Xia ri fu xing

Really silly stuff, goofier than usual, but fun nonetheless. Another of Jackie's "minor" movies, he's back in a smaller part, but he does get to scrap a bit with Richard Norton, who showed up later in "City Hunter" and "Mr. Nice Guy." The ending of course is really cool, and it's fun to see a young Michell Yeoh in a tiny, tiny part....

After one of his informers is murdered by a Thai gang boss, lawman Muscles (Jackie Chan) calls in his former orphanage pals, 'The Lucky Stars', to go undercover and infiltrate the boss's underworld establishment. The unorthodox Kidstuff (Sammo Hung) and Ricky (Yuen Biao) soon prove their worth, and are ultimately joined by Muscles for an explosive martial arts finale.

Jackie Chan and Yuen Baio are sidelined this time, making room for more buffoonery from the Lucky Stars, who, as usual, are lusting over women - Rosamund Kwan is the main centre of their attention - and it's funny to a point, but eventually it can get tedious and the line between humour and perviness is blurred, especially with the buffoons trying to cop a feel and leer. Having said that, it's entertaining film, and the fights scenes standout with some lethal foes. The use of badminton against swords is an inspiring idea. Richard Norton is one tough dude. Not as good as My Lucky Stars, but still a good one.

The script is totally incoherent (something about a letter that could expose a criminal organization... don't even bother to think about it), and most of the comedy is lame, but the action is fast and exhilarating. Jackie has a small part and barely any dialogue in this one; I also would have liked to see more of the gifted Yuen Biao, who has a way of making even the most amazing stunts seem effortless. Sammo Hung gets the lion's share of the fighting, and at the end he is pitted against Richard Norton, one of the most worthy villains of Jackie Chan movies. I give "Twinkle" * for the comedy and *** for the action, so the average is **.

The third Lucky Star film is both the best and the worst. First of all,it has some absolutely superb action,including Jackie Chan,Yuen Biao and Andy Lau taking on loads of villains in a warehouse,Chan chasing and battling Richard Norton down some streets and Samo Hung battling a dagger wielding Japanese villain with tennis rackets. Hung's fight choreography is at it's best here,really pushing himself and his other stars to the limits.

Unfortunately this is the least funny of the films. Most of the time it just replays gags from the previous two films,and the 'five horny guys in the same house as a woman' schtick seems even more like sexual harassment and goes on for ever. The plot,although not really that important,was obviously cobbled together in a rush and makes no sense at all. Chan has slightly more footage than in the other two films but due to an injury done on another film he was shooting at the same time doesn';t feature much in the final action.

These Lucky Stars films are really odd. When they are good,as in most of the action,they are excellent. When they are bad,as in a great deal of the comedy which simply doesn't travel well,they really drag and one is tempted to just fast forward to the next fight scene. At least this one has a great cameo from Michelle Yeoh as a fight instructor and what seems like half of the Hong Kong stars of the time coming out of a lift at the end.

Awwww Man!!! HK action is great!! Twinkle Twinkle My Lucky Stars (A.K.A. My Lucky Stars 2) surpasses the two previous installments, Winners And Sinners and the first My Lucky Stars. I admit though, the movie starts slow at first, but its WELL worth the watch. The warehouse fight scene was excellent!! A young Andy Lau has some good moves for a non-martial artist. Jackie and Yuen Biao are at their usual, taken baddies down with acrobatic aerial moves and kicks. The climax was also off the hook, with Richard Norton matching up against Sammo Hung. Some of the best choreography is shown in this movie. Once again, Jackie is not the limelight of this action flick. That is still great because everybody has a chance to get involved in this film.

One more thing... THE COMEDY, THE COMEDY!! Richard Ng and Eric Tsang return with the rest of the lucky stars to give the audience more of their comedic antics. Also, look out for more cameo appearances throughout the movie. Overall, a great comedy actioner from Hong Kong!!

My Final Judgement: 10/10