Kung Fu Rookie (2025)
Country bumpkin Timuchin comes to the city to enroll in the police academy. There he is pranked by a lovely young woman who eventually cottons to his courtship. When they run afoul of local gangsters his Dudley Do Right persona and studied obsession with martial arts send him on a bare-fisted mission to thwart the baddies and rescue his damsel in distress. This inspired homage to Jackie Chan by way of urban Kazakhstan is a boisterous roller coaster ride of old school action movie thrills, spills and other hilarious antics.
Kazakh martial artist Timur Baktybayev crafts a winning showcase for himself with this breezy action comedy, which should immediately put him on the international radar. It’s a risk for a movie like this to name-drop Jackie Chan so often, but Baktybayev and director Aman Ergaziyev effectively capture the playful spirit of vintage Chan films. Wide-eyed Timuchin (Baktybayev) travels from his rural hometown to the big city of Almaty to attend the police academy and help out at his uncle’s fruit stand, and he soon strikes up a flirtation with the friendly Alua (Janelle Sergazina). The ratio of cutesy romantic montages to dynamic action scenes is a little off, but both are appealingly wholesome. Timuchin initially incurs the wrath of a group of local thugs when he chastises them for littering, and that’s enough motivation for a series of creatively staged set pieces, making clever use of locations like an amusement park and an auto repair warehouse. Jackie Chan should take notice. (rottentomatoes.com)
Timur Baktybayev makes for a likeable Jackie Chan like hero, throwing himself into the action and making a good stab at the comedy and drama parts of his role. His acting may not win him any awards, but I have seen higher profile stars with less acting ability. Also, at this early point in his career I am sure he will only get better as his career progresses. (maactioncinema.com)
