Little Big Soldier (2010) - A Review

 

Little Big Soldier is such a good movie!

Little Big Soldier (also known as Big Soldier, Little General, Junior Soldiers, and The Big Soldier) is a historical action comedy movie released in China and Hong Kong in 2010 and stars Jackie Chan, Wang Lee-Hom, Steve Yoo Seung-Jun, Du Yu-Ming, Ken Lo, Yu Rongguang, and Lin Peng. It was written and directed by Ding Sheng, with action directed by Jackie Chan.

The General (on the left) and the Soldier. I didn't even notice that they don't have proper names in the movie!

In Little Big Soldier, Jackie Chan plays a Soldier who is very good at playing dead. There is a war going on between the states of Liang and Wei; the Soldier is from Liang. The Soldier and a Wei general (played by Wang Lee-Hom) are the only survivors of a huge battle, and the Soldier captures the injured General. The Soldier plans on bringing the General back to Liang so he can be honorably discharged from the army and receive money and land as a reward. As you can imagine, the Soldier and the General do not get along. The Soldier does everything he can to keep the General with him, and alive. Things get complicated when the prince of Wei, Wen (played by Steve Yoo Seung-Jun), finds out that the General is alive and sends all of his men in search of him. A particularly ruthless tribe of warriors is also after them. The General, and by association, the Soldier are wanted men. Will the Soldier make it back to Liang and get back to the life he longs for?

Prince Wen (on the right) and his Guard.

I remember seeing the Blu-Ray and DVD of Little Big Soldier at Walmart all the time back in the day, but I never bought it. The cover of the American Blu-Ray was very off-putting to me, and it made me doubt that it was a good movie. Finally watching it in 2023, I can definitively say that I was wrong. Little Big Soldier is really good! I loved this movie! It just proves that you should never judge a movie by its poster or Blu-Ray cover!

This movie is not your typical Jackie Chan movie. There is very little, if any hand to hand combat. In fact, Jackie's character, the Soldier, is not a very good fighter. What the Soldier lacks in fighting skills, he has incredible skill in throwing rocks (and making medicines with the plants he finds in the wild). He is determined to bring the General back to Liang, by any means necessary. Jackie plays this role so naturally, but it is not like he's playing himself (as he does in most of the movies he's made since the late 90s). The Soldier is the underdog in this movie, and you root for him throughout. The General is younger than the Soldier, and is certainly more prideful. He is a skilled fighter, especially with the sword. The General is always trying to escape from the Soldier, and he does succeed at points. The General and The Soldier usually end up back together in some way, though. Jackie Chan and Wang Lee-Hom, as the General, have great chemistry together.

The fight scenes are swordplay based, mainly. Excellently choreographed, as expected.

The action in Little Big Soldier is mainly swordplay-based. In fact, Jackie Chan does not play the expert fighter in this movie. He mainly throws rocks at his opponents (plus he uses his dodging skills a lot). His weapon skills are at a basic level as The Soldier. The bad guys even laugh at how terrible he is at fighting. Still, there is one classic Jackie Chan style fight scene in this, and it's really good (though really short). The General and Prince Wen are the expert sword fighters, along with Du Yu-Ming, who plays Prince Wen's main guard. There are cool fight scenes/battles involving the warrior tribe that are after the General and the Soldier.Those guys and woman are ruthless fighters! The action is good in this movie, with a lot of brutal falls and some cool moves done, but it is not the type of fighting you would expect in a Jackie Chan movie.

I highly recommend watching Little Big Soldier! This movie is so good! Interesting story, interesting characters, good action, plot twists, comedy, and genuine emotion. Jackie Chan gives a great performance, and the other actors give believable performances as well. Jackie and Wang Lee-Hom have great chemistry together. The comedy is really good, as is the action (though not the Jackie Chan type of action you may be expecting). Little Big Soldier is actually considered one of Jackie Chan's last great movies. Watch and decide for yourself. I'll definitely be buying this on Blu-Ray in the future!

Reviewed by David Williams