genre: action, adventure, comedy
Once again, Jackie Chan teams up with a buddy, John Cena, I guess in order to appeal to and an Asian audience and the rest of the world. Fans of the first hour like me, in general, will check a Jackie Chan flick no matter what. And if I am not mistaken, he still has a pretty large following. He is a superstar. But yes, I think China does want to reach the casual viewers as well.
And in that regard, it's quite a brilliant move to have this film on Netflix. It easily falls in the line of films like Extraction and while not entirely consisting of the same type and tight choreography, it will have some merit. In Vanguard, Jackie Chan did go the Wolf Warrior route more than he usually does, but it's his refusal to do this type of action that throws a wrench into events. Don't get me wrong, I like his use of his surroundings and stunt work to make the action more exciting. But he is 69 now. It's very apparent, that he does less and less himself, which is OK. But him doing gun fu would be a match made in heaven. He very easily can kick ass like Donnie Yen and Keanu Reeves since he is extremely skilled and still able to do martial arts, acrobatics and stunt work. Let's hope Hidden Strike and Vanguard show steps of him moving in that direction.
Hidden Strike had been advertised as an action comedy in the same vein as, Rush Hour. But in all honestly, the overall purpose is to take the films and its events seriously. However, it doesn't mind making fun of the concepts presented. It never feels heavy or too propagandic. John Cena, also, is decent and likeable. But I don't know if I would have put him together with Jackie Chan. It works for the most part, but I think it would have been better had they actually put in a funnier actor.
I have to admit, I liked Hidden Strike. It's exactly the type of film I want to pick up on Netflix. An entertaining action flick, nothing more and nothing less.
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