I was kind of disappointed when I saw the rate of the film here in IMDb, I didn't read some reviews when I watched it back then so I have a complete unbiased observation in the film. It didn't even get an average of 7 stars. I literally had a good time watching it with my bros during the whole two hours. The film did not disappoint the die-hard martial arts fans because the fighting scenes are totally awesome, thrilling, and exciting at the same time. You can see in the film that Jackie still haven't aged based on the fight scenes. Jackie Chan still has that wacky sense of humor but some scenes force the audience to try to understand the blatant moral message of the whole film. But if you've seen Jackie Chan's films during the 80's and 90's, this film will hit right to your nostalgic daydreaming. But one of the flaws of the movie could be the fact that it is as expected as it would be. Though it has a mix of an adventure and not just an action film, the same formulas are applied coming from the previous Jackie Chan films. But as for me, that is the reason why it is such a great film. It didn't let down the Jackie Chan's fans especially this when this is his last action-packed movie. Also, the comedy in between films is blatantly forced and the abundance of stereotypes on the characters are a little bit disappointing. But it was compensated by again, the cool action scenes and the wonderful set production. The diversity of the languages throughout the film (English, Chinese, and French) did not actually help the film to have a different touch. The one thing that is cool with this film (besides all the Jackie Chan moments) was when a Chinese woman and a French woman fight head to head, that was totally awesome. But in the end, this movie doesn't have to be deep or controversial just to get acclaims. It is a Jackie Chan film and he is one of a kind. Even at the age of 60 years old, he brought justice in this film and that is good enough for me. This film just requires you to relax and be amazed. Jackie Chan proves again in this film that he is a classic actor and really tries to connect with the audience. He still inspires us in many ways and continues to embrace the craft.

Well! What does one say about this oriental version of a sort of mixture of Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Indiana Jones, James Bond and The Hangover (plus a few more)? Crazy? Yes. Funny? Sometimes. Action? Most of the time! I notice that some other reviewer has said that this was sprooked as Jackie Chan's last starring role and, the way he flung himself around in this one, that wouldn't surprise me one bit! The guy was 58 years old when Chinese Zodiac was made but moved like a 20-year-old! He deserves a very long rest!There were a couple of very noticeable (to me) anomalies that I couldn't quite reconcile myself to. One was where characters were handling gold bricks like they weighed next-to-nothing. Anyone who has actually handled one that size would know that a girl certainly couldn't hold it between her thumb and forefinger. Gold is bloody heavy! Believe me. The other was the skydiving scene which lasted so long that, at typically about 25000 metres per minute would have to have been from a height about three or four times the maximum height that the aircraft they jumped out of could fly. I wish I'd timed it but then I didn't know what was coming until afterwards.All in all though, a fun spoof that didn't require too much serious attention as long as you don't expect too much.

I have been a fan of Jackie Chan's since I was a teenager... which means that he has been working in the action genre since the early '70s... which means that he's already 60 years old. Chinese Zodiac is far from being at the same level of classics from his filmography, such as Armour of God or Operation Condor, and it's a sequel of those films which retakes the adventures of the "Asian Hawk" (also known as "Condor"), a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones who employs his amazing physical ability, high-technology gadgets and big doses of humor in order to find historical relics of a big monetary and cultural value. In this occasion, the search of brass heads will take the Hawk from elegant European palaces to the depths of the jungle, and he will be in conflict with professional counterfeiters, pirates (including the Asian version of Captain Jack) and students who protest the illegal auction of historical artifacts which belong to Chinese people. In summary, we are in presence of a film with too many sub-plots, and that provokes unavoidable confusion, a parade of characters who appear and disappear from the film without any explanation, and dramatic moments which should cause an impact... if we could understand what's going on. On the action aspect, Chinese Zodiac is a bit modest, but that doesn't avoid the presence of intense fights and excellent stunts. In order to make his life a bit easier, Chan delegated the biggest part of the fights to his co-stars, and he employed a considerable digital help to make many of the stunts; however, we can see him in a very good shape during the denouement of the film, in one of his traditional fights with a complicated choreography, and in an attractive action sequence on the slope of a volcano, which looks like a modernized version of that famous stunt which almost cost his life in Operation Condor. So, despite not being a highly memorable film, Chinese Zodiac is an entertaining action film which deserves a moderate recommendation to fans of Chan's who need confirmation of this artist's (note that I didn't say "actor") talent, and of his indomitable compromise to the audience, being at an age when he should be resting and producing films, instead of keep risking his life in front of the cameras. But I don't know if I could recommend it to neophytes in the matter; to them, I would suggest to start approaching Chan's filmography with some of the films he made in the '80s (Police Story and Police Story 2 are my favorite ones from his whole filmography). And, as always, don't forget to stay during the credits of Chinese Zodiac, where we can see bloopers, some details from behind the scenes and even a retrospective of Chan's filmography. This might seem a bit arrogant and self-indulgent, but if there's someone who earned the right of saying "I'm proud of myself", that one is Chan. After all, he has payed the admiration of his fans with blood.

This is a tricky movie to critique. First of all, Jackie Chan has stated that this is his last time performing his own stunts in a movie. So do I measure CZ12 as a standalone film or do I position it as a final act in the long line of Jackie Chan's filmography over the last 30 years?Secondly, what can I expect from Jackie Chan? As a final bow, what can he do to surprise me? He is long past his physical peak (in my opinion, his top physical peak was Police Story 2). After 20 years of growing up on his films, The "Jackie Chan Action Scene Formula" is forever embedded into my brain; I almost always know how his fight scenes end. In case you do not know what I'm talking about, here it is:There's a situation where Jackie Chan is being beaten by a group of people. The fight leads to an environment/a prop.Jackie Chan using the environment/prop, creatively defeats the entire group of people.There's a joke at the end that comes from the environment/prop. End scene. So, did Chinese Zodiac 12 surprise me? I would say 40% yes, 60% no.I watched a recent interview that Jackie Chan gave to a mainland show where he said that he did not like casting TV actors in his movies because they take way too much time to get through a scene of dialogue. It seems he went the other extreme, because the dramatic scenes are played out and edited way too quickly. It's like every dramatic scene was played out on fast-forward and often there is not a lot of time to digest what's going on. Even comedic moments are neutered from the lack of time to digest them. I found this to be problematic.Narrative wise, the story takes shortcuts. Characters act out of character at times for story convenience. And seriously, can anyone really buy Jackie Chan being a heartless money-grubbing thief? I'd have an easier time buying Tom Hanks playing a bad guy than Jackie Chan.So about the set pieces. For what he can't bring physically, Chan makes it up with scale and locales. The action set pieces are fun, some stand out more than others. My favorite was the bodyblading sequence at the beginning. That was a very tense sequence watching Jackie Chan go head first speeding down a highway. The story and action scenes in CZ12 ask the audience to recall Jackie Chan's past filmography, notably the two Armour of God movies (You can call this Armour of God 3, if you like). It even drew a few gags from it and there was one set that recalled the drug factory from Dragons Forever. This makes it impossible for me to critique it as a standalone film.Part of the film's story is a piece of issue-tainment addressing the issue of museums withholding historical artifacts from their home countries. It's an issue that Jackie Chan seems to care a lot about and he presents it as an international issue. Although the film treats this issue rather lightly and it does ultimately get buried under the trappings of a Jackie Chan movie, it's nice to see Chan raising an issue like this in a film.There are many personal touches like that here, it's very possible that Jackie Chan can just be a director in the future. There was one noteworthy part of the movie where Jackie Chan actually officially apologizes to his real-life wife for the time they've missed together all these years. They reportedly see each other once a year. This moved me by the end. It was not from the story of the film or from a well-earned dramatic catharsis, but because it felt like Jackie Chan was saying goodbye to me.For anybody who's unfamiliar with Chan, it's not a great movie by conventional rules nor would it gain him any new fans. For these people, I refer you to his earlier films, check out The Drunken Master and the Police Story films.For people who grew up on Jackie Chan movies like I did, I don't think I can ever stomach the idea of Jackie Chan saying goodbye. My earlier memories of films were of Jackie Chan movies. Watching this movie, I was moved, laughed and exhilarated, all the time thinking maybe this was the last time. If Jackie Chan really chose to retire performing action, CZ12 is a good way to go out.