Review | The Tiger’s Apprentice movie review: Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding can’t save this messy animation based on Chinese mythology

A teenage boy discovers he has special powers and must team up with a crew of Chinese zodiac animals to protect an ancient phoenix egg from an evil villainess

Adapted from the novel of the same name, this brightly coloured adventure sets itself up promisingly but quickly descends into a chaotic, unfocused adventure

Reading Time:2 minutes

Tom (voiced by Brandon Soo Hoo) and Mr Hu the tiger (Henry Golding) in a still from “The Tiger’s Apprentice”, a new fantasy animation directed by Raman Hui and co-starring the voice of Michelle Yeoh. Photo: Paramount Pictures/Paramount+

Published: 6:15pm, 29 Jan 2024

2/5 stars

Long delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Tiger’s Apprentice is a lively but limited animated fantasy that is finally being streamed by Paramount+.

The film is directed by Raman Hui Shing-ngai, the Hong Kong-born director and animator who enjoyed huge success with the live-action/animation hybrid Monster Hunt (2015) and its 2018 sequel.

Adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Laurence Yep, this brightly coloured adventure begins in Hong Kong, with a woman and a child attacked by luminous-green, dragon-like monsters as they drive across a bridge.

Protecting them from this assault is a tiger and a menagerie of other talking creatures – members of the Zodiac, a group of animal warriors out to ward off evil. It’s a dramatic opening, especially with the introduction of the white-faced villainess Loo (Michelle Yeoh), who craves absolute power.

Cut to San Francisco 15 years later and the child is now a yellow-hoodie-wearing teen named Tom Lee (Brandon Soo Hoo). Like any other adolescent, he wants to fit in.

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