Very Cool!!!

Charming and brutal

An Exercise In Nonsense

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Donnie Yen is in my opinion the best martial arts movie-star out there right now, especially since Jackie Chan and Jet Li have slowed down and Tony Jaa is only just now getting off to a shaky start with the poorly reviewed Tom Yum Goong 2. That being said, it's a major disappointment that Donnie Yen's latest, "Iceman", is a miss for the now middle aged (not that you can tell) martial arts master. Iceman is directionless, confusing, poorly paced, and makes very poor use of Donnie Yen's truly impressive and astonishing martial arts skills. The script is a fish out of water/man out of his time type story, that we've seen before, with nothing new to offer. Some other reviewers have drawn comparisons between this and the Marvel Comics character Captain America, and I can assure the only similarity is that both are frozen men who wake up in different time periods. Rip Van Winkle is the same story but is that also similar?No, Iceman is in a league of it's own poor storytelling, a remake of a previous film with the same premise from the 80's, this rehash has totally juvenile humour that always misses it's mark, a contrived love story, and a main character capable of ridiculous things with little to no explanation. Captain America is at least explained to have a DNA altering serum in his body, learning Kung Fu doesn't make you superhuman. They don't even make good use of the fish-out-of-water story and Yen's character adjusts to modern times with ridiculous ease and little incident. Granted, some of the humor may have been lost in translation for me, however I'll say that other foreign comedies, like those of the great Stephen Chow, are always great for a laugh in my book. Absolutely don't go into this thinking you'll see Donnie Yen kick any kind of butt in major degree, the few fight scenes this movie does have are poorly constructed, filled with bad CGI, and nothing new or close to his potential. Iceman is like the ice-age altogether, worth avoiding.

I have always had a fascination with fantastical time travel scenarios, where someone from the past is thrust into the present, inevitably resulting in action sequences where ancient weapons and skills are matched by modern technology. Greatly dissimilar to other features, Iceman (not to be mistaken for The Iceman) could have potentially taken an approach comparative to the film Highlander, a number of the narrative's decisions failing to effectively work.Donnie Yen portrays Ying, an honorable soldier in the Emperor's army during the Ming Dynasty. Tasked with acquiring an ancient artifact, with the capacity to travel through time, he is framed for murder and treason, during which he, and his adversaries, are trapped beneath an avalanche of snow. Miraculously, Ying is awoken in the twenty first century from prolonged hibernation, caused by this event. An explanation regarding this is never provided, however, it is at the same time unnecessary, the film's pace relying more on action, than on rationalization.Ying finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that includes a number of powerful individuals, their involvement, and the lengths of its influence, never been entirely fleshed out. Unfortunately, Ying is not the only soldier awoken, with his adversaries prowling the streets as well, in the hopes of not only acquiring the legendary artifact, but on obtaining their long sought revenge. The skills of these ruthlessly trained soldiers of old are impressive, none in the twenty first century having the ability to match their strength. At the same time though, the action sequences are potentially not as frequent as you might imagine. Though short lived, the action scenes offer the viewer some outstanding imagery that is as entertaining as it is well executed.During his initial few hours of awakening, Ying bumps into May (Shengyi Huang), who, in a drunken stupor, unwittingly invites him into her life. The misadventures Ying encounters while attempting to adjust to the new world with May, alongside the personal problems she is dealing with, offers the film both drama and heart, not to mention its most beautiful feature. Ms. Huang's performance generates a vulnerable character, as intelligent as she is uncertain, and as beautiful as she is in need of saving, though she does prove herself to be a very capable young woman. The friendship, trust and feelings generated between these two characters makes for an impressive story in itself, though at times, this exceptional subplot is lost between the film's attempts at humor.Although Iceman is, categorically, an action film, the combined humor refuses to cooperate with the seriousness of the plot, and therefore causes a number of conversations and stereotypical slapstick moments to feel dramatically out of place. There's a moment when Ying produces explosive feces, and another occasion when he's flatulent in an elevator, and let's not forget the crude humor surrounding a certain part of the male anatomy. Strangely enough, a number of these latter references are logically incorporated, although why the filmmakers didn't attempt to use references that were not quite as peculiarly vulgar, is unknown. This illogical immaturity is irresponsibly childish in a film clearly directed towards older audiences.Lastly, the final moments of Iceman prove to be as stirring as they are eye catching, and though no conclusion is offered, this climatic finish will definitely leave you on the edge of your seat. By the time the film comes to a close however, is it too late to reel in viewers for further adventures? Here's hoping the potential sequels focus more on drama and action, rather than on, what can only be described as, painfully obtuse humor.

"Iceman" begins with a ship carrying what looks like three cryogenic tubes. Then, in a flashback, a Chinese officer is being accused of conspiring with the dreaded Japanese pirates back in the 17th century. However, when the Emperor of China's men try to apprehend him, his is transported to the present day Hong Kong--and you realize he's one of the guys in the cryo tubes. Here in the 21st century, he's out of place but also amazingly clever and helpful. I liked this part of the film. Soon, however, he's caught up in all sorts of intrigues and it all has to do with the Golden Wheel of Time and the god Shiva's penis (I am serious about this last part) and a bazillion cops trying to kill him. Can this visitor from the past take on a HUGE army of cops and win?When "Iceman" began, it felt a lot like I'd seen this sort of plot in another film. The French film "Les Visiteurs" (remade in the US as "Just Visiting") is a silly film where the hero is magically transported many centuries into the future. Here in the present, the knight is completely out of his element and is a bumbler. The film is played strictly for laughs. Here with "Iceman", however, when the soldier is magically transported into the future, he inexplicably is like superman! Not only does he possess nearly god-like fighting and intellectual powers at times, but he also seems to magically understand technology--and he inexplicably uses the internet and destroys surveillance cameras! To me, none of this really made a lot of sense. How could a man from centuries before know how to do an internet search or understand what cameras are?! For me, this was a big problem with Iceman--it just didn't make a lot of sense. If a man is somehow transported to today from the distant past, the comical way "Les Visiteurs" handled it seems much, much more likely--with the guy drinking from toilets and getting into one problem after another. Instead, it goes from being a bit charming to being very confusing and very violent. Then, it becomes a huge, explosive finale where there are tons of explosions and violence and mindless mayhem. The charm just doesn't last very long.So is it worth seeing? Well, if you have nothing better to do...sure. But as I mentioned above, quite a bit about the hero just didn't make a lot of sense in "Iceman". Instead, while I never loved "Les Visiteurs", I'd recommend you see it over "Iceman".

Why is Donnie Yen doing something so idiot? Apart for some decent fight scenes, the plot is stupid, the acting is superficial, the comedy side is really low level, and the end, is it a joke? I never EVER in my all life saw ANY film ending worst than that! It makes absolutely NO SENSE at all. I cannot spoil it, but I at least warn you, because personally I can tolerate a mediocre film if at least the end makes a sense, and I can accept with sadness a good film which ends badly, but it makes me very angry if after losing time with a stupid movie I am given what probably is the worst end in the history of Cinema! Donnie Yen, if you have to keep going on like this, just stop acting and let us remember you for your good films.EDIT: I have found out that they are supposed to make a sequel. 1) they could and should have made it VERY CLEAR since the beginning, that this was a movie in two parts. 2) nevertheless, there is NO WAY that this end can be acceptable. Under no possible excuse or circumstance.