Jakarta. Hong Kong’s beloved martial arts film star Jackie Chan is famous for always performing his own stunts in the hundreds of movies that he has played. The countless building jumps to comedy-packed fights have become this 70-year-old actor’s trademark.

However, two of his past works – namely  "Shinjuku Incident” and “1911” (also Jackie Chan’s 100th film) -- did not feel like the usual Jackie Chan movie. The same thing happens to “A Legend”, which has been playing in Indonesian cinemas since last week. “A Legend” used artificial intelligence to make Jackie Chan appear like he is still in his 20s. His younger version, who appears in three-quarters of the film, is the main reason why “A Legend” is a major letdown.

“A Legend” is claimed to be a sequel to the 2005 film “The Myth” -- also directed by Stanley Tong and starred by Jackie Chan. Just like its supposed sequel, “The Myth” also suffered harsh criticisms. “A Legend” follows the story of archaeology expert Professor Fang (Jackie Chan) who dreams of traveling back in time to the Han dynasty era. Fang keeps on dreaming about his younger version: the military general Zhao Zhan. 

In these recurring dreams, Fang also sees another patriotic soldier Hua Jun (Zhang Yixing or Lay Zhang of the Korean boyband EXO), whose appearance is a splitting image of his present-time aide Wang Jing. He also meets the beautiful princess Mengyun (Gulnezer Bextiyar). 

Jackie Chan’s AI-enhanced appearance is very distracting in this two-hour-long movie. De-aging technology is actually nothing new in the film industry. Harrison Ford also got the de-aging treatment in the latest Indiana Jones movie, although his younger version was not on screen for almost the entirety of the film like “A Legend”. Jackie Chan’s AI version is also incredibly stiff. Even when AI Jackie Chan is angry or in tears, it feels like watching the cutscenes of a video game.

“A Legend” is also way too obvious with its CGI use in its fighting scenes. This gives off a very different feeling compared to when Jackie Chan’s clock tower fall stunt in the 1983 movie “Project A”  made the audience jaw drop. 

In the narrative department, “A Legend” fails to combine the historical elements and the modern adventure. The lackluster character development also makes the love triangle element in the Han dynasty era feel forced. In the modern day, archeologists spend too much time dreaming in broad daylight, unlike “The Myth” which still has adventure elements.

Those who are looking forward to seeing Jackie Chan in action must wait until the very end of the film. Jackie Chan’s battle against the big bad He Boer (Aarif Rahman) and his underlings at the glacier temple is entertaining. “A Legend” should have shown more of this kind of action. Jackie Chan still shows some astonishing moves, although his acrobatics may be far less compared to his past work.

But “A Legend” shows that Jackie Chan is a legendary actor. This shows that Jackie Chan is irreplaceable, not even by an AI version of himself.

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