El invencible

What's truly great about Jackie Chan is that even in a movie that has no other redeeming qualities he can make you want to see the movie again and again. The movie itself is not that great, the acting is bad and the plot is extremely pathetic, but Jackie shows off how likable he is again. Between great stunt sequences and great humourous scenes, Jackie keeps you interested. Here's to more Jackie Chan Movies!

This movie is a strange combination: quite possibly the thinnest plot and worst acting of any Jackie Chan movie... and some of the best and funniest fight scenes, as well.

Fortunately the movie moves along briskly and there's never much time between humor and fight scenes for you to dwell on just how bad the acting was in the preceeding scene.

The thinnest plot imaginable (1: Bad guys think Jackie has an incriminating tape, 2: Bad guys go after him), but it doesn't matter; the movie serves up one virtuoso action sequence after another, and some priceless comic dialogue as well ("Oh my God, you want the tape too? If you find it PLEASE take it"). Jackie was 43 when this was filmed, but he sure hadn't lost a bit of his physical dexterity. This film is much better in every way than his American "breakthrough" hit, "Rumble In The Bronx", and Richard Norton makes an enjoyable villain. (***)

In my review of 'Who Am I?', I mentioned that 'Rumble in the Bronx', 'First Strike', 'Mr Nice Guy', and 'Who Am I?' all followed a similar formula as Jackie tried to capture western audiences. After watching 'Mr Nice Guy' again, I was actually kind of surprised to realize that it was almost a carbon copy of 'Rumble in the Bronx' - a Rumble in Melbourne's Central Business District, anyway.

Giancarlo (Richard Norton), Melbourne's top drug lord is angry because Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) has a tape that incriminates him. Jackie (Jackie Chan), a TV chef and arse-kicker extraordinaire comes into possession of the tape, making Giancarlo angry enough to kidnap Jackie's girlfriend Miki (Miki Lee). This makes Jackie angry. The end.

Wow. It seems like I've written out the whole plot and embellished upon it rather than summarized it. I'm just kidding - or am I? 'Mr Nice Guy' might be a contender for the thinnest plot in the universe prize, and the so called "supporting actors" don't even seem to be trying to act. Almost everything that happens in 'Rumble in the Bronx' is recycled for this. Unfortunately, the hovercraft was replaced by heavy machinery. Nothing can be an adequate substitute for Rumble's hovercraft.

Jackie kicking arse is the only reason for anyone to watch 'Mr Nice Guy'. It doesn't feature anything new or innovative, but any keen fan of Jackie should notice various 'Protector', 'Police Story' or 'Rumble in the Bronx' moments. It is a fun and exciting action film though, and that's what Jackie is all about.

And now for something completely different: Yet again, 'Mr Nice Guy' features Jackie playing a character called Jackie. I'm convinced that Jackie quit acting for several years, and took up a life as a cop, spy, chef, etc. All the while he had a film crew filming his adventures in order to create easy action movies. It's the only logical explanation - the writers can't be that lazy, right?

'Mr Nice Guy' reeks of being direct to video, but that doesn't stop it from being a fun action movie. Fans of Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung should give this a look - 7/10

C'mon, all of you! Throw some more votes into the pot if you've seen enough out of everything! Jackie Chan's recent movies including MR. NICE GUY show their prescnce in the Hollywood mainstream thanks to a special ingredient: originality. Take your pick at RUMBLE IN THE BRONX and thereafter! Impressive and fast stunt choreography from TV chef Chan is astounding and well done, something that highly trained professionals have died for. Voices aren't dubbed this time around, but Chan's accent takes some learning. The touch of comedy is another welcome feature, making this one specially entertaining. Fat bicyclist steals the show for fighting back, and the end outtakes are a nice bonus. There are a couple of gripes, though. MR. NICE GUY tends to run the same route as R.I.T.B. from start to finish (like the giant truck finale), and it could have been less on stupidity, but as I said before, the comedy was welcome. More movies like this would (almost) put James Bond 007 in the retirement home! Another must-see for action buffs! Another must-have for the fan of Chan!