*narrator voice* Jackie Chan as Small Potato in… LITTLE BIG SOLDIER
Little Big Soldier, Da Bing Xiao Jiang, opens on the warring states of China… the Qin, Chu, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qi, and Yan are all fighting among each other. Han and Zhao were conquered by the Qin. Then, in 227 BC, Wei soldiers were sent to attack Liang, and were ambushed at Phoenix hill. This is where our story starts.
The Soldier, also known as Small Potato (played by Jackie Chan), is the only survivor of the ambush at Phoenix Hill. Both armies had annihilated each other. As the Soldier is scrounging around the battle field for supplies and such, he comes across his General. His General then charges the Wei flag only to find the Prince of Wei (you don’t know that he’s the prince of Wei yet) still guarding it. After the general dies, the Soldier captures the Prince of Wei, who he thinks is just the general of the other army, and plans to take him back to Liang to collect the reward offered for enemy generals.
There’s always a victor in war. Only when the victor has unified the world will there be peace. – the General of Wei
This is quite an achievement for Chinese cinema. The film is funny, has a star studded cast (Sung-jun Yoo, Jackie Chan, and Leehom Wang), the film quality is up to snuff, and it has the distinct flavor of China’s view of history.
Unlike some of the more propaganda-ish hits to come out of China, The Little Big Soldier is appealing to all audiences.
Plus, Jackie Chan! Like always, Jackie Chan brings humor to his role and acts his cute heart out (remember to watch the bloopers at the end of the film). The role of the Little Soldier (General of Wei) was originally written for Jackie Chan who came up with the idea of the story Little Big Soldier 20 years ago. It took 20 years to wrap up the script and now the much older Jackie Chan had to be cast as the Big Soldier instead. Leehom Wang was then chosen for the role of Little Soldier.
Ultimately, Little Big Soldier is a great film. It’s family friendly, funny, and has a light moral tale. I am sure that in the coming years people will recognize this as one of the begging films in a shift in Chinese cinema to more modern standards and films.
Below you’ll find the English trailer for Little Big Soldier
Also click here to listen to a song from Little Big Soldier, You Cai Hua.