Kung Fu Yoga (2017)

Streaming Service: Amazon Prime
Movie Name/Year: Kung Fu Yoga (2017)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Length: 107 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: ABS-CBN Film Productions, Baidu Nuomi Pictures, Beijing Herui FIlm Culture, Beijing Idea Media, Beijing Taihe Zeruo Culture Investment, China Film, China Film Co., Ltd., China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), Clover Films, Film & TV House, GEM Entertainment, Golden Network Asia, Golden Screen Cinemas, Golden Village Pictures, Hero Productions, Huace Pictures, Huaxia Film Distribution, Icon Film Distribution, Kadokawa, Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment, Kashgar J.Q. Media & Culture, Khorgos Taihe Digital Entertainment Cultural Development, Koch Media, Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia Company, Nextainment Pictures, Phars Film, Prosperity Pictures, Rui Off, Shanghai Taihe Pictures, Shanghai Taopiaopiao Film Culture, Shinework Pictures, Sparkle Roll Media, Taihe Entertainment, Tanweer Films, TOABH Talent Management, Top Entertainment, Well Go USA Entertainment, Xi'an Qujiang Film & TV Investment, Youth Film Studio
Director: Stanley Tong
Writer: Stanley Tong
Actors: Jackie Chan, Yixing Zhang, Miya Muqi, Disha Patani, Aarif Rahman, Amyra Dastur, Sonu Sood, Paul Philip Clark, Yuxian Shang, Jiang Wen, Eric Tsang, Guoli Zhang
 
Blurb from IMDb: Two professors team up to locate a lost treasure and embark on an adventure that takes them from a Tibetan ice cave to Dubai, and to a mountain temple in India.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I’m not going to judge Kung Fu Yoga as a mainstream flick. I don’t think that’s what they were aiming for. Instead, it seems to me that it falls into the sub-genre of caricature parody.
 
If you look at Kung Fu Yoga as a real kung fu, mainstream, movie… you’re not going to enjoy it. The script was not great, everything was super campy, and there were a few CGI scenes that felt straight out of an early 2000s video game cut-scene. Once you accept that it’s a parody, however, it’s not all that bad.
 
You pretty much know what to expect when Jackie Chan is in the credits. Especially when it’s not meant to be a serious film. The fight choreography was hilarious, even when it didn’t 100% make sense. That’s his bread and butter. No one does silly comedic impressive fighting quite like Chan.
 
As a parody, it still had flaws, though.
 

I mentioned already that the script was bad. That almost feels like an understatement. However, I think only part of that quality can be attributed to the script itself. A lot of the flaw was with the delivery.
 
I have to assume the acting was intentionally bad. I mean, I’ve seen a few of the actors in other projects and they don’t strike me as bad in general. That possibility lends to my belief that it’s a caricature.
 
There were also some other genre anomalies.
 
Kung Fu Yoga seemed to blend bits of Chinese film with Bollywood aspects, there was even a bit a Westernization thrown in. I think there’s something to be said for the diversity in that. It did lead to some confusing switch ups, and a wholly unsatisfying ending, though.
 
The bottom line was that it did have qualities that I would describe as ‘so bad it’s good’. It definitely wouldn’t be for everyone, but I’m glad I watched it for the fight scenes alone.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 48%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 35%
Metascore – 50%
Metacritic User Score – 4.7
IMDB Score – 5.1/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5
 
Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: PG-13
 
Movie Trailer: