Opération Condor

This may be the most entertaining Jackie Chan experience ever. Filmed all over the world with a huge budget and abundance of energy, Armor of God 2 is a fast, funny, thrilling film. Despite the obvious Indiana Jones plot, Chan amazes us once again by risking his life so we can be entertained for two hours. Chan's directing skills are almost as exceptional as his physical skills in the way he captures the action from brilliant wide angles that display the danger of his action. A scene where Chan flees on motorcycle from the villains through the cramped city streets is one of the most exciting chase scenes on film. Chan gambles with his life in every stunt and action sequence making for an exuberant film that must be seen to fully appreciate Hong Kong action cinema.

This movie is about impressing stunts. Period. That is all it is, and it does it well. Chan is amazingly skilled in both performing great stunts as well as coming up with ones you haven't seen before.

Great stunts also lay a solid foundation for action comedy. Many action scenes are really, really fun, mixing the stunts with fun situations. In particular, I found the car chase scene make me think "just when I thought there were no fun Bond-style chases left to make, Chan proves that there are". The only thing missing would be to play "The Ride of the Valkyries" at some appropriate times.

One more point in the favor of the movie is Chan's charm. He really has good screen presence.

So far, this is good. But let me mention what the movie does NOT have. It has no interesting plot to speak of. It has rather awful storytelling at times, moving from one scene to another with minimal or no motivation. There are even scenes with obvious remains from cut parts. Finally, the three female leads are all young, pretty and stupid. One "silly girl" would be fine but three of them? This makes them embarrassingly similar. It wouldn't hurt with one woman who were, for example, middle aged and with a professional attitude, or just not exactly the same personality as the others. I guess this is a cultural difference, in movies from the western world we are plagued with over-professional arrogant women instead, which is just as much cliché. Maybe we could get something in between, like an interesting character?

So, forget about the plot. Enjoy the stunts instead! They make me wonder one thing: How dangerous was this movie to make? How many times did Chan go to hospital?

10/10 for stunts. 8/10 for fun and action. 2/10 for story.

A treat! Overflows with energy, humor, excitement, and jaw-dropping stunts (especially the motorcycle chase scene, during which Jackie takes time out to rescue a runaway baby carriage!). The climactic fight in the Nazi outpost is terrific. Just as much fun, though, are the comedy scenes, like those with the innocent waif (and her pet scorpion) Jackie's team encounters in the desert, or Jackie's impersonation of the folkloric Chinese "hopping vampire" - one of the funniest things I've ever seen in an action film. Didn't think much of "First Strike" but I recommend this one without reservation.

Rated PG-13 for martial arts action, some shootings, and sensuality Quebec Rating:G Canadian Home Video Rating:14A

Operation Condor is a very funny Jackie Chan movie which is the sequel to the 1987 film Armor Of God.However when released in America they released this film first so the 1987 film Armor Of God is called Operation Condor 2 in America.I remember renting this film on VHS a very long time ago but I did see it about one year ago on UPN.This film has all the Jackie Chan charm.Great fight scenes,stunts and action but also lots of slapstick comedy to keep you happy.This film is about Jackie Chan and two other people who try to find hidden Nazi gold but others want it as well.Operation Condor is a funny and good film and I recommend it.

Runtime:92min

8/10

...but I've only got 1000 words, so I'll keep it brief. Okay, so some of the early exposition scenes are a little boring and some other parts are a little dumb, but otherwise, this is Chan...and he is DA MAN! Wild, crazy, and ever-inventive martial arts and action sequences more than make up for the fact that the plot is only semi-existent. The opening "Indiana Jones" parody...the innkeeper...the incompetent terrorists...the motorcycle chase...the "native dance"...the wind tunnel fight...and without a doubt the coolest car door ever seen (you'll know what I mean)...in summary, if you're a fan of slapstick humor mixed perfectly with Jackie's trademark martial arts, you can't go wrong with this film!