It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A man searches the world for a set of mystic artifacts - 12 bronze heads of the animals from the Chinese zodiac. To be honest this movie is better than it gets credit for and for the reviews it received. Sure it's kinda cheesy at times but it's an action, adventure, comedy i mean what did you expect to see from it? Jackie Chan might be old but he also still has it and once again he defines himself for what he does and who he is with this movie. It's fun, entertaining and has some good action packed moments that overcomes some flaws it has in it. (7.5/10) (B+)

I was kind of disappointed when I saw the rate of the film here in IMDb, I didn't read some reviews when I watched it back then so I have a complete unbiased observation in the film. It didn't even get an average of 7 stars. I literally had a good time watching it with my bros during the whole two hours. The film did not disappoint the die-hard martial arts fans because the fighting scenes are totally awesome, thrilling, and exciting at the same time. You can see in the film that Jackie still haven't aged based on the fight scenes. Jackie Chan still has that wacky sense of humor but some scenes force the audience to try to understand the blatant moral message of the whole film. But if you've seen Jackie Chan's films during the 80's and 90's, this film will hit right to your nostalgic daydreaming. But one of the flaws of the movie could be the fact that it is as expected as it would be. Though it has a mix of an adventure and not just an action film, the same formulas are applied coming from the previous Jackie Chan films. But as for me, that is the reason why it is such a great film. It didn't let down the Jackie Chan's fans especially this when this is his last action-packed movie. Also, the comedy in between films is blatantly forced and the abundance of stereotypes on the characters are a little bit disappointing. But it was compensated by again, the cool action scenes and the wonderful set production. The diversity of the languages throughout the film (English, Chinese, and French) did not actually help the film to have a different touch. The one thing that is cool with this film (besides all the Jackie Chan moments) was when a Chinese woman and a French woman fight head to head, that was totally awesome. But in the end, this movie doesn't have to be deep or controversial just to get acclaims. It is a Jackie Chan film and he is one of a kind. Even at the age of 60 years old, he brought justice in this film and that is good enough for me. This film just requires you to relax and be amazed. Jackie Chan proves again in this film that he is a classic actor and really tries to connect with the audience. He still inspires us in many ways and continues to embrace the craft.

I've probably seen at least 80% of Jackie's films, new and old, plenty more than once, but I was really disappointed at this. I watched the English dub (normally I'd prefer to watch the original language, subtitled into English) The script feels like they took every other line out at random, and the plot, such as it is, really suffers because of it. A decent scriptwriter handling the English version could have made all the difference.It's a shame because the production values are high, and the stunts are good (if a little fake in places, due to obvious wire removal shots, which is a shame because that is what I enjoyed most about the old films)

I have been a fan of Jackie Chan's since I was a teenager... which means that he has been working in the action genre since the early '70s... which means that he's already 60 years old. Chinese Zodiac is far from being at the same level of classics from his filmography, such as Armour of God or Operation Condor, and it's a sequel of those films which retakes the adventures of the "Asian Hawk" (also known as "Condor"), a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones who employs his amazing physical ability, high-technology gadgets and big doses of humor in order to find historical relics of a big monetary and cultural value. In this occasion, the search of brass heads will take the Hawk from elegant European palaces to the depths of the jungle, and he will be in conflict with professional counterfeiters, pirates (including the Asian version of Captain Jack) and students who protest the illegal auction of historical artifacts which belong to Chinese people. In summary, we are in presence of a film with too many sub-plots, and that provokes unavoidable confusion, a parade of characters who appear and disappear from the film without any explanation, and dramatic moments which should cause an impact... if we could understand what's going on. On the action aspect, Chinese Zodiac is a bit modest, but that doesn't avoid the presence of intense fights and excellent stunts. In order to make his life a bit easier, Chan delegated the biggest part of the fights to his co-stars, and he employed a considerable digital help to make many of the stunts; however, we can see him in a very good shape during the denouement of the film, in one of his traditional fights with a complicated choreography, and in an attractive action sequence on the slope of a volcano, which looks like a modernized version of that famous stunt which almost cost his life in Operation Condor. So, despite not being a highly memorable film, Chinese Zodiac is an entertaining action film which deserves a moderate recommendation to fans of Chan's who need confirmation of this artist's (note that I didn't say "actor") talent, and of his indomitable compromise to the audience, being at an age when he should be resting and producing films, instead of keep risking his life in front of the cameras. But I don't know if I could recommend it to neophytes in the matter; to them, I would suggest to start approaching Chan's filmography with some of the films he made in the '80s (Police Story and Police Story 2 are my favorite ones from his whole filmography). And, as always, don't forget to stay during the credits of Chinese Zodiac, where we can see bloopers, some details from behind the scenes and even a retrospective of Chan's filmography. This might seem a bit arrogant and self-indulgent, but if there's someone who earned the right of saying "I'm proud of myself", that one is Chan. After all, he has payed the admiration of his fans with blood.