The official poster
Based on a story by Jackie Chan, “Little Big Soldier” steers away from his usual dose of gag-flicks that we’ve been steadily feeding ourselves over the years. So, if you’re expecting yet another Jackie’s funny-man punch, then “Little Big Soldier” might just surprise you in a bit.
Narratively, “Little Big Soldier” never strays too far away from the well-worn formula of countless films of the same type such as “Red Cliff” and “A Battle of the Wits.” However, when done right, the conventional plotting can be forgiven, especially when writer-director Ding Sheng (“Underdog Knights”) works his magic, bridging the story together without looking too choppy all together.
I swear I will poke you in the eye
Put it this way, “Little Big Soldier” could have been done better minus the wobbly character introduction and the occasional blunders in what looks like bad plotting. It looks as if there are too many ideas sprouting from one person, that I find squeezing them all together in 95 minutes is insufficient and do very little justice to the story. The story gets carry on quite well until the novelty starts to wear off, and the only way to sustain the story is to introduce more wobbly characters, telling a different set of story. Now, there’s where the problem starts. The supposedly ambitious and “ruthless” Prince Wen is given very little introduction and is largely ignored.
The cinematography is something to ogle at, especially when it’s by Zhao Xiao Ding of “House of Flying Daggers” and “Curse of the Golden Flowers.” Every frame is nicely pictured and the beauty of every shot especially those in the mountainous region are largely undeniable.
Hello, I am Jackie, the little foot soldier
“Little Big Soldier” is definitely a far cry from the usual JC movies. It won’t be your average crowd-pleaser kind of movie and that’s for sure. I must say that he fares much better than being over-sentimental in “The Myth” or over-emotional in “New Police Story” and over-dramatic in “Shinjuku Incident.” This is the kind of movie with higher dosage of emotions, a bit of laugh that agitation ensures especially towards the grandeur ending. For loyal fans of JC and those who expect to see higher dosage of free sparring and bloody battle are advised to avoid signing up for “Little Big Soldier.”
