With every new iteration of the Stanley Tong/Jackie Chan collaboration machine the list of things you can meaningfully say about it grows smaller.
In general all of Jackie's films shot in mainland China share the same core problems: weak narrative thrust, forgettable storylines, cheap-looking visuals, generic action scenes, an underutilized Jackie and a big focus on his young co-stars who frankly can't act and aren't overburdened with charisma. There is still a world of difference between the cinematic prowess of Hong Kong and China and it's a huge disservice to the vast number of creative, passionate people in China that movies like this are accepted as standard.
'A legend' actually starts off decent enough with an okay action scene but immediately afterwards the story comes to a screeching halt and makes only shy confused attempts to start moving again. The jumping back and forth between the past and present barely worked in 2005's The Myth and it's almost a burden to watch here as it needlessly stretches the runtime. It's an aimless gimmick that never comes together into a coherent narrative. I was honestly struggling to stay awake after the first half hour.
That's it, that's basically the review in a nutshell. I haven't been this bored by a Jackie Chan movie since the early dark days where he still had to work for known hack Lo Wei. There's plenty to nitpick here like the uncanny valley de-aged Jackie, the awkward acting and the complete stock character of the entire production, but the main crux of why the movie fails is that it's boring. There's no energy to any element of it, everyone is seemingly just going through the motions. I think what strikes me the most about all these recent films is just how little they utilize Jackie Chan's unique sensibilities. If you think of all his classics and even his lesser titles they are all so fundamentally Jackie, they're basically a genre of their own. The style, the humour, the stunt work, the choreography, the creativity. All glued together by his unique personality and so uniquely him. No one else could have replaced him in his films, not even equally legendary actors with a similar style like Yuan Biao and Sammo Hung. Now in these new films anyone could have played these roles and it wouldn't have made a difference. It's clear he's mainly used for marquee value and not much else.
At this point in Jackie's career you almost have to ask him "are you doing ok, man?" because there's no way a talent, an artist and a legend of his caliber is happy with the last fifteen years of his career. I hate to say it but after seeing his mainland efforts, especially his work with Stanley Tong I'm actively clamoring for a return to his hollywood days. With the exception of Shanghai Knights and parts of Rush Hour 2 they may not have come close to his best work in Hong Kong but unlike A legend, Vanguard or Kung Fu Yoga at least they weren't painful to watch.
Of course you can't expect him to be at the top of his game at his age. We'll never see him jump from building to building again but that's fine. He more than earned his place on the throne of the stunt world. The fact he's even alive after everything he put himself through is worth celebrating. He's physically still more than capable of doing great martial arts scenes though as the finale of Chinese Zodiac and bits of Ride On can attest. His "older brother" Sammo Hung is still kicking ass both in front and behind the camera as anyone who's seen Walled In can attest, making quality films with ingenuity, skill and heart much like the classics they used to make when they revolutionized action movies in the late 70s. Jackie could have retired after New Police Story and his oeuvre would stand out as a legendary achievement in world cinema. Alas for every gem like the Foreigner or Shinjuku Incident there are now ten at best forgettable flicks that waste his talent and charisma.
If you really have to see it because you're a completionist do yourself a favor and just skip everything but the fight scenes. There's nothing that stands out about them but at least they're mostly decent.
