Sing si lip yan

I don't know what else I should have expected, but for a live-action manga adaptation of the early 90s, and one starring Jackie Chan no less, this embraces abject cartoonishness far exceeding my wildest assumptions. Kids' movies of the same period have nothing on 'City hunter'; Chan is no stranger to action-comedies, yet this is a title that puts the comedy first, and in which no small amount of the stunts, effects, choreography, editing, and otherwise action is specifically geared toward building that comedy. This is to say nothing of the wild choices of costume design, acting and direction, the playful original music, cinematography, or the art direction. Every last trace of the film is as over the top as it could be, including characters, dialogue, and scene writing; only if the manga were realized as anime could the result have been more frivolous. Anyone who can't abide the most outrageous and ham-handed of fare is advised to just look away from the outset, because this operates on a level that makes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles look like ponderous drama.

To be perfectly honest that often juvenile flippancy does become overbearing, and not least right about the time that the story aboard a cruise ship takes a break for a big musical and dance sequence - which, for the record, comes after only about one-third of the runtime has elapsed. That's far from the end of it though; a sequence in the last act recalls the worst buffoonery of 'Freddy's dead: The final nightmare' a couple years before, and frankly takes it even further. Would that the sheer overcooked boisterousness were the only issue, for there is also some ugly homophobia on hand, and the script and camera commonly treat women with a lasciviousness that's plainly off-putting rather than titillating. More generally, there are some points in the narrative that are just downright thin, and I can't imagine some beats or ideas ever coming off well even on paper. This is built solely to entertain, but some aspects here are emphatically not fun at all, and sometimes filmmaker Wong Jing simply went too far with some of the choices that were made; there are upper limits on the lasting entertainment value to be had here.

Yet even as 'City hunter' takes every idea to major extremes, and some inclusions are dubious or altogether tawdry, more than not it remains solidly enjoyable. Not every decision made here is a good one, but in and of themselves I can't say that anyone contributing here didn't turn in great work. The filming locations are swell, and the sets really are outstanding. The costume design, hair, and makeup are lovely. The direction, cinematography, and editing are all marvelously sharp, and the cast unreservedly commit to all the silliness. Above all, all the stunts, effects, choreography, and action really are superb, and wouldn't look out of place in a more serious-minded feature. Even that sequence of song and dance is a minor joy, however absurd it is on the face of things. The outright nonsense becomes a step too far, yet if all you want out of Golden Harvest is tremendous action and stunt work, then this picture delivers in spades.

In some measure it's definitely a mixed bag; with more restraint and a tad more mindful care the flick would surely enjoy a more significant legacy. It may have only wanted to have a good time, yet sometimes Too Much really is just Too Much. At the same time, 'City hunter' has no illusions of being anything other than a preposterous, irreverent joy ride, and even if some odds and ends share more in common with 'Looney tunes' than 'Die hard,' by and large this is a blast. Unless you're a huge fan of Chan or someone else involved, Golden Harvest, or the manga, there's surely no need to go out of your way for this. It bears repeating though, that the stunts and action are pretty much just brilliant, and by that measure alone 'City hunter' is worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

Jackie Chan plays a womanizing private eye known as City Hunter in this Wong Jing directed movie. The movie is played for surreal laughs part of the time. But with Wong Jing at the helm of this comic strip of a movie, that is no surprise. When you watch this movie, you realize that Jackie Chan knows how to pick stories and direct himself better than anyone else.

I saw this movie on the Media Arts DVD released in April, 1999. The Japanese manufactured DVD has subtitles in 8 languages, including English and Spanish. The aspect ratio is 2.35 and the image quality is very fine.

Now, I've read a lot of reviews on 'City Hunter' here, and I seem to see that a lot of people have started claiming how terrible, and stupid the whole movie is.

Please, grow up would you?

'City Hunter' was originally a Japanese manga, or comic book.. so wake up, and smell the coffee. This is not a conventional martial arts movie!

This movie, to a fan of the manga.. which I am.. is absolutely perfectly done. It really is like watching a live manga book, or an anime, Jackie brings the sexist, dumb, yet cool and laid back character of Saeba Ryo to life! Also the actress who plays Kaori is excellent, she brings the whole crazy, childish, yet underlining love interest for Saeba Ryo to the plot. The huge mallet she strikes Jackie with during one sequence is actually something that has appeared in the comic book, what can I say, the Japanese have a wild sense of humour!

Richard Norton is a brilliant villain figure, and his right hand man ( So to speak. ) played by Gary Daniels is threatening, powerful.. but downright hilarious, sometimes.

Weird, yet funny elements include the Bruce Lee homage in the movie theatre, the sequence involving Jackie and the estranged wives of people he has put behind bars, and DJ Soft and Hard's bizarre J-Pop style musical number. It is so downright bizarre and disturbing, it is actually hilarious! I wish that they had subtitled the song!

I should also mention this movie has a rather catchy, cheesy theme tune, watch, or should I say listen out for that one!

Best scene of the movie has to be the 'Street-Fighter II' video-game homage, Gary Daniels firing Hadoken at will! And how many people can actually say that they have seen Jackie Chan dressed up like Chun-Li? "Yasai!"

Other honorable character mentions go to Kaori's Cousin ( The guy who seems to have very loose elastic in his pants. ) the 'slightly camp' guard on the cruise ship, and also, the cool, supporting good guys to Ryo Saeba.

This is truly, like watching a live version of the 'City Hunter' manga series, a fan of the series, or Jackie Chan in general will love it, however the more serious martial arts fans, I recommend you give this one a miss.

Truly, an enjoyable movie!

An attempt to create a live Anime comes up short due to careless handling but the movie delivers on a couple of action sequences which will be one of the best of all time in the comedy/martial arts genre particularly Chan's fight scenes and the hilarious live re-creation of the Street Fighter video game!Chan is very game in his perfomance but the director just tries too hard to get comical/cartoonish behaviour.The director could have done much better with much less overkill and better soundtrack.The musical number also was torture and that one I recommend you fast forward.This movie is only for die hard Chan fans and big martial arts/comedy fans who know both Anime and Hong Kong style humor......

This movie is based on an anime series by the same title. And as such is quite different from typical Jackie Chan fare. For one there are all these cartoon gimmicks like weird flashbacks, giant mallets, and other things I can't quite describe but which give the movie a weird cartoon feeling. Some great fight scenes as always, and some beautiful women! (I especially liked the voluptuous comic relief girl). Go rent it!