Review: ’1911′

This year marks the 100th anniversary of China's Xinhai Revolution, a fact I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know until I saw "1911," the Chinese war epic co-directed by and starring Jackie Chan. But based on watching the film, I learned a lot about the bloody conflict that brought the end of feudal rule and sowed the seeds for the future Republic. Apparently, it was very similar to the "Star Wars" prequels: lots of people arguing about policy minutiae, very clear lines between good and evil, and battle scenes that are lavish but dull. Oh, and it went on forever.

A Chinese production that's very rah-rah, "1911" plays like a textbook-with-pictures account of how the revolution (led by Sun Yat-Sen, played by Winston Chao) helped put an end to the Qing Dynasty and was orchestrated on the battlefield and through backdoor politicking. Chan plays Huang Xing, a commander in the rebel army who seems to have no discernible personality beyond being incredibly stoic. Over the course of the film's two hours, we get many, many on-screen titles that explain to us what date it is, who the random person talking is, and what historic event is happening or has just happened. If you accidentally are entertained at any point, hey, that's your problem.

Chan is listed as the "general director" for "1911," but the film's actual director is Zhang Li, who was a cinematographer on John Woo's sprawling, superb period war movie "Red Cliff." "1911" is equally visually sumptuous, but as a story it's a disaster, turning history into a bullet-point resuscitation of facts that seems to have little interest in understanding either the politics or the people involved. (The film's mostly in Mandarin, but if you want to truly appreciate the tone-deafness of "1911," check out the English-speaking performers, who seem to be wholly unfamiliar with how dialogue is spoken or what acting is.)

Even the battle scenes, elaborate and pretty as they are, suffer from the same dull competency that infects the whole film. Much like a lot of state-approved propaganda or a right-wing advocacy documentary such as "The Undefeated," "1911" looks like a movie but it sure doesn't feel like one. It doesn't have a soul or a spark, and it can't even orchestrate the easy emotional moments right. (For example, there's a character who discovers that his wife is pregnant near the end of the film, and you'd be forgiven if you just now recognized that she was in the movie.)

So what are you left with? A lot of lavish sets and beautiful images and words on the screen telling you what's happening. Oh, and Jackie Chan. Much has been made about the fact that this is his 100th film as an actor, which is an astounding feat. But here's a guy who's been as consistent a force of cheery goodwill in movies as any I can remember. (Even when he's kicked a bunch of baddies' asses, he really seemed like he was having a fun time.) But there's no fun in "1911" -- or drama or suspense or gripping characters. China got a nation-changing revolution, and all we got was this lame movie.

Grade: C-