Under Control

Well for a start this movie is underrated. I don't think that an average rating of 5.4 justifies how good this movie really is.

This is the first movie that i have ever seen that uses comedy, romance, and martial arts to such a good effect in a movie. Sure, there are other Jackie Chan films with hints of romance, and there is always lots of fun and excitement, but this movie is different, because unlike a lot of his other movies, this one is based on a romantic story, yet still has a lot of great martial arts and some laughs to offer its audience.

What makes this such a great movie for me is that the choreography for the fighting I thought was excellent. The romantic storyline is simple yet effective. It is an easy movie to to watch and enjoy.

Now the rating.... a lot of people probably thought this was going to be an action packed movie. Now there is quite a lot of action considering this movie was intended to be a romance/comedy. It just proves that Jackie Chan can pull off a romantic comedy really well.

Version: Columbia/Tristar DVD, Cantonese with English subtitles

A somewhat different offering from Jackie Chan in 'Gorgeous'. Bu (Shu Qi) is bored in Taiwan, and after reading a message in a bottle, she goes to Hong Kong to search out a mysterious stranger (Tony Leung), who turn out to be not be exactly what she expected. Eventually she meets C.N. Chan (Jackie) and grows close to him. Meanwhile, Bu's fiancée is looking for her and Jackie has troubles with Lo (Emil Chau), a childhood friend and now business rival.

I have to admit that I enjoyed this, even though romantic-comedies aren't really my thing. It isn't your usual Jackie Chan-style, but if he wants to try something different, then I will gladly support him. I found 'Gorgeous' funny, although others will disagree. There isn't much action, but when there is, it is excellent. The two fight scenes with Brad Allan are some of the best fight-scenes Jackie has ever filmed. They really are incredible, but in the end, this really is more of a 'feel good' movie than anything else.

Apparently the version I have is cut by 20 minutes, missing a cameo Stephen Chow. Damn. Stephen Chow is cool.

'Gorgeous' isn't for everyone - fans of the Chan-man should check it out, but I'm not guaranteeing you'll enjoy it as much I did. 7/10

I was not expecting a movie like this at all from Jackie Chan. After 30 or 40 minutes passed with no fight scenes I started getting antsy. The second half of the movie redeemed itself though with 2 amazing kung fu spectacles that still boggle my mind weeks and months later. In retrospect this is a very good movie - and the romantic angle was done really well and in a decent and sweet fashion - no one night stand sex scenes ala the rest of Hollywood - this was much more sincere than that. The guy playing Alan is a tremendous performer and should be given a chance for more starring roles, he stole the show from Chan in both scenes. Worth 10 bucks or so just for the fight scenes, and the rest of the movie ain't so bad either. :)

I say kudos to Jackie for trying to expand his range a little bit, especially after having so much success over the years using the same formula. For once Jackie gets to act a little bit and play a role other than a cop/new kid in town/martial artist whose father/brother/girlfriend was kidnapped/murdered/disgraced. Sure, it's not high drama, but it is a very touching romantic comedy.

Jackie plays a wealthy businessman who is so wrapped up in his work that he has forgotten how to take time to enjoy what he has earned. Bu (Qi Shu) is a starry-eyed romantic who tries to help him remember. Mixing things up a bit is Chan's less scrupulous rival Lo, played by Emil Chau.

This rivalry serves to shoehorn a couple of fight scenes into the movie, and while I did really enjoy them (I like seeing Jackie in a good one-on-one matchup once in a while) they're really secondary to the plot of the movie. They're definitely worth seeing, though. Set up as elaborate boxing matches, they're a bit more realistic than most of his scenes.

I enjoyed this movie quite a lot and would love to see Jackie do some more like it. After all, we have to admit that Jackie is getting up there in age. While he's still just as amazing as ever, why not give him a break from being pushed through windows and dragged behind trucks once in a while?

Being a big Jackie Chan fan,and knowing from experience how much better the HK versions of his films are,I picked the HK version of this up last week,and I cant tell you how much I loved this one.Im probably one of the few Jackie fans stateside that likes the humor in most of his older movies,as well as the action,so this one really made me laugh,and Shu Qi is just luminous as the female lead.One thing I really liked about this one was the charactarizations of so many of the other players had real dimension to them,including the so called bad guys.And Ive noticed that most of the best one on one fight scenes in his movies are the ones with a fighter thats treated as an equal,and fought as clean,fair fights,(examples:In Wheels on Meals,Dragons Forever,Who Am I,etc.)and his two fights with Bradely James Allen are good examples of this. I know a lot of guys who watch Jackie just for the fights and stunts are dissapointed with this one,the rest of us with a more open mind will probably like this almost as much as I do.