Eye Candy #573 - "Little Big Soldier"

Little Big Soldier:  The most recent effort from Jackie Chan, this film has apparently been in production for the better part of 20 years (something about Chan wanting to film an action comedy in a historical setting…even though this is something he has done numerous times and with better effect in films like “Project A“).  Chan is the “big soldier” of the title, a deserter with a strong preservation streak that kidnaps an enemy general and heads home to the kingdom of Liang to ransom so he can buy a farm and settle down.  The near-constant of inter-state warfare has kept “big soldier” in the field for years and years.  Wearying of war, the ransom is his way of getting a military exemption.  However, the general isn’t going to go quietly.  Kind of a strange little film - the comedy is fast and furious in the first half of the film, but the second half of the film is almost exclusively dark and violent, as if the creators felt that they had to shoehorn something deep and meaningful before the ending, which is certainly somber.  There are some good action bits here, though not as many as in some of his previous films.  An average effort from Mr. Chan.  Woodchuck sez, “For fans.  Others may be bored.”