Starring
Donnie Yen, Eva Huang, Wang Bao Qiang, Simon Yam, Yu Kang, Jiang Shu
Ying. Directed by Raymond Yip. (2018/88 min).
AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Tiger the Terrible🙀
This
is a sequel to 2014's Iceman. If you haven't seen it, don't
fret too much. Despite a scant running time, the opening ten minutes of Iceman:
Time Traveler consists of footage from the first film, with star Donnie
Yen providing a voiceover that recaps the entire plot.
What's
left is a disjointed, rambling and ultimately dull story that still
feels unnecessarily padded out. Picking up where the first film left
off, Ming Dynasty warrior He Ying (Yen) travels back to his own time,
hopefully to save his village and clear his name. His former
childhood friends & blood brothers - led by Cheung (Simon Yam) -
have a different agenda: Use the time travel device to rule all of
China.
Never
mind that the film's temporal narrative makes little logistical
sense (and grows increasingly perplexing during the climax). Gone are
the amusing fish-out-of-water elements that at-least made the first
film watchable. This sequel is overly-serious and relentlessly talky,
not-to-mention boring. For an action movie, Iceman: The Time
Traveler has precious little of it. Even then, the fight
sequences are often enhanced by way too much CGI to be interesting or
plausible.
 |
| Donnie Yen drops the mic. |
I'm
a big fan of Donnie Yen. He's a phenomenal martial artist and a good
actor whose sincerity and charisma has elevated many films that would
have otherwise been mundane. But in this one, Yen appears to be
coasting on autopilot. While he isn't terrible, he's not particularly
engaging, either. More distressingly, aside from a brief - and
ridiculous - skirmish on-board a passenger train, nearly an hour
passes before his formidable fighting skills are called upon.
While
the original wasn't exactly a feather in Yen's cap, Iceman: The
Time Traveler is one of the worst films in his lengthy
filmography. Though elaborately produced, it's undone by a convoluted
story, erratic pacing and an uncharacteristically indifferent
performance by its star. For Yen fans, or even those who actually
enjoyed the first film, don't say you weren't warned.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
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LANGUAGE OPTION
DVD
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KITTY CONSENSUS:
BLEH...LIKE COUGHING UP A HAIRBALL.
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