San wa (2005)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Stanley Tong

Writers:

Hai-shu Li (writer)
Stanley Tong (writer)

Release Date:

23 September 2005 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Loyalty | Meteorite | Waterfall | Chinese | Martial Arts

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	General Meng Yi / Dr Jack Chan
Hee-seon Kim	...	Ok-soo
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	William
Mallika Sherawat	...	Samantha
Ken Lo	...	Dragon
Rongguang Yu	...	Zhao Kuang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ram Gopal Bajaj	...	The Guru
Min-su Choi	...	General Choi (as Choi Min Soo)
Jason Chong	...	Jack / General Meng-Yi (English Revoice)
Hayama Go	...	Tiger
Kumman Gopakumar	...	Dasar Policeman
Leon Head	...	Dr. Smith
Sasidharan Nair Sajith Kumar	...	Dasar Guard A
Biju Kumman	...	Dasar Policeman
Sunil Kumar Kumman	...	Dasar Guard B
Maggie Lau	...	Maggie
Jing-kei Liang	...	Governess (as Liang Jingke)
Xuetong Li	...	Curator
Karimbil Nidheesh	...	Dasar Policeman
Sudhanshu Pandey
Bing Shao	...	Nangong Yan
Qiao Shun	...	Eunuch
Zhou Sun	...	Mr. Koo
Patrick Tam	...	General Xu Gui
Ken Wong	...	Rebel General Meng Jie
Wei Xing Yao	...	General Shen
Tak Yuen	...	Dasar Monk (as Richard Hung)
Jianzhong Zhang	...	Official

Also Known As:

Shen hua (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
The Myth (International: English title)
Time Breaker (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Titanium Rain (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality. (edited version; previously rated R for some violence)

Runtime:

Philippines:117 min | Hong Kong:122 min | Canada:118 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Hindi | Korean | Cantonese | English | Malayalam

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Indonesia:Dewasa | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG (theatrical) | Philippines:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | Germany:16 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Anjanadri Hill, Hampi, Karnataka, India

Company:

China Film Group

Trivia:

Jackie Chan was stabbed in the arm while filming a stunt.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The elephant is named "Lakshmi", which suggest a female. But "she" has small tusks. In Asian elephants, only males have the tusks.

Soundtrack:

Endless Love

Something old, something new

Credit to Jackie, he does try to do something different with his Hong Kong films. It would be easy for him to churn out countless sequels to already established series, but he does try to vary his output. Well, that is in as much as the constraints of his fans expectations and his established film persona will allow, anyway. The Myth, as a film, suffers paradoxically because of these two things; trying to satisfy by offering something new, while fulfilling audience expectation based on Jackie's previous output. The historical side of the film works best, providing Chan with a role (Army General bound by honour, compromised by love) that is unfamiliar and more interesting largely because of that. The action is more gritty and brutal in these sequences, with lots more blood on show than in typical Jackie fare. The present day character is classic Jackie, though the comedic set pieces and brief fight scenes don't have quite the inventiveness or sparkle of yesteryear. You can imagine the glue factory scene in particular being more involving and exciting if it had been choreographed twenty, or even ten, years ago. Stanley Tong's handling of the material is, due to the nature of his script, very uneven. The presentation of the modern day settings is fine, if a little uninspiring; especially when you consider some of the film's spectacular locations. However, the historical battles look and feel dull and lack any kind of epic quality. This may have been down to budget constraints, but watching the film you feel that if more clever camera-work had been employed, this effect could have been conveyed. Ultimately, it's a pity Jackie wasn't brave enough to do a straight, serious historical action/drama, because under The Myth's familiarity there's a different Jackie Chan film trying to get out.