There is an overwhelming sense of hope when it comes to the film “The Tiger’s Apprentice.” Hope not because of the story line, which is rather one-dimensional, but rather that this film would provide Asians the representation they so desperately need. This suspicion is also born out by the cast, who are quite literally some of the top Asian actors in Hollywood. This includes Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Bowen Yang and Greta Lee to just name a few. However, one can notice that the creators seemed to have spent more time looking for talented actors rather than focusing on the film itself, which only adds to the disappointment. As a result, we find ourselves with a film that contains some humorous scenes and satisfactory visuals but lacks any depth or substance within the actual story told throughout the film.
At the center resides Tom Lee played by Brandon Soo Hoo, who has moved into his grandmother’s house which has been consistently decorated with various items since he was a child, as more and more people in the neighborhood now believe that she’s some sort of witch. Most people believe tom is a typical high school student, until he, while intervening in a school fight, ends up tossing a bully into the ceiling and starts feeling that all isn’t quite right. Too late it gets him in trouble with Loo played by Yeoh, the intimidating figure who is after the magical pendant which Grandma possesses and which when used by wrong people can unleash chaos into the world.
As Tom now has the necklace, Hu who is Golding a tiger who has the ability to turn into a human and is one of the twelve the Zodiac in symbols, and whose purpose is to safeguard the mankind from Loo’s evil. Hu is not happy but accepts Toms’ order and starts his training to become a guardian very much like Hu. He also presents the part Henry who is the dragon Mistral, Oh, and the rat thief, Sidney Yang, who is the most daring. Then, many conflicts of the good and evil forces take place, while all responsibilities come down to Toms.
The incorporation of a worthy cast and the Asian milieu offer some interesting perspectives to the film. However, everything else appears to bore the viewer. The film, The Tiger’s Apprentice, shouldn’t have even been made, or even mentioned at all by its creators. The ideas behind it have been done to death. The plot is incredibly dull, even beginning to nudge into irritation. But, in fairness, I have yet to see the first part of the trilogy, which was written in 2003. According to Everything is Cleveland-looking it liked it anyways adored and adored Chinese mythology and anyway today (rather ‘today’) it is poorly masked as pure fantasy only possible in Harry Potter. All they had to do was provide the audience with something fresh and provocative which would have been interesting, but instead, they were satisfied with Noah with armies of the obsessive ‘everything I needed to kill that myself.’ It’s one of those strange movies that satisfy all expectations dryly, yet as do other films. Everything is already predictable, and yet there is little that enthusiasm or anything more than annoyance remains.
The other critical weakness is how the film wastes its greatest strength which is the incredible cast. It is only reasonable to expect that each of the actors of that standing would be given some space to exert their talents; however, due to a fast-paced plot and a short duration of the film (the film is hardly more than 80 minutes before the end credits start), many of them are left out of the final cut. Aside from Yeoh and Golding who portray two of the main roles with Yang providing comic relief, the others are unable to impress much, to the point that if I did not hear any dialogue from Greta Lee, who plays the role of the Rabbit, it is quite possible that I missed the scene entirely. Strange as it may seem, at a time when all people are whining about the length of the films, here is one picture which with an extra 15-20 minutes maybe wouldn’t have hurt to give the story and the characters some space to develop.
‘The Tiger’s Apprentice’ is not a bad film as such, there are some impressive visuals and some scenes are quite humorous, but shades of its brilliance can only be seen as a mere montage of shots from films that are supposedly cinematic which is disappointing.
The film may even be animated and vibrant enough to sustain the interest of most younger viewers as it plays out. Perhaps if enough of those students see it, it may motivate a remake that will spend great time on the rich mythology and characters, as they, and to us, deserve.
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