Director: Oleg Stepchenko
Year: 2019
Country: Russia/China/USA
Alternate Titles: Tayna pechati drakona; The Mystery of the Dragon Seal
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Plot:
In the early 1700s, an English traveler receives an order to map the Russian Far East. Once again he sets out for a long journey full of incredible adventures that will eventually lead him to China. There, the cartographer will unexpectedly face a lot of breathtaking discoveries, encounter bizarre creatures, meet with Chinese Princesses, and confront deadly martial arts masters, and even the King of all dragons, the Dragon King. What could be more dangerous than meeting eye-to-eye with Viy, except doing it again? What would be stronger this time, a staunch skepticism of the scientist or the old black magic that has seized power of Eastern lands?
Review:
Now, first and foremost, it must be addressed: Arnold and Jackie are supporting characters in this story. They do share the screen together in one of the best scenes in the film where they get into a brief but still-enjoyable fight with each other. However, for long stretches of the film, we’re following Flemyng’s character with his adventures in the Chinese village or his wife’s quest to find him. This divergent series of storylines takes the focus away from the two big stars in a logical way since they’re not the main players at all yet the appearance of them all over the films’ promotional campaign is misleading. It’s not that they’re scenes together are bad, but they’re infrequent, shoehorned into the first half before being ignored and their inclusion could’ve been written out without affecting the main storyline at all, making for a disappointing watch going in based on that expectation and fair warning should be given about that.
Besides that bait-and-switch, the big problem is the films’ script storyline, which is a mess and terribly convoluted. The problem with the scenes in the prison is established as they don’t have any real meaning in the storyline since they’re simply unnecessary. There’s no logical reason for them to be locked up as they are given ludicrous charges to begin with while the whole experience serves as a convoluted means to bring his wife as a back-handed way to China for the final showdown which seems to come from a different movie altogether. The shifting action in several different locations, spanning from England, Moscow in Russia and finally China all at once with different characters separate from each other before coming together at one place in the final act is a big miscalculation in the storyline. An opening scrawl doesn't help make this one any clearer as for why these different parties are coming together, and with the badly-synched voices making it seem like clues are being written-out by a dub that doesn't need it the end result is complete confusion.
What works in the film is down to the high-fantasy infused action scenes. Sticking to the overbearing CGI-heavy sequences where the sense of spectacle created is quite far removed from reality, this sense of fantasy-driven fun has a big role in its likability. From the journey of the ship through the rocky outgrowth in the middle of the ocean, the Dragon Guards coming to life to quell the rebel uprising or the battle with the series of mythical beings and creatures during the finale, this brand of adventure has some exciting action. The infusion of hard-hitting martial arts scenes, plenty of thrilling stunt-work and a thrilling battle between a character and doppelgangers offer some variety to the mix. Since this takes up the majority of the second half there’s a fine reward for sloughing through the exposition-heavy and confusing first-half. Overall, this is where the film gets its positive elements.
Overview: ***/5
If you’re comfortable enough to realize that Arnold and Jackie are going to be on the sidelines for the majority of the film instead of the leads, then this one can be a fun time if you’re looking for fantasy-heavy action rather than a simplistic, coherent story. Viewers who are mindful of that caveat or curious about the production style might enjoy this one, while those who are upset about the bait-and-switch or aren't that interested in this genre might not like it too much.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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