Vanguard

The Boys in the Band Won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play

Movies Action Crime
107 min     6.3     2020     China

Overview

Vanguard is a 2020 Chinese action-adventure film. According to the film's plot, Vanguard is the name of a private security service that protects VIP clients worldwide. The headquarters of the organization, located in London, receives a message about a wealthy Chinese businessman's kidnapping. For the hostage to give out the necessary information, the hired militants are planning to get to his daughter, who is in Africa, completely unaware of her father's situation. At this time, the Vanguard comes into play, carrying out a rescue mission led by the hero of Jackie Chan.

The action creators tried to make a beautiful and modern picture, invited young actors and the Chinese pop idol Zhu Zhengting. But the film has a lot of ill-conceived details that even Jackie Chan's play does not help.

Jackie Chan hasn't a title role in the film. The actor's character controls rescue operations, participating in fights, but he is only a minor hero with a noble mission. There is no title character in Vanguard; it presents a collective story with sometimes awkward episodes. For example, there is a scene with a CGI animal (the case when it is better to show a real lion rather than persistently demonstrate the friendship between a person and the result of unconvincing computer graphics).

This film will appeal only to fans of Jackie Chan. However, the creators expected that the film's rating would be high due to Jackie's presence.

Reviews

JPV852 wrote:
Pretty awful in just about every way. The action is tired and boring, the acting all around awful (including Chan who looked disinterested) and the CGI was laughably bad where in an age of Fast and Furious (and I know that series employs CGI as well, but some of the car stunts are real), it's inexcusable that they couldn't even do a drift without visual effects. The plot itself is weak and the climax with the villain's ultimate plan of revenge (on a captain of a USS carrier who we only see for a few minutes) is a letdown and a weapon he paid $800M for was weak and easily destroyed. A real waste of nearly two hours. **1.5/5**

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