O Justiceiro

I've seen quite a few of these "re-released in America" films lately. 95 percent were only worth watching because of the cool fight scenes, but The Enforcer adds drama and character development to make a well rounded experience. The two boys' friendship is a prime example and is quite touching. Some people complained about fight scenes being unrealistic (wire work). To that I say-every movie from this genre has the same problem, so don't criticize The Enforcer. For those of you who plan to watch this on DVD: I found the English dubbed version (Dimension Home Video) to be much better in quality than the imported Chinese/Mandarin version. Subtitles draw your eyes away so you miss certain things, and the video transfer was pretty bad on the imported version. Bottom line--add this to your collection, it's a keeper.

Interesting mix of family drama, crime thriller and kung fu as Jet Li plays a mainland Chinese cop going undercover to infiltrate a robbery gang in Hong Kong. His young son has been told his dad is a wanted criminal, but the son continues to have faith in him. When Jet's wife dies, a female HK cop (played by Anita Mui) enters the mix and brings the son to Hong Kong. While the plot is fairly engaging, it sometimes slows down the action, which is not as extensive here as it is in so many of Jet Li's Hong Kong films. However, the boy (played by Tze Miu) is a kung fu champ himself and contributes some clever fight scenes including a confrontation with taunting classmates. There's one mind-boggling action scene involving a garbage dump and a garbage truck, which finds Anita scurrying up a tall iron gate, shooting the truck driver as the truck barrels towards her, leaping from the top of the gate through the smashed windshield and into the passenger's seat, and commandeering the truck, all without a scratch. The big action finale takes place on a large yacht where an auction of illegal Chinese treasures is underway and Jet takes on all three bad guys, played by the formidable trio of Yu Rong Guang (IRON MONKEY), Ngai Sing (THE BODYGUARD FROM BEIJING, KUNG FU CULT MASTER), and Ken Lo (DRUNKEN MASTER II). Here Jet uses his son in a most ingenious (and impossible) manner to defeat the bad guys.

This isn't one of Mr Li's best films but it isn't as bad as some people think. There is a certain appeal in its roughness and Jet Li, not playing his later rather dour filmic persona but someone with charm and fun, out of his depth in Los Angeles, baffled by the behaviour of others but determined is very watchable. There is lots of humour in the film, most amusingly is a running joke about people speaking different languages. LA is a great big melting pot, but it doesn't help communications.

The cast do well. It's always good to see Yuen Wah, a mainstay of Hong Kong films, and good to see him not as a villain. Crystal Kwok seems to have given up acting but was lovely and charming in this. Jet is his usual self, in that he makes walking down a street charismatic. The lead villain was a bit laughable however.

A good film and easier to watch than most Hollywood films certainly. It has a light touch with not a hint of wire work or CGI. You can warm to the characters. That it doesn't have the ultra polish and airless perfection of some films is to its advantage.

I won't get into details and will just say that it's a worthwhile martial arts film; plenty of strong fighting that only people in truly top fitness, plus skill training, should ever consider being involved in or with. And, there's the warm family touch.

Johnny is quite a young lad in this film, his fighting and courage choreography being I guess top-notch. I don't know filmmaking from experience, so based on this, I think this youth is amazing. At one point, he's attacked by bully kids at his school and he pins the main bully to a wall, with his leg nicely lifted up so that his foot is pressing against the bottom of the chin of the main bully. I don't have such flexibility. If I tried anything of the like, then I'd surely be leaning the back backwards a lot more than Johnny did, for he was almost perfectly upright, except for the leg used to pin the main bully against the wall. I don't have that kind of flexibility and imagine that this Johnny lad does; choreographed, or not.

With that said, I think that anyone who likes martial arts films that have good morals against criminal ones, plus a touch of love, well, it's a worthwhile film.

It's interesting, is thriller for sure, well choreographed, and action, plus the touch of love.

Why this film has only 6.6/10 for average IMDb user rating is a little "beyond me". I'll give it 8/10 and am not sure that it shouldn't be more but 8/10 seems at least reasonable for a start, given that I'm not a film expert. One thing for sure is that I'd recommend this film to anyone I know to like martial arts with moral values and "a touch of love" or, if you prefer, romance.

As I said at the start, I won't get into details, meaning technical kind. This review is just a general kind or a "rough" overview, say. Were any mistakes made in any parts of the film? I don't know and also don't care about it, for this is just entertainment, or as is said in French, "divertissement".

Maybe Jet's most successful break from traditional hero to modern day action man, this isn't a classic in any means but does deliver a contemporary Li performance in keeping with his growing US following. The story doesn't take us anywhere new - Jet is an undercover cop set to bring down top criminal Yu Rong Guang and things get messy when the family becomes involved. Thankfully the moderate screen action demands top-drawer performances from its stars and delivers - of course wushu wonderkid Tze Mui, playing our hero's young son, is notably the best thing. Of the action, a nifty three-on-one near the end may require the odd rewind.