Jackie Chan's movies are always safe and wholesome entertainment that try to be crowd pleasers. The myth is no different. Here, he has teamed up with director Stanley Tong ( of RUMBLE IN THE BRONX ) and ( CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON ) scribe Wang Hui Ling to make a tomb-raider story that zips between China's Qing Dynasty era and the present day. Jackie plays Jack, an Indian Jones style archaeologist who has recurring dreams about Korean princess OK-Soo ( Kim Hee Soon ) who is sent to be the bride of China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang. In the dreams, Jack is General MEng-Yi, whose mission is to protect the princess from rebels and escort her safely to the emperor. Of course, along the way, General Meng-Yi falls in love with her, and gets involved in dastardly court intrigues and conspiracies. Back to the present day, Jack gets a visit form his scientist friend, William ( Tony Leung Ka Fai ) who wants him to go to Dasar in India to check out a temple that seems to defy the force of gravity. William believes he is on the verge of a breakthrough in levitation -- and he needs Jack's help to 'smoothen' the way for him. In Dasar, they stumble on a magical gemstone and an ancient sword -- and invariably become relic robbers. However, those who have seen enough of JAckie Chan flicks would realise that this 'travelogue' segment is merely an excuse to introduce Bollywood sex siren Mallika Sherawat as Samantha, a yoga student who rescues Jack and helps him to flee his pursuers. Expectedly, Mallika provides a sensual dance number and one of the most 'memorable' comedy sequences that takes place in a rat glue factory in India. Another travelogue sequence takes us to a huge mountain cavern--ostensibly the mausoleum of the Qin emperor--where more anti gravity fighting (read wire-fu) scenes occur. The constant shuttling between the Qin Dynasty and present day is tiresome and it does not help the flow of the story or the plot. And the climax is unexpectedly bloody for a Jackie Chan flick. Jackie and director Tong seem to have joined the bandwagon of styled kungfu films like Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's HERO but Tong is unable to stage the battle sequences for maximum effect. Its slow motion scenes are more laughable than engaging. However, The Myth maintains its element of fun and adventure and these are what most of Jackie Chan's fans expect.
