I am a big fan of historical movies and am especially drawn to all things dealing with the history of China, so I decided to turn this one on a few nights back. Given Chan’s recent career move towards more serious films, I thought it would also be the perfect opportunity to see what he was capable of.
The film is based on actual events, though like any movie there are a few embellishments for the sake of drama. And though Chan stays away from his old style of stunts and martial arts, someone in charge of the film decided that they needed at least one scene of him flipping around. Unfortunately, seeing this early-1900s era revolutionary historical figure kicking guns out of people’s hands and beating them to a pulp instantly destroyed the film’s credibility to
me.
The movie itself isn’t an overall bad piece of work, though the subject matter might be something best left to documentaries. Given that the film only runs 1 hour and 45 minutes, it plays like a series of rapid-fire scenes with way too many characters and a dozen unexplored plot-lines. Generally, when doing a war-based historical movie the writers will choose to focus in on one event or series of events and a few characters. With 1911 they try to cover the whole war and everyone involved. When there is time to develop the characters, they do a good job, but this is something that doesn’t play a big enough role in the film.
I know a quite a bit about Chinese history from my university days, but even I had trouble keeping up with all the changes of scene and characters that took place. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for those completely unschooled in the subject matter. The only saving grace is that Chan is becoming a much better actor and in this movie it shows. Hopefully his improved acting focus will carry on to bigger and better projects than the mediocre 1911.