I was, of course, thrilled to get a chance to sit down and watch "Kung Fu Yoga" (aka "Gong fu yu jia").

There is a sense of this being a Chinese version of "Indiana Jones" that permeates this movie. Not in a bad way, mind you. With that statement I mean that there is a lot of adventure to this movie, and it is spiced up with the usual comedy that we see in most of Jackie Chan's movies. And, of course, it works out as a great combination.

True to the Jackie Chan legacy, then there is a lot of action in the movie, and it is the level of action and magnificent performance of action that we all love from Jackie Chan. And this action is mixed with the right amount of traditional Jackie Chan physical comedy. So in a sense, this is a very standard Jackie Chan movie. But director Stanley Tong manages to keep the movie fresh and constantly in a good gear.

The story, however, now that is a different matter. Because no matter how much Jackie Chan's action is impressive and the comedy Integrated is fun to watch, then the movie was just suffering from having a mediocre storyline from writer/director Stanley Tong.

I was especially amused and entertained with the scene that included a very small car, Jackie Chan by the steering wheel and a huge lion on the backseat. Sure, the lion was CGI animated and painstakingly obviously so, it was still a hilarious scene to watch.

If you enjoy the typical Jackie Chan movie, then you will definitely also enjoy "Kung Fu Yoga". However, if you expect a deviant performance from the usual Jackie Chan movies, then this is not the movie for you. I found the movie to be quite entertaining, despite only delivering a mediocre storyline. As such, I am rating the movie 6 out of 10 stars.

Kung Fu Yoga was named after the co-production of Indo-Chinese partnership. Of course there is a lot of Kung Fu, but wait a minute where is Yoga? You can't see a bit of Yoga in it.

The movie was good as far as Jackie and the action scenes are concerned. Jackie Chan was excellent in his stunts and comic expressions. He hasn't disappointed his fans and he brings in a surprise dance performance in the item song.

Apart from Jackie nothing works in the movie. Even Jackie Chan's actions are restricted at times. The movie travels from China to India, a bit of Dubai for just one car chase scene. Too much of information are poured in the first 10 minutes of the movie which actually confuses the audience.

Kung fu yoga poster Few minutes into the movie just feels this is not going to be what it should be. The beginning doesn't feel like a beginning, It just starts abruptly which indeed has driven out the excitement in watching the movie.

Sonu Sood who carries the Indian baddie role should have been a bit better. He doesn't feel like a baddie at times. Disha Patani as Jackie's lead is OK. Wearing some high valued ornaments, dresses with fur are the major contribution she delivers. The age old rope tricks, some floating tricks by sadhus might impress few (Does the movie really belongs to 2017?).

The item song which casts the entire cast was one of the few good moments in the movie. It was great and watching Chan dance was extremely pleasing. There are few good moments to wake the sleeping audience.

On the whole the movie is one time watch for family audience.

This was a bit of a disappointment to me, even if it was Stanley Tong's return to directing Jackie Chan after a dozen years. Mr. Chan has become an international star, and so his producers can afford to spend a lot of money on production values, such as flying the cast to Iceland for location shooting, and wrecking Lamborghinis in the Emirate States; Mr. Chan is also slightly older than I am, so he cannot do the amazing, funny, real life stunts that made his movies such a treat. Oh, he does more than in his American flicks, but the fast pace of cutting, shooting his character from behind and some very obvious undercranking, as well as watching his younger cast do the stuff he used to, saddens me.

Anyway, the production values and Mr. Chan as a clothes horse make this a watchable movie, as China's Greatest Archaeologist, Professor Chan, is caught up in a hunt for treasure/artifacts from fifteen hundred years ago, involving Indian ranis and a huge pink diamond. There is a funny comic sequence in which the good guys wander through a market where fakirs are performing, and various members of the cast do Jackie-style gags with cobras and the Indian Rope Trick. Not Jackie so much, alas.

Worthless piece of trash that overdoes cultural stereotypes, bad acting, ridiculous dialogue, overdone CGI, confusing - we kept watching to see if the rest of it could possibly be worse than the first 5 minutes of it. And it was. It goes from bad,l to worse to embarrassing and beyond.

I always have been a Jackie Chan's fan and in this movie I felt like when I was a kid watching the Jackies' old movies. If you want to have a relaxing moment and give some laughs, go to watch with the family, in special that person who liked Jackies' classic movies.

I watched in a movie theater in China, so I enjoyed even more with the reaction of the Chinese audience that laughed a lot hahaha.

But If you want a something serious and realistic, go elsewhere. There a some special effects that are not so special and it seems that they made it on porpoise to reinforce the idea that is just fun and is not trying to be an remarkable movie but just one modern version of the old Jackie(that is in a good shape, despite the age)

After a string of serious roles it's nice to watch Jackie in an old school action comedy similar to ones I used to watch growing up, it's true it isn't perfect and it's cheesy in parts, but that's always been the appeal of Jackie to me, fun martial arts comedies with great fights and breathtaking stunts, and story an afterthought just to string along the set pieces, and I love it always have Jackie chan is my hero, now sure the stunts have slowed down and he can't exactly do what he was doing in the 90's but he's still making enjoyable films and I love him for that, I see a lot of negative reviews for this movie and I'm confused, this delivered exactly what I expected it too, a nice fun little action romp, think armour of god lite, the movie is actually a sort of sequel to 2015's the myth as I'm sure Jackie is playing the same role, I still think the myth is better but this is great fun too, I recommend to Jackie chan fans.

It's a commercial success because everyone was expecting great things from a JACKIE CHAN's movie just like I did. However it literally made me SICK. Super awful!!!!!!!! Too many ridiculous scenes and bad directing. I am too too disappointed in this. It is such a waste of your reputation and talent! Please don't ruin my head again. This will definitely make me rethink again before any of Jackie Chan movie coming out. I was 100% sure I would have a good time watching this before it blew up my head and drove my stress to the max!!!!! With all due respect to Mr. Tong the writer and director, please think again before you come up with some similar half done work and I do hope you could take a script writing class to reduce the non-sense in any of your dreamed projects. And Mr. Chan, kindly do not ruin your reputation with anything like this ever again...I was all fan until now ...Awful!