This is the first Jackie Chan movie since The Foreigner in 2017, where initial reviews weren't downright horrible. And as low a bar as it is, it did get my expectations quite high. I have been a lifelong Jackie Chan fan, having watched every single movie he's ever made, yet hating the fact that a majority of his movies have been nothing short of horrible towards his later years. So of course, mediocre reviews are enough to get my hopes up.
This movie starts off on a very promising note, almost as if it was made with love for Jackie's contribution to cinema. And as endearing a concept as it might be, the execution of it was just bad. The movie has no idea where to go with its premise, and ends up with an extremely incompetent script that just comes across as illiterate of any sense of storytelling. It's truly sad to think of how good this movie could have been.
That being said, it's still not as bad as Jackie's last few movies. Vanguard, Iron Mask, Knight of Shadows, Bleeding Steel and Kung Fu Yoga are some of the worst movies he's been in, and that's including his earliest work as a Bruce Lee clone. So at least there's that, and at least Ride On tries to take itself somewhat seriously with its so-called tribute to Chan and the stuntmen of Chinese cinema.
Overall, I'm disappointed that it wasn't as good as it could have been, but I'm also a little relieved at how it succeeds in being "not the literal worst" like all of Jackie Chan's recent stuff.
