Nobody in their right mind is going to deny that Donnie Yen is one of the modern era’s finest action stars, with the actor boasting a stellar track record of box office hits and acclaimed outings that require him to showcase his impeccable skills. However, even the greats are prone to the odd misstep every now and again, which in Yen’s case came in 2014’s Iceman.
Based on the legend’s presence as leading man and action director, not to mention impressive production values and a sky high concept, it’s startling to discover that Law Wing-cheung’s fantasy epic was an unmitigated disaster on every level, failing to recoup its $32 million budget at the box office, topping out with awful critical and user scores of 20 and 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with Yen even landing a Golden Broom award for Worst Actor.
And yet, Prime Video subscribers have opted to give the opulent flop a second chance this week, with FlixPatrol revealing that Iceman has very surprisingly managed to secure a Top 10 spot in five different countries. If anything, watching the movie will only serve to remind you that it’s almost impressive how badly the ball was dropped, because the story is brimming with bonkers potential.
Yen’s He Ying is about to be betrayed by his three traitorous brothers-in-arms, who all grew up together as orphans and became elite-level imperial guards. However, they end up being frozen in time for 400 years, before reawakening in the modern day to immediately renew hostilities in a brand new, unfamiliar, and completely unrecognizable world.
If anything, the most disappointing thing about Iceman is how it made an insane pitch so uninteresting.
Published: Aug 26, 2022 03:15 am