REVIEW: 1911, Jackie Chan's 100th Movie, a Dour Historical Affair
1911 may be filled with lavish battle sequences and scenes involving masses of extras in picture perfect period garb, but the most breathtaking thing about Jackie Chan's 100th film is how indifferent it is to international audiences. The Chinese blockbuster hasn't needed or necessarily even sought out multinational success of late -- if homegrown hits from the last few years like earthquake disaster drama Aftershock and romantic comedy If You Are The One and its sequel (all three of which happen to share the same director, Feng Xiaogang) don't sound familiar, that's because they've gotten nominal American releases or none at all. For U.S. markets, foreign still equals arthouse, and films that fall outside of that equation often confound studios and audiences who aren't sure which niche subtitled mainstream fare should fall into.
