First there was the bland though slightly diverting ‘Skiptrace’, then December 2016 saw the release of the patchy, but promising ‘Railroad Tigers’. Jackie Chan has had a prolific year or so. The fact that it isn’t even as good as the insipid third part of the ‘Armour of God’ trilogy, ‘Chinese Zodiac’, should tell you everything you need to know about ‘Kung Fu Yoga’. ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ is actually ‘Armour of God-lite’, an action comedy that once again casts Jackie Chan as super-fighting treasure hunter though here his character leans more to the role of historian than anything else. We’ll have to wait for Denis Villeneuve to finish the new ‘Blade Runner’ film before we can dream about that I suppose. When I first heard the title ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ I must confess that I had visions of Jackie Chan putting together a big budget remake of the slightly bizarre yet very entertaining Alan Hsu/Chien Yuet San film ‘Kung-Fu v. Naturally the ruthless Randall and his team are also in pursuit and have few scruples in their way to get the incredible hoard. As the diamond shows up for auction in Dubai, Jack seeks the help of his wealthy backer to get the diamond and use it as a tool to uncover the truth behind the mysterious Magadha. Jack and his colleagues escapes with his life, but is let down by his deceased friend’s son who steals the Magadha diamond, the key to finding the real historical bounty that has tantalised the East for hundreds of years. Although the team finds one of the most noted parts of the treasure their expedition is interrupted by Indian millionaire Randall (Sood) and his band of hired mercenaries who are also after the treasure. Persuaded to make the journey to the suspected area that the treasure resides and backed by his assistants and the son of one of his oldest friends, Jack begins to explore the deep ice caves in Tibet.
China’s best archaeologist, Jack (Chan), is approached by a beautiful Indian historian who brings a map that might lead to the famed Magadha treasure.