Estrelas do Kung Fu

This movie begins with some jaw-dropping, "holy s**t" stunts performed by Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. Then Biao's character gets taken as a hostage by the villains, and the next hour belongs to Sammo Hung and his gang, the infamous "Lucky Stars". Their comedy is often labored, and always lowbrow, but it manages to be occasionally funny. I've seen three films with them now, so I'm more accustomed to their brand of humor, but they're definitely not to everyone's taste. In the final 20 minutes, we get to the fight scenes, which are choreographed in the usual inimitable Jackie-Sammo style, yet I have some complaints: most of the fights are either too brief or too choppily intercut with each other. For example, what could have been the ultimate cinematic catfight, between the stunningly sexy Sibelle Hu and the beautifully muscular Michico Nishiwaki, is pretty much a disappointment: too brief, intercut with a parallel Sammo fight, and Ms. Nishiwaki comes to a rather demeaning end. Another example is the Jackie Chan vs. Dick Wei fight, which is over much too quickly. Both Nishiwaki and Wei are better showcased in the excellent Hong Kong actioner "In The Line Of Duty 3". In fact, probably everyone involved with "My Lucky Stars" is better showcased somewhere else. But for fans of the genre and the stars, the movie is worth a viewing. (**)

I never thought I'd see the day Jackie Chan would be fighting Ninja's...but to be honest, it wasn't the cringe worthy film I was expecting - far from it, its very, very entertaining...

As the car chase rolled onto the screen I thought to myself "this is best fun I've ever had watching a Jackie Chan-Sammo Hung type film"...and it is, until half way where it seems to slow down.

This film plays as a comedy-action film with a hint of the dirty dozen thrown in for good measure. Jackie is a chinese cop in Japan trying to secure the release of Yuen Biao (who isn't in this film as much as I'd like him to be - he is technically better in acrobatics than Jackie).

Anyway, the police for some obsecure reason get Sammo Hung, a bad guy and force him to rescue Biao from the Japanese - but Hung won't do it without his childhood buddies, who are all of course criminals - and all have their strange quirks...the characters are quite funny to watch, for example....you've got a guy who's completley insane trying to move objects via ESP, you've got a smarmy ladies man who blows up jewelery shops, you've got the dumbo...etc, etc.

The gang are also framed for a bank robbery and are forced into the rescue of Biao...and have the cover of criminals - and 20 million...

Most of the film is set in Japan...I was expecting that it would soon forget it was in Japan - but it didn't, to be honest it did a good job to show Japanese culture, and lifestyle - but I think it didn't do the ninja thing justice.

Sure there are lots of good ninja fighting sequences, but the ninjas sometimes have suits on, sometimes they have different coloured head covers on - and they always seem to attack in daytime...when will film-makers realise that Ninja's are highly-intelligent and use the night as a weapon, as part of their stealth - to assume they are easily beaten is a mistake - its a mistake Sammo remakes in his hit TV show Martial Law (episode: Bad Seed)...

Anyway, by the end of the film you don't really care what the plot was - you never do, you know it doesn't really matter, this film is a lot of fun until mid-way where it really slows down for the sake of comedy - don't get me wrong, it is funny - but it sure gets repetitive...

The action could have been a tad better...it tenses up when Jackie, et al storm the Japanese gang's hideout (in a theme park! - I guess this is where Beverly Hills Cop 3 got their idea from!) - the tension is increased when you watch Jackie fighting it out with veteran bad guy Dick Wei...that fight is pretty good, but its not as long or as punishing as it makes it out to be.

The highlight of the film has to be the Sibelle Hu / Michiko Nishiwaki fight and just seeing Nishiwaki in black leotards is worth the money. But its a shame that Sammo Hung and his friends never get to go toe-to-toe with Nishiwaki, I mean Sammo Hung, et al, all have a weakness for women - this could have been used to great effect.

There are problems I have with this film: it ends to abruptly, why isn't there a big long fight sequence with the head of the Japanese gang? And where does he go when they've destroyed the Japanese gang?

Anyway, its a hoot - and if you keep your eyes open you might see Bolo Yeung in a cameo appearance.

Overall: 6/10

This movie was very funny! Sammo Hung has a true sense of humor. There was more comedy than action present, but it works out just fine. Jackie isn't the star of the movie. I think it works out better that way. The movie wasn't meant to be all action, but comedy mostly. The cameos were excellent!! Dick Wei's usual villainous role doesn't surprise me, but he shows off his moves and throws down in this movie!! Jackie, Yuen, and Sammo's chemistry on screen is incredible. I wonder when they trained at the Peking Opera School, did they ever think that they would use their skills on screen? Anyway, Eric Tsang is a very funny, versatile actor. His childish antics in this movie are hilarious. If you want to watch hilarious HK comedy, go meet the Lucky Stars!! They're all that and a bag of Kung Fu.

For fans of Jackie Chan's and Sammo Hung's other work together (Project A, Mr Nice Guy etc.) this is a step down in terms of sheer martial artistry. Aside from a good opening sequence in a fairground and the last twenty or so minutes, the rest of the film is Chan-less and situation-based comedy springing from the main band of failed crooks. Sammo is the leader of a ragtag bunch heading to Japan for reasons that really only become clear towards the end.

Along the way though, there is some rich comedy mined from both the collection of characters (including a womaniser, a wannabe telekesisist - is this a word? - and a chubby dimwit whose loyalty literally knows no bounds.) A couple of the routines are a bit trying - a scene with a female assistant investigator and a faked robbery is too long and obvious - but generally it is quite charming and sweet. One routine in a Japanese restaurant is priceless, the gag built up well between the different characters and paying off beautifully.

All in all, it moves along at a fair pace and is so gently and confidently performed that it's an enjoyable way to spend ninety minutes. A bit more Chan, a bit more action and a tighter story would have made it more memorable, but if you like the genre, this is better than a lot of the similar films. And, perhaps because of when it was made and presumably to boost Hung's profile, JC plays the same character as in the Police Story films. (Just a tidbit for the hardcore geeks out there...) Worth a rent if not a purchase.

Funny! This is a very classic kind of kung-fu comedy.