Little Big Soldier

Now that he’s older, Jackie Chan doesn’t really fit the roles that made him a superstar. However, he does fit Big Soldier, his character from Ding Sheng’s entertaining action-comedy Little Big Soldier, set during China’s Warring States Period.
Big Soldier fights for the kingdom of Liang but is a pragmatic coward who usually plays dead during battles. Potential fortune arrives when he captures a wounded Wei Prince (Leehom Wang), who he plans to trade to his Liang leaders in exchange for some land. But the Prince’s brother (Steve Yoo) is looking to kill the Prince in order to usurp the Wei throne. While Big Soldier struggles to shake his pursuers and make it back to Liang, the Prince has his own goal: to convince Big Soldier to let him go.
Narratively, Little Big Soldier is largely conventional, but Ding Sheng makes even the most predictable moments surprising. The director smartly develops the situations while making even the most minor characters seem distinct. Ding also shows a consistent sense of humor, and plays few favorites with his cast. There are no real good guys or bad guys here; Ding takes care to point out the futility and arbitrary nature of war while still humanizing all his characters, leading to emotions and resolutions that feel surprisingly complex. Predictably, the two main characters start as antagonists but develop respect and even minor friendship. This is common cinema formula, and yet in Ding Sheng’s hands the outcome feels earned.
As the could-be buddies, Jackie Chan and Leehom Wang make fine screen partners, with Wang easily eclipsing his previous film performances. However, the film belongs to Jackie Chan. Big Soldier is not a typical Chan good guy; the character makes use of the actor’s age while giving him a cynical, pragmatic edge that departs from Chan’s usual pronounced decency. However, the character is still decent, and when he makes unselfish choices, it ultimately feels satsifying. Unlike the usual Chan roles, Big Soldier is actually a character, and not some outline for Chan to imbue with his own personality. Maybe it’s because Chan’s role here is just a gentle tweaking of his established screen persona and not an against-type reversal like in Shinjuku Incident, but Big Soldier feels like a breakthrough for Chan and provides hope for better roles to follow.
The film’s action is small and tightly choreographed, with no large set pieces that make use of the widescreen frame. Big Soldier is not a fighter, so there’s little chance to see Chan in any one-versus-many fisticuffs. Most of the time Big Soldier simply bluffs, but Chan still gets to show off his creative way with action. Big Soldier may not be a good fighter. But he’s really good at throwing rocks, providing an unexpected opportunity for creative Jackie Chan action. The rest of the cast also gets some action opportunities, with Leehom Wang doing decently in his few chances at swordplay.
Jackie Chan is not simply an action actor - he’s really an action entertainer, and that creativity and showmanship shine through brightly in Little Big Soldier. Ding Sheng handles all his elements sharply, delivering a much wider range of emotions than one might expect. That surprise also applies to the film’s end, which adds effective but possibly frustrating pathos. Regardless, the shifting tone and subsequent blooper reel only add to the film’s accomplishment. This is an entertainment that crosses multiple genres and doesn’t confine itself to the expected. In stretching what Little Big Soldier might have been, Ding Sheng and Jackie Chan achieve far more.