“Vanguard” Theatrical Poster
Director: Stanley Tong
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jackson Lau Hok-Yin, Ai Lun, Yang Yang, Miya Muqi, Zhu Zhengting, Fady Zaky, Xu Ruo Han, Eyad Hourani, Brahim Achabbakhe, Tomer Oz
Running Time: 108 min.
By Paul Bramhall
After reuniting for Kung Fu Yoga, the 2017 promotional video focusing on China-India relations, the ageing action star and director pairing of Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong are back in 2020 with Vanguard! Of course Kung Fu Yoga wasn’t really a promotional video, as much as I wish it was, because that would mean I don’t have to acknowledge the existence of the most infuriatingly inane movie of Chan’s career. However Vanguard has reminded me of a reality I need to come to terms with, so after the double-whammy flops of The Myth and Kung Fu Yoga, I confess I was hoping it’d be third times a charm for Chan and Tong to strike gold in the post-millennium era.
The Vanguard being referred to is an elite agency of former military and security experts based in London, mostly comprising of courageous, morally self-righteous young Chinese agents, overseen by Chan as the agency’s CEO. The plot focuses on 3 of them, played by Yang Yang (Beginning of the Great Revival), Ai Lun (Meow), and Miya Muqi (Warriors of the Nation). In a way you have to feel sorry for Jackie Chan – his fans have been saying he should give the spotlight to a younger cast for years now, and this is exactly what Vanguard does, but then you also have an equally vocal part of his fanbase, who then complain the young cast take too much of the spotlight from him. It’s a catch-22. In all fairness, Chan is front and center a lot, the issue is his role is so vanilla and bland here that it feels like he’s not really there.
The Vanguards are called into action when a Chinese business man (played by Jackson Luo of The Last Blood and Fist of Legend) is kidnapped by a group of assassins for hire called the Arctic Wolves, led by Brahim Achabbakhe (Boyka: Undisputed, Abduction), here clocking in his most high profile role to date. It turns out Luo used to have a business partner who, unbeknownst to him, was part of the terrorist group Brotherhood of Vengeance. The partner was killed by U.S. forces, but now his Dubai based son (played by Eyad Hourani) is desperate to get his hands on the riches he knows Luo helped his father accumulate, all so he can buy a new weapon of mass destruction and take his revenge of the U.S. military. When the Vanguards save Luo, he realises that they’ll go after his daughter, who’s on a mission to protect wildlife in Africa, so they hightail it (and for reasons unexplained Chan joins them) across the globe to save her.
In case you haven’t already surmised it, the story is atrocious, accompanied by a script which rivals Kung Fu Yoga in its sheer level of cringe worthiness. Yang Yang’s debrief about the daughter has him explaining “The girl went alone to protect African wildlife and risked her life recording poachers. She’s brave.” The rest of the quartet then muse on how they respect her, and how impressed they are by her commitment to the animals. Speaking of Africa, much like in Wolf Warrior 2, it’s referred to as a country rather than a continent, resulting in a lot of head scratching. Worse still is when Ai Lun is gifted a Captain China badge from his son, who proudly states he’s “mightier than Captain America!” Subtlety is not an option here.
If any production was an example of the challenges faced with the ‘let Chan give the spotlight to the young cast’ mentality, then Vanguard is exhibit number one. Both Yang Yang and Ai Lun (and Miya Muqi to an extent) are given the heavy lifting when it comes to the physical action, and they display competent action chops. The action is choreographed by Tong, the JC Stunt Team, and Han Kwan-Hua (who’s worked with Chan extensively since 2009’s Little Big Soldier), and the fights sometimes echo the Chan aesthetic of old. In a kitchen fight early on Yang Yang fights off two attackers either side of him using the classic punch and block that we first saw in Police Story, and Ai Lun utilises both the chilli in the eyes and the ‘shaky hands’ comedic trope after handling a spikey pineapple.
The challenge isn’t whether they can replicate Chan’s style of action or not, the challenge is that they’re not Chan. There’s a large portion of his fanbase who seem to believe he was only about the fights and the stunts, and if that can be replicated then all will be well with the world, but Chan in his prime was much more than that. His charisma, his comedic flair, and his energy all burnt off the screen, and that kind of stuff can’t be trained. We should have learnt that after the 2008 reality show The Disciple, where Chan was looking to name his successor. Jack Tu would walk away with the crown, and the promise of starring in 3 Chan produced movies. 12 years on, he hasn’t done anything since 2016, and prior to that his filmography consists of a few supporting roles that you can count on one hand. Chan can’t be replicated.
With that being said, for anyone experiencing Chan for the first time in Vanguard, they’d unlikely be of the same opinion. There’s an inescapable feeling that the producers have banked on a large part of Vanguard’s audience being the Jackie Chan faithful, as his character makes for a confusing mix. As the CEO he’s all poker-faced righteousness, likely to be found leading a chant of “We will be victorious!” or having droll discussions with Jackson Luo. In action, when he doesn’t have a gun in hand we’re back into Chan comedic territory, with the old ‘shaky hands’ visual gag used not once but twice (in the same scene, on top of Ai Lun’s own re-enactment, because why use an old joke once when you can use it 3 times?). It almost feels like Chan breaks character the handful of brief instances he’s called to fight, and it makes for a jarring juxtaposition.
When fists aren’t being thrown, which is frequently, the action is constantly derailed by painful CGI. I’m not sure anyone was impressed with the CGI hyenas and lion from Kung Fu Yoga, but regardless both are back with a vengeance. This time the lion even gets a name – Charlie. CGI isn’t just limited to the inhabitants of the African jungle, with Tong aiming for a Police Story 3: Supercop styled approach, incorporating plenty of vehicular mayhem. We get chases involving jeeps, jet-skis, rafts, and for the finale a bunch of vehicles made from gold (don’t ask). While parts of these scenes are done for real, the issue is that the real parts mostly seem to be for establishing shots, and the moment anything exciting happens it switches to CGI. CGI that often looks only semi-rendered, making it all the more obvious.
So yes we see Jackie Chan on a jet-ski (in a sequence that was reported as having him almost drown, when he got trapped under a rock after coming off it), however when the jet-ski launches itself off a rock, or does a harrowing turn on the edge of a waterfall, it’s CGI. Yes we also get gold cars chasing each other, but whenever one of them crashes or goes airborne, it’s CGI. Most obvious of all is a scene which takes inspiration from the sequence that kicks off Police Story, which saw multiple vehicles careering through a hillside village. Here we get the Dubai equivalent, only the whole thing is done with less than convincing CGI, and is frankly an embarrassment to witness. The usually reliable Bruce Law is credited as being behind the vehicular stunts, but the biggest risk here would appear to be a few broken pixels.
For the extended finale Tong seems eager to take a leaf out of the Operation Red Sea and Wolf Warrior 2 playbook, staging a gunfight that spills out onto the dusty streets (throwing in an RPG for good measure), but both Dante Lam and Wu Jing’s sequences are far superior. There’s plenty of shouting and gunfire, but there’s no understanding of distance and location, feeling more like a bunch of random inserts of people shooting at targets off-screen than a cohesive action sequence. Come to think of it, in many ways “shouting and gunfire” could be used to sum up Vanguard overall. Like a child who’s consumed too much sugar, it’s loud and in your face. Also like a child who’s consumed too much sugar, it’s annoying, tactless, and after a few minutes you just want it to end.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10
*It’s worth mentioning that for anyone watching Vanguard at the time of its release in late 2020, and wondering why it ends with everyone breaking the 4th wall to wish the audience a Happy New Year, the original release date was 25th January 2020 in line with the Lunar New Year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the release date was pushed out.
Wow. Based on what other people have said, I was prepared for a film almost as bad as Chan and Tong’s previous 2 films. This confirms it.
I feel bad for the young actors given the thankless task of not being Jackie Chan. They didn’t have to replicate him, and it seems like they were put in positions to fail.
One has to wonder what’s next. There’s that Jackie Chan/John Cena collab, but I’m not hyped up for it.
“One has to wonder what’s next.”
Hopefully retirement!
I doubt we’re going to see any charismatic young action stars coming out of China to be honest, even if they have the moves, the scripts stifle any onscreen magnetism by their nature. All of the characters in these movies are cut from the same cloth – morally righteous, courageous, self-sacrificing, responsible, and by the book. Basically the perfect model citizen (as seen through the eyes of the Communist Party of China).
Jackie still has that John Cena movie coming up. Can’t be anything but a step up from this.
Vanguard is without a doubt the worst of Jackie’s recent films. I barely consider it a Jackie film in fact.
I opened up the IMDB user reviews for this one a couple weeks back, and immediately found myself lost in a sea of 10/10 reviews from what I can only assume are paid accounts, saying such daft things as “WOW, Jackie Chan is back and better than ever!” and “CGI + KUNG FU = AWESOME!”.
Looking again now, it appears that IMDB has cleaned up most of them, which more or less confirms to me that those reviews were fake. I’ve can’t say I’ve ever seen astroturfing on such an egregious scale for any other movie before (and, like the movie itself, with so little subtlety).
I don’t know how to break this to you Dan, but those reviews are all still there. Yes, your comment made me go look. 🙂
There’s a large segment of Chan’s fan base which literally think he can do no wrong and that he has never been doubled in a movie. Ever. Believe me, I have had far too many discussions with these folks on forums and You Tube, lol.
I still respect Chan for his past work. He was a hero of mine growing up.
Still even i have to admit that he’s been declining, Still like The Foreigner shows, he’s still capable of good work. He just needs the right script and director.
Chan’s reputation will never be tarnished due to the sheer volume of action & comedy gold from yesteryear, and the nostalgia that binds them. But movies like KFY & from what I’m reading, this too, you can’t help but just feel sad. We don’t have to watch them, but we know damn well we will.
YES Paul liked Seized more than this ! Wohoo ! 🥳 Mission accomplished !
Seriously though lol this movie was bad and you hit the nail on the head with every point you’ve made Paul, hopefully Jackie retires while he’s still RELATIVELY ahead and the younger members of the JC Stunt Team can take up the mantle for a brighter, Better Tomorrow for HK Action.
Sorry to say but for me HK action as we know it died more than 10 years ago, and it’s not going to be any of the JC Stunt Team that bring it back. In the teams 40+ year history can you name even one of them that’s come close to having a successful leading man career?
As someone who grew up watching kung-fu and Hong Kong action flicks, I have to agree that it’s no longer the same. First of all, look at how many are put out each year, regardless of quality. Out of several dozen flicks, you’ll have maybe 3 or 4 that really stand out. The rest get chucked in the garbage. Unless Donnie Yen and/or Yuen Woo Ping are involved, these movies lack the star and producing power that they need in order to succeed. Jackie Chan, bless his soul, isn’t the same as he used to be 20 years ago. I don’t blame him for getting old, it happens to everyone, but the stuff that he’s been in over the past 12 or so years, really haven’t been good.
Next, look at the competition that Hong Kong movies have now. We’ve got action films from all over the world that are stepping up. We’ve got movies from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Chile, just to name a few. Call me crazy, but some of these countries have been doing Hong Kong-style movies better than Hong Kong recently. I’m not going to count Hong Kong down for the count, because there is still some decent stuff coming out from Hong Kong, but they really need to up their game, if they want to remain relevant.
The last great, HK action flick was FULLTIME KILLER. Once the 2000’s hit, it was already showing signs of what was ahead.
There are actors who simply cannot cede center stage either because they’re multi-hyphenates like Chan and Stallone and are convinced no one can replace them or gigantic pricks with swollen egos (do I even need to name him?).
Then again there are those who are self-assured and comfortable enough in their skins to be able to step aside and let other actors shine. Dolph Lundgren has always been able to effortlessly switch from hero to heel right up to this day where he continues to kick ass in DTV actioners while showing up in supporting roles in Aquaman. Credit Arnie for this too. While I had massive problems with Terminator Dark Fate, mostly for it’s treatment of John Connor and the umpteenth recycling of old storylines, you gotta hand it to Schwarzenegger for being ok to show up to his franchise in what is basically an extended cameo and even letting Linda Hamilton walk away with his iconic line. Chan’s a long way from such self-effacement.
Except that Jackie Chan still has a huge fan base around the world. If we have the right to be disappointed, it is not in relation to his megalomania. On the contrary. Since 2016, Jackie Chan has tended to step aside to put groups of young people without charisma or personality. Alone, The Foreigner is a success.
Jackie Chan needs to get back to the top of the bill as one and only hero or with established actors of his age. Without the need for a group. Something like Equalizer or Die Hard or more dramatic film like those with Clint Eastwood.
Or something like Sammo Hung’s ‘The Bodyguard’!
i ditched both the myth and kung fu yoga, and just like you i was hoping 3 was the charm, but it’s really a terrible flick.
So I take it Brahim Achabbakhe is completely wasted in this as the villain. No Chan vs Brahim? Bogus. Yeah, I’ll skipping this.
Nope, and that’s not a bad thing, I mean Chan battling someone who’s not too far off being half his age was never going to be a thrilling matchup.
Vanguard reminded me The Expendables 3. The proven stars of old being replaced by a bunch of younger and (mostly) forgettable cast.
“Die as a hero, or live enough for to become a villain.”
Chan’s Era is already gone.
Does this mean we’re getting a remake of KILLER METEORS?
Yikes that’s disappointing. I mean I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece but the trailers looked like they captured a bit of the magic of the older JC flicks, (albeit with stunt doubles and terrible CGI lol).
Didn’t find it as bad as a 3 but i also realized that people were gonna think it’s crap if you’re an action/HK cinema junky. I also didn’t find the CGI that bad considering nothing from china has “good” CGI. It’s just fluff and something that you’ll watch when it’s on netflix. A down the middle action fare.
Also I don’t get the sentiment that Jackie should step aside and play a smaller role in an action movie. You see jackie chan on the billing you go to see jackie chan. He knows that and the audience knows that. I’m not sure why it’s always labeled as his ego getting in the way of letting other people shine. I would say since CZ12 he’s been letting pretty much unknown actors do most of the fighting and action in his movies. I’m not sure why he’s always needed a successor but no other action star does. Like you said, you can’t replicate what he does or did. I just wish he would do different movies so he doesn’t have to carry the film on his own or that there is no one is his way. The lunar new year stuff can’t be his bread and butter anymore. Honestly I think this is what we will get until he’s like 70 or something though. Plus this is probably the only type of movie that producers go “yea lets put jackie in that”.
Yes, he knows that people will go to a movie if his name is on it, but in his case it’s a bait and switch since those people aren’t getting what they paid for. And he needs to make way for the next generation because that’s what a good action star does. Of course in Vanguard, he doesn’t do a good job of it because this cast of unknowns are just thrown into the fire completely unprepared.
I’d be happy if Jackie just made movies like The Foreigner, but if he’d rather do stuff like this, then it’s better that he retires.
Worth pointing out that the “cast of unknowns” really only applies to the west. Both Yang Yang and Ai Lun are bankable stars in China, and Miya Muqi is the nations most famous yoga instructor (which is likely what led to her role in ‘Kung Fu Yoga’!). Chinese movies (and their stars) no longer need to appeal to the west, or even their neighbors like Korea and the Philippines, like Hong Kong movies used to. The population is so large that even if a fraction see the movie, it’ll result in a bigger box office than if the entire population of the U.S. went to see it.
Well, I should rephrase that as “unknown in the west” or “unknown in the action genre.” They sure didn’t make a good first impression with us big footed westerners who want new action stars! 😛
Definitely. The Foreigner is near a perfect action film. Whether you’re casual JC fan or a die hard one, The Foreigner delivers on all levels. But the last “great JC film” was Who Am I? Somewhere between these two is the excellent Shinjuku Incident. Other than that, the best we’ll probably get from JC is a Rush Hour 4 (at least it might be funny). Unless someone gets Martin Campbell to do another film with him.
JJ I agree. My 3 fav Chan movies of the last 10 years is Shinjuku Incident, The Karate Kid remake and The Foreigner. The commonality between them? Chan ditched his “comedic clown prince of kung fu in a slapstick idiotic comedy adventure suitable for ages 8-80 so the entire family can watch it over the Chinese New Year” approach to tackle more serious adult-oriented fare. You can’t just keep serving the same wine in a new bottle, you gotta tweak the recipe a little.
Like how Stallone resurrected his 2 iconic characters. Rocky came back as a mentor/coach figure while the last 2 Rambo movies ditched the 80’s style action bombast to revert to a meaner, more brutal 70’s era exploitation vibe.
what good action star made way for a new generation? How do you accomplish that unless you stop doing action? Stallone, WIllis, Schwarzenegger all have tried making movies off their name well past their primes. Keanu Reeves has been around since the 90’s. Tom Cruise is still in his 50’s making mission impossible. It’s inevitable new blood will step in eventually and fill a role and you don’t need to stop headlining your own action movies for that to happen.
I never said he needed to make way for a new generation, merely tweak the TYPE of action movies he makes. KARATE KID and FOREIGNER still made use of Jackie’s martial arts ability while making allowances for his age and centering his character in more dramatic serious roles. All his contemporaries who you mention stay relevant that way. My issue with shit like KUNG FU YOGA is that it features all the nonsensical scattershot plotting and idiotic slapstick of classic Jackie but without Jackie in his prime mitigating that with some jaw dropping action choreography (which his age now precludes) . Hell, New Police Story is worth a dozen of these crapfests and in itself was different in tone to Police Story 1-4, a more serious and dramatic approach. I know Lockdown is a Police Story installment in name only, but featured a genuinely honest performance from Jackie, although I admit not something his hardcore fans would embrace.
I understand you. Sorry if I came across angry or upset, I was just not understanding very well.
Blacketh, no harm done, mate! We’re all passionate about cinema here 🙂
I respect your take on China’s poor CGI capabilities, but I can’t bring myself to give a movie a higher score based on the fact their CGI has been bad for so long we should now just accept it as the norm, because that’s lowering our own standards. Flicks like ‘Operation Red Sea’ and ‘Wolf Warrior 2’, which are both equally grounded in reality like ‘Vanguard’ (as opposed to fantasy fare like ‘League of Gods’ and ‘Double World’) both have their shaky CGI moments, but by enlarge its well integrated, proving that China can do good CGI when it wants to.
As for Chan, I think the reasons why there are calls for him to retire/step aside have changed a lot in the last 10 years. Back then it was more about him not being able to move like he used to, so there was a desire to see him transition into more appropriate roles (which in fairness he did – like in ‘Little Big Soldier’, ‘The Karate Kid’, and ‘Shaolin’). Since then though the Mainland has become a box office juggernaut, and Chan’s made no secret of the fact he aligns himself with the Communist Party of China. This has seen his movies increasingly become mouth pieces for party policies and international relations (the awful ‘One Belt. One Road’ discussion in ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ about strengthening India and China relations, and the even worse congratulatory back and forth between Chan and the Dubai police force that closes out ‘Vanguard’), which is so brazen it gives you heart burn. I think this is what bothers a lot of Chan’s audience these days, and long for the days when politics weren’t a part of his movies agenda.
At one point in ‘Vanguard’ Chan says “Greed is the root of all evil”, if only he’d take his own characters advice.
Given how much he kevetched in the past about his work with Lo Wei, Robert Clouse, Chu Yen Ping and Wong Jing…you’d think Jackie would have wished to keep up the pretence that he had standards!
Post 2004, the only Jackie Chan films I have liked are Spy Next Door, 1911, and, of course, The Foreigner.
However, I did like some moments in Forbidden Kingdom very well.
Spy Next Door, huh? First time I’ve seen anyone recommend that film. Now I’m curious.
Shaolin was OK – in fact, it’s the most recent of his movies that I have seen!
Forbidden Kingdom was fine apart from the cringey shoe-horning of the American boy into it. I’m not sure what’s worse – Chan pandering to Mainland China or him pandering to Hollywood.
I remember the days when he made HONG KONG movies!
Oh hell no. That is a terrible, terrible movie. Even my girlfriend’s daughter – who was a child when she saw it – thought it was bad.
Well Paul, spot on with the review. What appears to be a good idea for a movie has been sanitised by the Chinese government, from the action sequences, which always start off well and then are ruined by shoddy CG (the lion is unacceptable!), to the awful ‘characters’, especially Yang Yang – an airbrushed, bland and overly nationalistic painting of a person. At one point he says to the terrorist, who speaks Mandarin; ‘You have learnt our tongue but not our ethics’. What ethics does someone in private security have, who effectively kills people for money?
Vanguard isn’t the worst Chan movie, it zipped by and was 90% action at least (that is a toss-up between The Medallion and Kung Fu Yoga for me) but it makes you long for the glory days of Hong Kong cinema even more than we already do! I like the debate about his last ‘good’ film. For me it is New Police Story – an interesting story, fine action and a great turn from Nicholas Tse.
I have been watching Jackie for 30 years, how sad that he has become a puppet for the communist party. At least we will always have Police Story.
“At one point he says to the terrorist, who speaks Mandarin; ‘You have learnt our tongue but not our ethics’.”
That line made me wince. I actually took notes of all the cringe inducing lines while I was watching it, with the goal of including them in the review, but after 30 mins there’d already been so many I realized it’d warrant a feature of its own. Another horrendous one is when Chan realizes his Dubai counterpart understands Mandarin as well, to which he explains it’s because his wife is Chinese, and Chan replies, “Oh, your wife is Chinese, she must be beautiful!” Unfortunately, the scene is not supposed to be comedic.
Sounds like a film with confidence issues!
It’s not.