Progbear-4

Apparently edited down from a Japanese TV series, "Mighty Jack" looks more like several completely unrelated spy films chopped up and reedited randomly. The plot, if it can be said to have one, is an exercise in incoherence. A plot synopsis is impossible for this film, *none* of it makes sense. What an endurance test this film is, anyone who makes it all the way to the end deserves some sort of medal.

A pretty standard kung-fu period-piece with some comic elements. What sets this apart are some truly odd fighting techniques. I don't think I'll ever get the image of the chunky, long-haired man deflecting his opponent's kicks by contracting and expanding his belly out of my head. Must be a technique unique to Taiwan. Bizarre.

I think what really hurt this film was the advertising campaign. It was made to look like a serious science-fiction film. It's not. It's actually a science-fiction *comedy* that's so over-the-top, I can't believe people are trying to fault it for being something it isn't. On the level of gaudy, self-referential camp it succeeds gloriously. Watch this one with the right expectations and you ought to have a good time.