Robin B Hood (Dragon Dynasty 2-DVD Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: C Film: C
I am not
a big fan of Jackie Chan, but especially after suffering though the dreadful Rush Hour 3, Benny Chan’s silly,
boring, sometimes obnoxious Robin B Hood
(2006) was a step up, if not much of one.
Chan is a thief who is hired to kidnap a baby, then faster than you can
say Hard Boiled, the film quickly
becomes very half-baked.
Instead
of getting the laughs by playing it seriously, the film wallows in its own silliness
and feels like one of those desperate film staring in the early 1980s that were
admitting the latest Martial Arts cycle was over by pumping up the laughs to
keep such actors employed. 25 years
later, is this approach still necessary?
No, but we will still get lame films like this until people stop paying
to see them. Despite some production
values, see it at your own risk.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is pretty good for this series and a
recent such import, with good color and occasionally good spots of depth and
detail, while the Cantonese DTS 5.1 sound mix outdoes the other options,
including some in English for soundfield, richness and overall fidelity. Extras on DVD 1 include an audio commentary
with director Chan by Asian Cinema expert Bey Logan, while DVD 2 adds trailers,
making of featurette, on camera director interview and three other behind the
scenes pieces.
- Nicholas Sheffo
