Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson 
Screenwriter: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger 
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross 
Genre: Animation, Adventure 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: Not Available 
Review: Not Available 
DVD Review: Not Available 
DVD: Not Available 
Movie Poster: Not Available 
Production Stills: Not Available 

Plot Summary: A new villain has emerged with a mysterious weapon so powerful it threatens the very existence of kung fu. It is up to Po and the Furious Five to protect all that they know. But first, Po must confront his long lost past. 

The sequel to the smash hit Kung Fu Panda continues the adventures of the titledPanda, this time him and his Kung Fu buddies having to go up against a new villain who has a mysterious and powerful weapon that somehow threatens the very existence of the titular martial art. Po the panda will also have to confront his past while fighting along side his Kung Fu buddies.

Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and David Cross will return to voice the various and lovable Kung Fu characters. It will be the directorial debut of longtime story exec Jennifer Yuh Nelson, instead of being directed by Mark Osborne of the first film.

Cast

• Jack Black as Po, a Giant Panda
• Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, a Red Panda
• Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress, a South China Tiger
• Lucy Liu as Master Viper, a Green Tree Viper
• Seth Rogen as Master Mantis, a Chinese Mantis
• Jackie Chan as Master Monkey, a Golden Langur
• David Cross as Master Crane, a Red-crowned Crane

Plot

12 year old Dre Parker -Jaden Smith- could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s -Taraji P. Henson- latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying – and the feeling is mutual – but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of a class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre only know’s a little karate, and Cheng puts The Karate Kid on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr Han -Jackie Chan-, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Mr Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not all about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

The movie is called Little Big Soldier and is due for release in China later in September.

The movie also stars Leehom Wang, Seung-jun Yoo.

This is a movie i really didnt know much about until i saw the poster a few weeks ago. Although its very hard to judge this movie from the

very limited teaser posted. Lets hope this is a return the form for Mr Chan

Plot

On December 1, 2009, a press conference was held for the film, along with Chan’s announcement of a new teaser trailer posted on the film’s official Sina website. Twitch also released a plot synopsis of the film:

Nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2006: 
Best Actor (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) 
Best Actress (Sammi Cheng) 
Best Supporting Actor (Hu Jun) 
Best Supporting Actress (Su Yan) 
Best Art Direction (William Cheung)
Best Costume Design & Make-up (William Cheung)

Awards at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2006: 
Best Actor (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) 
Film Of Merit

Based on the 1996 award winning novel “Changhen Ge” (also known as “Song Of Everlasting Sorrow”), the author Wang Anyi is regarded as a speaker for the Chinese younger generation, a breaker of taboos (topics in “Love Trilogy” such as sex in very explicit form was a choice that was criticized) but more notable, a depictor of life in Shanghai. She’s also collaborated with Mainland director Chen Kaige on the screenplay for Temptress Moon. Capturing the hearts and minds of millions of readers with “Changhen Ge” (it was later voted as the most influential work of the 90s in China), as these things go, it was almost inevitable that someone would want to carry the epic scope of the novel over to the feature film format.

Enter director Stanley Kwan who has been no stranger to novel adaptations (Rouge, Red Rose, White Rose,Lan Yu), popular festival director abroad but not so much anymore in Hong Kong since his sensitivity isn’t the prime taste of audience in Hong Kong today (Rouge will always be a beloved classic though, much more so now since its stars Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui have both passed away). Seeing as co-productions, in particular with China, is more than ever a possibility for Hong Kong filmmakers, Everlasting Regret got backing and a mixed talent pool, including Hu Jun (Lan Yu), Tony Leung Ka-Fai (The Lover, Election), Daniel Wu (Purple Storm) and more importantly, the queen of Canto-pop, box-office and romantic comedies, the untested Sammi Cheng (Needing You, Love On A Diet). The production was hounded by the evil tabloids due to the secretive nature of Sammi’s illness during filming and at the forefront was Tony Leung trying to fend off reporters. Eventually opening to lukewarm reviews and box-office, reportedly the attention took its toll on the hard working Sammi Cheng in particular who has remained a bit reclusive ever since. So now that the dust has settled, those of us with no care about gossip and more about about films, it’s time for an outside viewer and one unfamiliar with the entire content of Wang Anyi’s novel to examine Everlasting Regret.

Wang Qiyao (Sammi Cheng) is a student that gets noticed by photographer Mr. Cheng (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) who enters her into the Shanghai beauty pageant. She ends up as a winner as well as the object of desire for high ranking Officer Li (Hu Jun). The good life as a mistress comes to an end though as the city of Shanghai and China go through unstable times…

“When the city is no longer your city, history can turn the right man into the wrong choice”

With this quote, Stanley Kwan opens Everlasting Regret, a supposed emotional roller coaster ride through the changing times in Shanghai history. While Kwan never really has been the abstract director (he’s still considered art house), he has put forth challenges of giving his audiences very little to work with initially, skillfully injecting substance in a narrative as he rolls along. Here is one of the problems with Everlasting Regret and while it may as well have to do the fact that I am an outside viewer looking in on a world I never experienced but Kwan communicates very much to himself, and not his audience.

Reading up on your basic Shanghai history certainly helps but Kwan removes (or rather censors apparently) large, bombastic political statements, hence much of the film taking place indoors or close to the living quarters of our main characters. A newsflash, noisy crowds outside windows, that’s as close as we get to where we are in the turbulent timeline (outside of some helpful title cards). And this all seems to be more than enough when we’re starting out as Kwan immediately plunges us into the teenage version of Wang Qiyao, her friendship with Lili (Su Yan) and the men in her life. Kwan’s choice makes sense because Wang is equally to a large degree thrown head first into the glamour of life, relationships and seeing the effects of, in the case of the initial era, the war has on life. Wang unwillingly loses out on Officer Li (Hu Jun) and really never strays away from the city that nurtured her, creating a shell where only the necessities of life such as children are eventually taken care of (in an arranged manner). It was ultimate love she felt back then and it’s never returned to her later. Only friendships are maintained somewhat, especially with the husband of her best friend, photographer Mr Cheng. It’s up to this point that I’m satisfied as Kwan uses his distanced, understated style and delivers felt emotions.

Approaching the latter parts of the film, mainly the 1970s portion is where that understated nature beats Kwan to his knees. Characters around Wang, Cheng and Lili were a bit undefined before. Now it’s downright difficult to find distinguishable traits, reasoning and sense of place in ones as Kela (Huang Jue) for instance. Wang’s inner turmoil harking back to the affair with Officer Li is still the driving force but Kwan is standing in the way of us, barely letting us catch a glimpse over his shoulder and that my friends is frustrating. In that regard, I have my doubts that devotees of Wang Anyi’s work is satisfied even.

The drama is a watchable one obviously, much thanks also to the great showcasing of William Cheung’s (Lan Yu, Happy Together) production design. Despite little glances of the city, incredible detail has been put into every aspect of the surroundings without it being glaringly obvious that he’s showing off. Same with sound, perfectly evoking the atmosphere of the times and really the technical aspects of Everlasting Regret deserves kudos in the form of awards later in 2006.

But the largest selling point has to be Sammi Cheng’s performance and unavoidably you think of Stanley Kwan’s other actress directing triumphs. Anita Mui in Rouge and Maggie Cheung in Center Stage need not to feel threatened but Cheng comes through with a respectable, breakthrough act in her radically different genre path taken with this movie. Capturing the alluring beauty of Wang that men fall for, being very telling when it comes to showcasing the emotional ride of hers as well as seamlessly embodying the old Wang, Cheng works better as the soft, subtle performer (which is traits tailor made for a Stanley Kwan film) but the rare 2-3 times she gets really emotional here, an inexperience surfaces that makes delivery awkward. Yet, it’s a beginning hopefully for Cheng and proof that she should be invited by others to have onboard as an serious dramatic actress. Veteran Tony Leung Ka-Fai gets caught up in the distance Kwan manages to throw up on the screen but nevertheless is a reliable performer that can communicate through very little.

So Everlasting Regret is easy to respect and drool over but not for the primary reasons Stanley Kwan wants. Surely portraying Wang Anyi’s novel was never going to be an easy task in the first place, especially not in close to 2 hours but his purposes are very clear and immersing up to a certain point. Then Everlasting Regretdoesn’t extend its hand anymore and the very low-key, epic scope and emotions barely seem to exist beyond the characters. Those more close to home may recognize these criticized elements as masterful subtle strokes, perfectly evoking the evolving times of Shanghai. Very well, this Westerner perhaps wasn’t the right target audience but on the flip side, how ever sad it is to admit, I think Stanley missed his target on this one ultimately.

The DVD:

Panorama presents the film in an anamorphically enhanced aspect ratio of 1.82:1 approximately. Clean and clear, sharpness does well overall but a slight softness lies over the presentation. Nevertheless a respectful transfer.

Spoken language is Mandarin and the Dolby Digital 5.1 track presents dialogue mostly well (some passages are drowned out by music). The score is very enveloping when it hits also. A DTS-ES option for the Mandarin as well as a Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 dub is also available.

The English subtitles are very well-written and translates even the most vital credits in addition to the title cards throughout. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.

Extras package starts on the first disc as an Cantonese audio commentary with director Stanley Kwan is offered up but sadly there are no subtitles available. Trailers for Drink Drank Drunk and Election can also be accessed. Viewers who opted for the Limited Edition gets a second disc of special features that does come with optional English subtitles.

The Exclusive Interviews section contains programs with director Stanley Kwan (22 minutes, 13 seconds) and actor Tony Leung Ka-Fai (14 minutes, 52 seconds). Kwan dissects characters which turns out to be more personal portrayals of his rather than copies from the novel, the reactions to Sammi Cheng’s casting before, the reactions by audiences afterwards and 80s Hong Kong cinema compared to the conditions now, all in a generally informative way. Tony offers up good notes about his work, reminiscing about his prior collaboration with Kwan (Center Stage), how Mr. Cheng differs from the novel, his personal difficulties with the aging aspect of the character and his approach to working with Sammi.

Pre-production photos is an animated slide show (2 minutes, 28 seconds) covering the furniture collection at Shanghai Film Studios as used in the film, Kwan’s script notes and location photos. Not terribly special but an unusual feature for a Hong Kong dvd. Another slide show (1 minute, 47 seconds) comes next, focusing onpromotional materials such as poster designs and lobby cards. Looks nice although both these features could’ve been better with manual navigation and an option to zoom in.

(from the Stanley Kwan interview and making-of)

The obligatory making-of (10 minutes) contains more philosophy discussions from character perspectives by the cast & crew and little else in terms of good info. Some raw footage from costume tests represents the sole standout here. Also available are 3 shorter edits of the same program, all 3 minutes at length respectively but there’s seemingly no additional footage contained within.

Trailer section has both the Hong Kong and International trailer. Selling it to Hong Kong audiences meant taking more challenging routes as opposed to the very straightforward international spot without dialogue. It’s essentially the same edit though. 2 TV spots rounds off the supplemental disc.

Also accompanying the Limited Edition box is a fully illustrated 40 page color booklet, featuring both Chinese and English information. The content goes over the traits of the book that was praised, Stanley Kwan provides a well-written Director’s Statement and breakdowns of various elements of the film (including technical and his own impressions of Shanghai then compared to now). Since some of this behind the scenes info is not covered in the dvd programs, its inclusion here is welcome. The booklet concludes with informative biographies/filmographies for the cast & crew, even including William Cheung and author Wang Anyi. A small bottle of Florida Water perfume is also added to the Limited goodies. The packaging promises “An Essay On The Film By Sammi Cheng” but unless it’s an item from the booklet that has not received an English translation, then it’s a no-show.

Plot

The movie starts off with a montage of fights and stunts from Chan’s older movies including The Tuxedo and Operation Condor and then cuts to Bob Ho (Chan) waking up. The next shot features his next-door neighbors waking up, with Gillian (Amber Valletta) and her three children, Nora (youngest one and very girlish; played by Alina Foley), Ian (’geeky’ and intelligent, played by Will Shadley) and Farren (stereotypical teenager and the oldest, played by Madeline Carroll) all experiencing a normal morning. The family has three pets which consists of a pig, turtle and a cat.

Gillian strolls outside with her children to take the two older kids to school and Bob Ho, who supposedly works as a pen importer, spots her and helps her push down the trash can to the sidewalk. The two are shown to be romantic and the three kids are shown to be against it, due to them thinking he is nerdy and uninteresting. Later at night, Bob and Gillian are on a date celebrating their three month anniversary and although Bob tries to tell her that he’s a CIA agent, but his cellphone receives a message and he has to leave right away.

Bob and Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus) sneak into an American oil refinery and Bob catches the villains, who were trying to put a liquid into the oil supply. After returning to his work station, he informs he is retiring from being a CIA agent to finally settle down and live with his soon to be family. Bob begins removing his spy gear, but Glaze (George Lopez) tells him to keep his watch. Later, through the phone, Colton informs Bob that he sent files found in the Russian base to his computer.

The following day, Gillian and the children visit Bob and informs him that her father was injured and needs his hip replaced so she’ll be out of town and needs Bob to take care of the children for a few days. Though the children try anything to get out of the situation, Bob believes it’ll be a great time to get the kids to like him. While Bob packs his items to go to Gillian’s home, the children snoop around the house. Ian runs to Bob’s Macintosh and finds a file he believes to be a pirated concert; using his iPod, he downloads it but it turns out to be the files that Colton had sent earlier, a formula to turn oil into dust.

Meanwhile, Poldark (Magnus Scheving), the villain caught by Bob, escapes jail and returns to his minions. Poldark discovers his files have been taken and he tracks down the location to Bob’s residence. Poldark and his minions set out to recover the files downloaded into Ian’s iPod and to kill them all. While at a restaurant, Bob and the children are attacked by Larry (Lucas Till), a Russian spy, who attacks them with a knife, after having lied about going to university and being a poet. Bob fights him off and explains to the children about his true self and that he’s a former CIA agent.

Leaving the restaurant, Glaze appears and demands for the files with a gun. Bob knocks him out and runs away with the children in the car. In it, Bob discovers that the villains must have traced him with the watch Glaze told him to keep earlier and he leaves it in a rock in a desert. They escape into a hotel where Farren calls Gillian and tries explaining about who Bob really is and all the danger they’ve been in. Bob tells her to come pick up the kids right away. The next morning, all four go back home and Gillian yells at Bob and exclaims that their relationship is over.

As he has unfinished business to take care of, Bob walks off being watched by Ian. Ian dresses up in a spy gear and runs out of the house on his bicycle preparing to assist Bob. Farren watches him go. Bob retrieves the watch and allows the villains to trace him to where he is, in an empty factory-like area. Ian shows up and due to him, the villains catch Bob and tie him up in a chair with Ian. The villains then remove the cameras placed around the place and Farren shows up tied up by Larry.

After being interrogated, Bob discovers that it was Ian who had downloaded the files into his iPod at home. Most of the Russians hop on their vehicles to get the iPod, while Bob, with his spy ring with a razorblade, unties the three. The kids run to safety while Bob fights Larry, Glaze and Poldark with Ian’s bicycle. After defeat, the two kids and Bob run into the car, take off and drive back home as fast as possible. After arriving, they discover Halloween is taking place.

The three run home as the enemies run into the house from the windows and doors. Bob calls the CIA for help while he fights off all the villains, with help from the children. The CIA and Colton arrive right after everyone is defeated already and Ian gives his iPod with the files to Colton. After they all leave, Bob prepares to go home but after the children grow very upset, Gillian decides to stay with Bob. The two are later shown being married and Bob tells Gillian during the wedding that he has another secret to inform her; his real name is not Bob.

In the early 1990s, a tractor mechanic from a northern countryside in China nicknamed Steelhead (Jackie Chan), enters Japan illegally in search of his fiancée, Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei). Steelhead and a bunch of other illegal immigrants came by a freighter that incidentally sunk before reaching the harbor. A local Japanese policeman discovered them and all the immigrants ran for their lives. Steelhead managed to steal some dry clothes and tracked down his brother Jie (Daniel Wu) for help. Jie helped provide food and shelter for Steelhead while looking for a job in between searching for Xiu Xiu. Jie introduced fellow Chinese immigrants and each of them helped Steelhead by showing him trades of the underworld to survive and make a living.

While working in a underground sewer to clear out garbage, Steelhead and the rest of his Chinese friends were held up by the Japanese police. Inspector Kitano was talking to Steelhead with his rough Mandarin when all the workers ran for it. Kitano attempted to arrest Steelhead, only to fall into a large sewage drain. Steelhead couldn’t let him drown, he rescued Inspector Kitano and fled the scene. Steelhead later found temporary work as a dishwasher. While washing dishes, he rescues a Chinese woman named Lily from a bunch of thieves. Lily thanks him and welcomes him to her bar, Zanaku, if he ever needed a place to relieve his sorrows.

Sometime later, while working in a restaurant with Jie, Steelhead spots Xiu Xiu as the woman of Yakuza leader Mr. Eguchi (Masaya Kato). Sadden by the fact his fiancée has left him, he spends the night with Jie, drinking and sleeping with hookers to cope. After sobering from his experience, he decided to take charge with his life by making himself a legal citizen of Japan. He approached his fellow Chinese friends to make an aggressive campaign by selling phone cards and stealing A-grade products for underground sales. After making good money, they moved onto rigging a Pachinko machine to release more balls in order to trade the gifts for cash.

After some success, Steelhead and the rest of his friends bought Jie a chestnut cart to fulfill his simple dream of selling roasted chestnuts. The group was very happy and loudly celebrated that night. Steelhead brought Lily along to introduced to his friends. All of them joked that Lily and Steelhead looked like a great couple. It was their high spirits that angered the landlord and he demanded the Chinese migrants to move out. Steelhead offered an expensive watch to calm the landlord down and told his friends it’s important to respect their ways and learn their culture to survive and avoid complications. Lily offered to help teach everyone Japanese for free in their goal for better prospects.

Jie was happy and wanted to show his success to a local Chinese girl he liked, Shizuko, but was severely beaten because the girl’s father, Tak, wanted to make sure he wouldn’t go near his daughter again. Steelhead went to help recover Jie’s cart with his Chinese friends at Tak’s establishment. While fighting, the police arrived and everyone ran for it. Steelhead tried to escape, but not without taking back the chestnut cart. Inspector Kitano caught up to him and said he won’t arrest him because of his life debt to him. Kitano gave him his contact to help him as a means to return a favor.

One day, Jie was asked to help cover the Pachinko machine. Unknown to him, the place was owned by a Taiwanese triad leader, Gao. Gao discovered the very Pachinko machine that Steelhead’s group tampered with and he was out to make an example of the culprit. Jie was taken to a dark alleyway, where he was tortured. Gao had his men held him down as he used a knife to cut across his face, and Jie’s shovel to chop off his hand. Steelhead went to rescue Jie, but it was too late. Gao warned Steelhead and his group to never return. To make things worst, he had Jie’s cut off right hand on the floor. Steelhead wanted to get Jie’s hand back, but Gao threw it on the floor and repeatedly stomped on the hand. Steelhead still wanted to retrieve Jie’s hand, but Gao had more armed men and they were forced to retreat.

Jie was illegal, they couldn’t take him to the hospital for proper care. They bandaged him to the best of their ability and hoped for his recovery. Steelhead and his men demanded vengeance on Gao, but Steelhead insisted on patience to think things through. Steelhead watched over Jie and tried to help him, but Jie was distraught over his hand. Steelhead himself was overwhelmed with guilt, sadness, and anger over what had happened and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Steelhead snucked inside Gao’s establishment for revenge, but found Gao talking to a local Yakuza, Togawa’s son. Steelhead had hidden himself in one of the private rooms and overheard their arrangement. Togawa had arranged a deal for Gao to betray and murder his friend Eguchi for a sizable reward, along with the Kabuki-cho territories under his control. Gao intends to murder Eguchi later in the evening and Steelhead decided to remain hidden until the hit.

Eguchi came to visit Gao under the pretense of inspecting their profits over their investments. All the while, Gao prepared his men and himself to commit bloody murder. Just as Eguchi extended his hand for a friendly handshake, Gao attempted to slice him with his cleaver. Gao personally attempted to chop Eguchi, but Steelhead revealed himself by chopping off Gao’s arm with his machete. Both men then ran for their lives and evaded capture. Eguchi managed to contact his men to safely escort them back to the Eguchi estate.

Xiu Xiu had heard her husband’s attack and wanted to see his condition, only to see Steelhead beside him. Eguchi previously learned that Steelhead and his wife used to be fellow villagers and let them catch up as he changed clothes. Steelhead was surprised to see Eguchi and Xiu Xiu have a little girl, Ayako. The two had an awkward conversation, Xiu Xiu tells Steelhead she goes by the name Yuko Eguchi these days. Eguchi returned to talk and offered high paying jobs for him in return for saving his life. Steelhead refused, he reminded Yuko to contact her ailing mother and returned home. Eguchi couldn’t help point out the irony of that Yuko’s ex saved his life, revealing that Eguchi had figured out their relationship.

Later, Eguchi and his Yakuza group was having internal conflicts. Eguchi found out (from Steelhead) that Togawa is suspected of being the perpetrators of the failed hit. Even though everyone knew who did it, there was no solid evidence and Eguchi was told to apologize to Togawa for his insolence. Eguchi then approached Steelhead to be a hitman. He asked Steelhead to kill the head of Togawa-gumi and Sanwa-kai to remove his opposition. Steelhead agreed to the jobs under the condition he has control of Gao’s territories and legal citizenship in Japan. Steelhead killed both his targets in a rough manner and caused a civil war within the Yakuza ranks, each blaming each other for the deaths of their men; both Steelhead and Eguchi got what they wanted. Steelhead is now a vassal to Eguchi (recently promoted head of Sanwa-kai). Nakajima (one of Eguchi’s closest men) didn’t approve the idea of Chinese controlling Chinese, but Eguchi thought it would be an interesting way to manage Gao’s territory and have Togawa’s fury diverted to them instead. Nakajima begrudgingly handed over Gao’s territories to Steelhead.

Steelhead’s plans were all for the sake of creating better living conditions for his Chinese brothers and helping incoming immigrants; Steelhead himself wasn’t interested in the day-to-day operations of being a vassal and separated jobs to each of his trusted comrades to run things. He hoped all he’s done would benefit everyone and happily left his responsibilities to start his tractor business with Lily. Just as Steelhead ventures outside their new HQ, Kitano arrived to talk. Kitano saw his legal Japanese citizen ID and warned him of his future actions as he doesn’t want to arrest him. Kitano would return to live up to his words.

Kitano revealed to Steelhead that while he was ignorantly running his business, all of his brothers has since become corrupted. Kitano warned him that all the evidence points to him and he’ll be eventually arrested along with his friends. Steelhead compromises with Kitano, evidence for the arraignment of Eguchi in exchange for his comrade’s freedom. Lily wanted Steelhead to abandon everything to head off to Brazil to start over, but to Lily’s dismay, Steelhead wants to save his friends and agree to help Kitano.

Steelhead and Kitano headed to his group’s HQ to talk to them. Steelhead warns everyone that they’re close to getting arrested and asked them to give up their criminal operation to clean themselves of guilt; the group reacted with furious opposition. Steelhead argued that he sacrificed so much for the betterment of their lives, but each of them tried argue that what they have is rightfully theirs. Eguchi also arrived to see the internal dispute. Steelhead told his friends of the deal with Kitano and Eguchi was naturally furiously against. Kitano pulled out his gun for some order, but Steelhead fought for the pistol to avoid hurting his friends. While attempting to calm the situation, Hongkie (a comrade) stabbed Steelhead and attempted to kill him for taking away his riches. During this whole time, the Yakuza feels that Eguchi is no longer their man. The leader of the group called Nakajima to kill Eguchi. Gao, Nakajima, and Togawa’s son all agreed to take down Eguchi. Gao and Nakajima teamed up to kill Steelhead’s group along with Eguchi while Togawa took control of the Eguchi estate.

Nakajima and Gao attacked Steelhead and Eguchi by stoning the building. Hongkie was about to kill Steelhead when a stone flew through the window and struck him in the head, killing him. A wave of Yakuza stormed into the building to kill everyone one Eguchi’s group. Everyone within the building tried to escape, but everyone was killed one-by-one. Eguchi, Steelhead, and Kitano found themselves banded together in the staircase. Among the chaos, Steelhead manages to kill Gao and 2 other mobsters by impaling a stick through them. Eguchi tried to escape through the window (against Steelhead’s warning) and was shot in the chest. Eguchi was mortally wounded, but lived long enough to give Steelhead a USB of their Yakuza operations to arraign the Yakuza.

As Kitano and Steelhead escaped out of the building, the cops arrived to assist. Steelhead escaped on his own and found Jie in a abandoned building, high on cocaine. Steelhead tried to get him to leave with him, but Jie died as Steelhead realized he was disemboweled. Steelhead then called Yuko to warn her of danger and to meet with her along with Ayako in Okobu station, but Togawa already secured the Eguchi estate and held Ayako hostage. Togawa demanded the location of Steelhead or Ayako will be killed. Nakajima and his group intercepted Steelhead and attempted to corner him to finish him off. The police also arrived in time for a shootout. Kitano and his fellow police took care of the Yakuza and managed to shoot Nakajima dead, but Steelhead suffered a bullet wound and escaped. Kitano realized Steelhead had escaped into the sewers, the very place Steelhead saved his life earlier. Kitano tried to pull him out of the water, but Steelhead told him it was useless. Steelhead then passed the USB (from Eguchi) and floated deeper into the sewer. Before he fades beyond Kitano’s sight, he told Kitano they are even.

There was no epilogue to tell what happened to the remaining characters. It is presumed Steelhead died in the sewer, Kitano used the USB as evidence against the Yakuza, and Eguchi’s family survived Togawa’s torment (or not).The ending shows a simpler time when Steelhead and his comrades were celebrating over Jie’s chestnut cart.

Plot

In an anthropomorphic China, the Valley of Peace is protected by the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane – a quintet of warriors trained in kung fu by the wise tortoise Master Oogway and his protégé, the red panda Master Shifu. One day, Oogway has apremonition that Shifu’s former pupil and foster son, the brutal and ruthless snow leopard Tai Lung, will escape from prison and return to the Valley. Shifu decides to hold a martial arts tournament so that Oogway may identify the legendary Dragon Warrior – the one master worthy to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is said to hold the secret to limitless power. Tai Lung had been denied the Scroll years earlier, causing him to decimate the Valley in retaliation and resulting in his imprisonment.

Po is a young giant panda and kung fu fanatic who works in his goose^[6] father’s noodle restaurant. Upon hearing of the tournament, Po tries to attend as a spectator, but his father directs him to take a push cart and sell noodles instead. By the time Po arrives, the gates are closed and the tournament has already started. Desperate to see the tournament, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks; he rockets into the sky and crashes into the middle of the arena just as Oogway is about to select the new Dragon Warrior. To the surprise of all, Oogway indicates that Po is the Dragon Warrior.

Unwilling to believe that a big fat clumsy panda can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu attempts to berate and humiliate Po into quitting. He subjects Po to a grueling series of challenges and sparring matches against the Furious Five, culminating in a battle between Po and Shifu that ends with Po being thrown from the Jade Palace. Though the Furious Five despise him as an unqualified upstart, Po receives counseling from Oogway and refuses to quit. In time, he endears himself to the Five (except Tigress) with his impressive tenacity, culinary skill, and good humor, though he is still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu.

Meanwhile, as Oogway had foreseen, Tai Lung escapes from his prison and heads for the Valley. Sensing that his death is imminent, Oogway extracts a promise from Shifu that he will train Po and then disappears, ascending to heaven in a swirl of flower petals. Upon hearing that Tai Lung is coming, Po panics and tries to flee the Temple. Shifu refuses to let him go, insisting that he can change Po into the Dragon Warrior, but Po has lost all confidence and Shifu can not explain how he will turn Po into the Dragon Warrior. Hiding nearby and seeing this argument, Tigress leads the rest of the Furious Five to stop Tai Lung themselves. The next morning, Shifu discovers that Po displays impressive agility when he is motivated by food; using the promise of food as a reward, Shifu trains Po into a skilled warrior.

The Five confront Tai Lung over a long rope bridge, but he easily defeats them and sends them back to the Valley immobilized, carried by Crane, to inspire fear. Feeling that Po is ready to fight, Shifu gives him the Dragon Scroll, which he opens to reveal nothing but a blank, reflective surface. Shifu, despairing, orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he prepares to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can. During the evacuation, Po finds his father who, in an attempt to console him, reveals that the long-withheld secret ingredient of his famous “secret ingredient soup” is nothing - except the belief that the soup is special. Po realizes this idea is the point of the Dragon Scroll and returns to face Tai Lung.

At the Temple, Tai Lung confronts Shifu and demands the Scroll; when Shifu refuses, Tai Lung attacks him. In a furious battle, Tai Lung overpowers and nearly kills Shifu before an exhausted Po arrives. Tai Lung can hardly believe that the Dragon Warrior is a “big, fat panda”, but as Tai Lung battles Po to take the Scroll, Po uses a combination of his natural clumsiness, his body mass, and Shifu’s training to prove himself an unexpected equal. At one stage of the fight, Tai Lung gains the upper hand and opens the Scroll, but cannot comprehend its symbolic value. Po explains that “there is no secret ingredient” other than the warrior’s belief in himself, but Tai Lung fails to understand and attacks again. With the combination of his new revelation and his own natural resilience, Po counter-attacks with devastating effectiveness and finally defeats Tai Lung, destroying him with the secret “Wushi Finger Hold”.

The deeply impressed Furious Five accept Po as a kung fu master and their superior. Po returns to Shifu and finds him exhausted but alive, and finally at peace now that Tai Lung has been defeated and peace restored to the Valley. In a post-credits sequence, Po and Shifu are seen eating dumplings under Oogway’s favorite peach tree, where a peach seed Shifu had planted earlier has begun to sprout into a seedling.

South Boston teenager Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) awakens from a dream of a battle between the Monkey King Sun Wukong (Jet Li) and heavenly soldiers amongst clouds. He is then shown to be a fan of kung fu films; posters cover the walls of his room, and his television displays the film Monkey Goes West (1966). After getting dressed, he visits a pawn shop in downtown Boston’s Chinatown to buy wuxiaDVDs. There, Jason converses with Hop (a prosthetics-laden Jackie Chan), the shop’s elderly owner, and, while exploring the shop, is drawn to a golden staff, which Hop tells him is to be delivered to its rightful owner.

On his way home, Jason is attacked by local bully Lupo (Morgan Benoit) and cronies, who force him to return to the pawn shop at night so that Hop will open the door, allowing the bullies to steal his money. Hop tries to attack the thieves with the staff, but is shot by Lupo. Hop, wounded, tells Jason that Jason must now deliver the staff to its rightful owner. Jason takes the staff and runs from the thieves. On top of a building, he is surrounded by the bullies, as Lupo fears that Jason will expose the shooting to the police and intends to kill him to ensure his silence. Before Lupo can shoot, Jason is pulled off the roof by the staff and falls backwards onto the asphalt.

When Jason wakes up, he is in ancient China, near a village which is soon attacked by armored warriors who notice his staff and try to take it from him. He is rescued by the inebriated traveling scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), a supposed ‘immortal’, who is surprisingly alert and agile even when drunk. Later that night, seated in a teahouse, Lu Yan tells Jason of a legend of the Monkey King, who caused havoc at the banquet held by the Immortals on Five Elements Mountain celebrating the Jade Emperor’s forthcoming 500-year period of meditation. The Jade Emperor took a liking to the Monkey King and awarded him a heavenly title, much to the chagrin of the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), who was the Emperor’s general. The Emperor then left the Jade Warlord to rule by Mandate of Heaven before retreating to his period of seclusion. The Warlord then challenged the Monkey King to a duel to display their fighting and magical abilities. After tricking the Monkey King into setting aside his magic staff Ruyi Jingu Bang, the Warlord changed him into a statue of himself, whereupon the Monkey King threw the staff beyond the Warlord’s grasp. Lu Yan ends the tale by stating a prophecy in which a person known as the “Seeker” will find the staff and free the Monkey King. Lu Yan and Jason are then attacked by the Jade Warlord’s soldiers, from whom they are rescued by Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei), a young girl who refers to herself in the third person. She reveals that her family was murdered by the Jade Warlord, against whom she has therefore sworn revenge.

The Jade Warlord, learning that his men have seen the staff, sends the young white-haired witch Ni Chang (Li Bingbing) to retrieve it in exchange for the elixir of immortality. When Jason wakes the next morning, he is attacked by a person dressed in white clothes, who takes the staff from him. Jason, Lu Yan, and Sparrow follow the man’s trail to a temple. There, Lu Yan meets the Silent Monk (Jet Li), who refuses to give him the staff. The two fight until the Silent Monk realizes that Jason is the staff’s prophesied Seeker and joins the protagonists in their quest to free the Monkey King.

As the four travel to Five Elements Mountain, Lu Yan and the Silent Monk teach Jason kung fu. After crossing a desert, they encounter Ni Chang and her henchmen. After a fight, the four manage to escape with the staff; but Lu Yan is mortally injured by Ni Chang’s arrow. The protagonists take refuge in a monastery, where they find out that the Jade Warlord’s elixir of immortality will heal Lu Yan, who reveals he is not immortal. Jason, desperate to help Lu Yan, goes alone to the Warlord’s palace to exchange the staff for the elixir.

At the palace, Jason learns that the Jade Warlord has promised the elixir to Ni Chang in exchange for the staff; but given that Jason has brought it, he is commanded to fight Ni Chang to the death, earning the elixir by his victory. Although Jason has developed proficiency in martial arts, holding his own against the Witch, the more experienced Ni Chang eventually overwhelms him. The Jade Warlord taunts Jason for his foolishness, preparing to decapitate him. Jason is saved by the Silent Monk and Sparrow, who arrive while Lu Yan is carried behind them by monks from the monastery. The Silent Monk duels the Jade Warlord to protect the staff while Sparrow fights Ni Chang. During the fight, Jason seizes the elixir and throws it to Lu Yan, who drinks it and becomes immortal, regaining his vitality. Lu Yan then fights Ni Chang on a balcony. The Silent Monk is mortally wounded during his battle with the Jade Warlord and throws the staff to Jason. Jason takes the staff and shatters the Monkey King’s statue form, freeing him from his imprisonment. The Silent Monk dies of his injuries and becomes a golden hair, revealing him to be a magical human familiar created by the Monkey King immediately prior to his imprisonment. The fight between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord begins.

After a long battle, Lu Yan dispatches Ni Chang by making her fall from the top of the mountain. Sparrow tries to kill the Jade Warlord with her magical jade dart, but is fatally wounded when he deflects it. Jason later kills the Jade Warlord with the dart when the Monkey King shoves him toward Jason. The Jade Warlord then falls into a lava pit that he created earlier and disintegrates. Jason then attends Sparrow, who thanks him in first person before dying. He is subsequently praised by the newly returned Jade Emperor for fulfilling the prophecy. As his reward for his courage, Jason chooses to be returned to his native time and place.

Jason then wakes in 21st-century Boston at the very moment and location of his earlier fall. He is attacked by Lupo, but defeats him, frightens off the other bullies, and alerts the police. Hop survives his wound and reveals, to Jason alone, that he is immortal.

Before Jason leaves the scene, he sees a girl who is the reincarnation of Golden Sparrow, and who coincidentally works in a souvenir shop named Golden Sparrow. Jason, surprised but delighted to see her, speaks with her briefly and goes home, where he practices his kung fu on the roof with a staff as the Monkey King begins his Journey to the West.