Niki Larson

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.

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.

Based on a comic by Tsukasa Houjo, City Hunter was made because a Japanese fan mentioned to Jackie Chan that he looks like Ryo Saeba.

Ryo Saeba (Jackie Chan) is asked to bring back Seiko (Kumoko Goto) back to Japan. On their way back, the luxury liner carrying both gets high jacked by gangs. Ryo, Seiko and others battle the gang inside the luxury liner.

The movie is made to appeal to both Hong Kong and Japanese audience, and actor Joey Wong who was popular at the time in Japan appears as Ryo Saeba's girlfriend. Kumiko Goto who was popular in Japan at the time also appears. All star cast of Richard Norton, Leon Lai, and Chingmy Yau also appears to appeal to audiences in both countries. There's a comical scene where characters that looks like the Street Fighter appearing in fight scenes.

This movie is bit different from other Jackie Chan movies, in that body exploitation with many men and women in their swim suit appearing, and overt comedy is part of the story. But the fight scene between Richard Norton and Jackie Chan is pure Jackie Chan movie.

Many people say this is the only Jackie Chan movie that doesn't work, but it is an entertaining movie with some good action spread in between.

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......

Loosely based on a Manga,City Hunter is by no means Jackie's best on an artistic level. However,it might very well be his most sheerly entertaining.

Although the plot is similar to Under Siege,the similarities end there. City Hunter is played almost entirely for laughs and manages to be consistently funny throughout while having more inventive ideas in 20 minutes than all three Austin Powers movies put together. Director Wong Jing {the same Wong Jing who made Naked Killer and God Of Gamblers!}absolutely crams the film with sight gags and slapstick,all filmed in a bright cartoon-like manner. One sequence involving Jackie being chased around a ship while hunting for food is an absolute masterpiece of silent-movie style comedy. Many of the best gags are very quick,such as Jackie crawling out of a bag hardly bigger than his head. Some are extremely sexist though,such as the woman holding a gun and falling forward because of the combined weight of the gun and her large breasts {this happens more than once}.

Despite all this City Hunter still manages to be crammed with action scenes,except of course in this film rather than simply staging a fight in a cinema we have Jackie taking guidance from an on-screen Bruce Lee! A Streetfighter sequence where the characters morph in to various game combatants has to be seen to be believed and the end showdown between Jackie and Richard Norton,although not one of his best in terms of martial arts technique,is easily his funniest.

Add some great characters,a terrific score,and for the male viewers,some gorgeous Hong Kong 'babes',and you have 90 minutes of sheer,non-stop FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!