Dragon Blade review: “Lavish costumes and great action sequences.”

Dragon Blade review: John Cusack and Adrien Brody head to the Far East for this fun action/ drama with Jackie Chan.

It may not be the trio of stars one would expect to team up, but Dragon Blade offers us an interesting assortment of well regarded actors in a very lavish, and very Chinese, action epic. Martial arts god, Jackie Chan, teams up with the great when he’s trying John Cusack, and Academy Award winning (but also a bit hit and miss) Adrian Brody. It’s always interesting to see how Hollywood stars perform outside of their comfort zone as you have to wonder whether they took the paycheque without bringing the effort. Fortunately, at least where the three leads are concerned, this is not the case.

Our film follows the protection of The Silk Road, a desert path in China that links East and West. Many kingdoms, lands, and races are linked by this road and so it is up to Huo An (Chan) and his protectors to keep law and order. After being framed for a crime Huo An is escorted to a city to face punishment, but is soon needed to face off against Roman general Lucius (Cusack) who it is believed wishes to take over the city. After a sandstorm interrupts their battle, Huo An offers sanctuary to Lucius and his army and soon discovers that a greater threat, in the guise of Brody’s duplicitous Tiberius, is looking to conquer the whole Silk Road.

From here an unlikely friendship develops between Lucius and Huo An. Cusack and Chan have a surprising amount of rapport, even with the difficulties in communication; although Huo An’s level of English changes in accordance to the needs of the script. The actors are able to emote some complex feelings accordingly, and the film is at its most fun as we see the Roman’s and the Chinese bonding. The Romans agree to help complete the city walls, and there’s also a very enjoyable friendly sparring sequence that best showcases the fantastic and engrossing action sequences.

Brody is despicably great, coming off as hateful and sinister, which may be aided by his typical cinematic Roman accent that sounds strangely British. Despite this, once the plot separates Cusack and Chan, the flaws become apparent. It must be remembered that this is a Chinese production and as such it is very overblown. The score is loud and intrusive to the point where the English speaking cast have to be subtitled at times so we know what they’re saying whilst being drowned out by beating drums.

The editing is also particularly jarring, with forced slow-motion sequences typical of the genre. China still loves a slow-motion name call during death, just to remind us of how powerful it is. The film has also been cut from its initial Chinese release, and unless I’m mistaken, these cuts are painfully apparent. A number of scenes fade to black with such speed that it seems like a cue for the adverts in a television show. Add to this a needless amount of flashbacks to previous scenes in the film and you are left with a fun but uncomfortable viewing experience.

If lavish costumes and great action sequences are your bag, then Dragon Blade will certainly entertain you enough, even if the obvious 3D shots (here presented in 2D) mean that a lot of poorly rendered CG weapons fly your way. By no means terrible and no means great, this is a mediocre effort let down by a number of technical flaws.

Dragon Blade review by Luke Ryan Baldock, January 2016.

Dragon Blade is playing in select UK cinemas and On Demand from 15th January.