Dragon Blade
Genre : Action
Director : Daniel Lee
Cast : Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Lin Peng
Set during the Han dynasty, this grand pageantry of action and emotion is about Huo An (Jackie Chan), who is tasked with the job of protecting the gateway to the Silk Route. Destiny brings Roman General Lucius (John Cusack) to his door and the two develop an unlikely bond across cultures. Lucius has fled his homeland after a coup and seeks Huo's help to protect crown prince Publius from the evil designs of his trecherous brother Tiberius (Adrien Brody). Lee is not consistent with the historical aspect but when it comes to sword fights and technical finesse, he has his hand on the pulse of Chan's fans. The film doesn't make a nuanced political comment on clash of cultures and sticks to generalities like how war doesn't benefit anyone, why the East and the West should join forces to fight the common power-crazed enemy. Some might fight its pontificating tone disturbing but overall Chan sticks to his strengths and scales them up to cross over to fresh territories.
He has been bonding with mainline Hollywood actors in the past to take Chinese action flicks across borders. Here the designs are not only bigger but obvious as well. Chan strikes a bond with Cusack and it is their bromance that lends the required substance when the blade runners run out of steam.
Bottomline : A smart spectacle where action choreography delivers the goods.
