‘Speechless’: Jackie Chan de-aged in new movie using AI, leaving netizens baffled

In March, Jackie Chan made the headlines for looking old and haggard when he appeared at an event in China with grey hair and a beard.

With the release of his new Chinese movie A Legend recently, the 70-year-old became the centre of attention again when he looked unnaturally youthful in it — because his face was altered by AI.

In the movie, which is reportedly connected to his film The Myth (2010), Jackie plays archaeologist Professor Chen, who is transported to the past and becomes a young general after finding the tomb of Princess Mengyun (Gulnezer Bextiyar) who bears a resemblance to the woman in his dreams.

Photos circulating on Weibo show a youthful Jackie in armour as he fights the enemy.

There are also other scenes of him with Gulnezer, 32, who reportedly plays the general’s love interest.

Jackie’s de-aged looks did not sit well with audiences, as those who have watched the movie criticised how distracted they were by it.

One netizen wrote: “What the heck is this? AI Jackie Chan made me lose interest in the movie completely.”

There were even others who commented that this is the “worst movie of the year”.

“Jackie Chan’s face is completely changed by AI. I am really speechless,” they wrote.

They also felt that he isn’t willing to accept his age.

One of them wrote: “Jackie Chan is going to retire, but why can’t he think rationally… is he trying to reminisce about his youth or is this a refusal to accept that he’s old?”

A netizen also thought that he took comments of AI taking over actors one day too seriously: “Others joked that AI would be used to film movies one day. Jackie seems to take this for real?”

Despite the criticism, there were others who also said that if Jackie’s son Jaycee did not get into trouble with the law — he was arrested in 2014 for possession and distribution of marijuana in Beijing — he could have played the general in the movie.

“If his son acted in his movie, it would have been exciting just thinking about it,” they wrote.