At one point in the movie, Jackie Chan exclaims, “I love Indiana Jones!”. Kung Fu Yoga is the tale of a professor of antiquities in China, played by Jackie Chan, who leads students as well as his martial-arts-trained nephew (Aarif Rahman), in a treasure hunt, much like Indiana Jones. We watched the premiere of the movie at Novo Cinemas, Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai.
There are a few others who seek the ancient treasures, too – South Asian yoga practitioner (Disha Patani), and an Indian patrician (Sonu Sood). The journey takes them to the China-India border; Dubai; and Jaipur, India. Directed by Stanley Tong ( who also directed movies such as Supercop, Rumble In The Bronx, First Strike, The Myth), Kung Fu Yoga is a good-natured comedy, similar to most Jackie Chan movies.
In the movie, Dr. Amishta (Disha Patani) arrives from India with an ancestral map that might help locate Bhima. Jack enlists Jones (Aarif Rahman), a disreputable fortune hunter, to help.
They set up shop by a glacier, as Jack and his team find an underground cave where Bhima and the treasure lie. There, they are attacked by Randall (Sonu Sood) and his men. Jones steals the “Eye of Shiva” and abandons his friends, who barely escape alive.
The rest of the story forms as to how the team managed to get back the Eye of Shiva and whether they manage to recover the treasure they were looking for from the start. While Chan is 60+ already, he still pulls off most of the stunts quite brilliantly.
The rest of the star cast are also equally closely knitted, though sometimes the “lectures” on Yoga and Kung Fu, does get too boring. As the leading man, Chan does a brilliant job at keeping the movie and characters together.
CGI team is excellent in the movie. Especially the car chase sequences shot in Dubai just stand out quite brilliantly. Stunt and action choreography by Tong, Chan, and Wu Gang involve predatory animals and cobras in scenes that are thrilling at times.
Watch out for the end of the movie as you get treated to an affectionate tribute to Bollywood production numbers. However we were quite let down by the fact that the movie did not include Chan’s customary bloopers over the closing credits.
Nevertheless, Kung Fu Yoga is a one time watch. Fans of Jackie Chan will love the overall stunts and action sequences in the movie, while some may cringe at various scenes throughout the movie. Having said that though, Kung Fu Yoga is a jolly good rollercoaster ride.
