Little Big Soldier

Jackie Chan’s fans must be physically and mentally tired by now. After chasing their idol from cinema to cinema over dozens of films for more than 30 years, fans know a jolly good time awaits them when Jackie is in town.
Little Big Soldier may not be as grand as Red Cliff I and II, but it has its moments on the big screen. Unlike John Woo’s historical epic, Little Big Soldier takes a micro view approach to a period in China’s ancient times when the Middle Kingdom consisted of a chaotic bunch of warring states.
Jackie plays the role of a farmer turned soldier for the State of Liang. Actually, he and his two brothers were reluctant recruits into the army. Only the Little Soldier (Jackie) survived because he has more wit and luck than brawn.
His fate takes a detour when he rescued a wounded enemy soldier in the battlefield. The wounded soldier turns out to be a general (Wang Lee Hom) from the State of Wei.
The general was actually a prince who was the sole survivor in a dastardly plot by his brother Wen (Steve Yoo) who wanted the throne for himself.
The main focus is on the rocky relationship between the soldier and his captive general. While the soldier is adamant about returning to his original lifestyle of being a simple farmer, the general seeks to fulfil his destiny as a conqueror.
Wang Lee Hom, who is in reality is a talented singer with youthful looks, plays a scruffy, dirty and pugnacious prince who is quite embarrassed that he is a captive of a part time soldier.
His major however does not give him a weighty presence. But Wang has acquitted himself well in this role for which he had to strenuously trained for months on the use of ancient fighting weapons.
Naturally, he’s overshadowed by Jackie who somehow manages to steal the thunder from everyone who are his co-stars.
Not for the first time, Jackie plays the underdog but his role as a second fiddle suits him well in this film.
Together the pair makes an odd couple but there’s a moral to the story. Jackie conceptualized Little Big Soldier more than 20 years ago but circumstances prevented him from turning the story into reality until recently.
It is not the kind of movie that one expects to see as far as period movies are concerned. This Chinese New Year movie focuses on the relationship of two men who have divergent interests in life.
Somehow in the melee and chaos that rule their lives for a while, both arrive at a mutual understanding but not before fate throws them into a boiling cauldron of close calls and life-threatening situations.
Little Big Soldier does not have spectacular battle scenes. What it has in spades are cheeky repartees that draw laughter and sometimes trigger quiet reflection.
The two newcomers in the film are Steve Yoo or Yoo Seung-Jun who plays Wen, the ambitious brother of the general. Yoo was a Korean pop idol about 10 years ago.
His music career came to an abrupt end in 2002 amid controversy over his US citizenship status just before he was drafted into the Korean military service.
Lin Peng or the songstress who added a feminine touch to an otherwise macho movie is from mainland China who caught the world’s attention when she performed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
Little Big Soldier marks Lin Peng’s debut in the film industry.
The biggest surprise in this show is Jackie Chan’s uncommon approach to a storyline of epic proportions. Some of the scenes in the movie come from China’s popular scenic spots.
The rivers and the mountains are a wonder to behold. These make up for the clumsy battle scenes that simply could not stand up to the standards of John Woo’s Red Cliff battle scenes.
But this film has its own limited merits. While Wang Lee Hom now has bragging rights to being Jackie Chan’s sidekick in a movie, the show is singularly designed to entertain all who are going to the cinema this Chinese New Year season.