The Jade Pendant (2017) Reviews

• Bad Melodrama

  sfwriter9992017-12-01

  The sets and costumes look great, but the movie is mostly a melodrama with bad acting. I did like the acting from the older actors such as Tzi Ma (Yu Hing, Evil Triad Leader from Hong Kong) and Tsai Chin (Madame Pong with a Heart of Gold), but the younger actors had wooden line delivery and horrible dialog. The majority of the movie is about Peony (Exceptional Virtuous Kung Fu Gal) and Tom (Great Looking Nice Guy / Chef) falling in love near Sutter's Mill, but the acting and writing was horribly melodramatic (for example the bench scene where Tom shuffles near Peony and if it was for comedic effect, it wasn't) and unbelievable. The white people pick on Chinese and the Chinese Tong pick on the Chinese. Then we throw in some random Kung Fu. When the couple finally get together, (insert weirdly long lyrical sex scene compared to the rest of the film) they run off to Los Angeles and hide with a Family Association there. But of course, the Triad finds them and causes the riot in LA that kills 19 people. There's a badly filmed melodramatic fight between Peony, Tom, and Yu Hing during the riot. And Yu Hing has a derringer that doesn't seem to need reloading. The riot / lynching party which is emphasized in the trailer is only about 10 mins of the film. This, the most interesting part of the movie is a side note. I wished this movie was more of a documentary or followed a documentary style of storytelling instead of a badly done love story with slight bits of comedy, Kung Fu, PG-13 sex scene (no breasts), bad fight scene, and bad acting. The Chinese in the movie spoke Mandarin, I would rather they spoke Cantonese or Taishan to make it more historical. The English dialog was odd to in that you'd think they'd speak Mandarin when they were weren't any white people around. I would have preferred that as their English delivery was pretty terrible and would have preferred that they spoke in their native language. Overall, there's not enough movies with a majority of Chinese actors, too bad this movie is terrible.

• Good story

  lonetrombone2018-06-19

  If you can get past the made-for-TV quality of this movie, it has a good love story. Sadly, during the "Chinese massacre of 1871," an estimated 17-20 Chinese immigrants were hanged in Los Angeles by an angry mob of 500 people.

• "Sometimes there are no good choices."

  classicsoncall2018-10-26

  Mixed feelings on this one. I thought the movie had potential starting out but it seemed to have lost it's way with a questionable continuity and loss of focus. The jade pendant that gives the movie it's title has no real impact on the story, it's simply something worn by the film's female lead (Clara Lee). Presenting Ying Ying/Peony (Lee) as a kung fu master was a surprising twist some way into the picture, but again, the writers seemed to have dropped the ball with this facet of her character. Not that this should have been a martial arts flick, but the revelation held some promise for further action beyond the marketplace scene that established her talent. Set pieces seemed to occur at random, like Sam's (Brian Yang) romantic attachment to Li Li (Nina Wu), and the white thugs dispatching Tom Wong's (Godfrey Gao) father (Russell Wong) after he had been long removed from the original story seemed forced. The most surprising aspect of the film occurred right at the finale when the story turned on a dime to mention the massacre of nineteen Chinese in Los Angeles on October 21, 1871 in one of the most horrific mass lynchings in the country's history. The movie would have been served better, if that's the point it wanted to make, to key in on events that were more global in nature relative to the Chinese community, rather than the ill fated love story between Tom and Ying Ying. Nice try I guess, but it could have been a lot better.

• Not Too Bad

  foutainoflife2018-12-31

  A romantic drama set amidst the lynching of Chinese immigrants in 1871. This is a B movie with a nice story. The acting is decent even if the production quality is somewhat lacking. It's better than an average B film and credit should be given where credit is due. I ended up really enjoying it. I'm glad I watched it.

• Visually stunning, strong female lead!

  Lillyrowe2017-11-20

  After having seen Detroit, which focuses on some really heavy history, I came across The Jade Pendant , which also focuses on some awful history, I was very moved by the amount of time we got to meet these characters, be interested in them and then fall in love. The landscape of this only adds to the story which follows across a very talented cast.