Fairly mindless, but fantastically entertaining.
The film is called 'Armour of God', and the first half spends a great deal of time about it, but for anyone who's contemplating seeing this film: take it in your stride yet don't bother thinking about it. The film forgets about it in the end.
Let's face it, this is a typical Jackie Chan action-comedy vehicle, where the emphasis is on the immediate scene, so the plot will always take a back-seat to a good stunt. And good stunts there are many, including the opening sequence (in which Chan was infamously hurt during its filming), a breathtaking multi-car chase in the middle, and a death-defying leap onto a passing balloon at the end. And in terms of martial arts, this is no less than what you can expect from a typical Chan flick.
But the comedy aspects are often forgotten in a Chan film, and this is one movie in which the comedic elements do stand out as being worthy of mention. Much of it is provided by Chan's good friend, fellow Hong Kong megastar Alan Tam, who's better known as a singer and dramatic actor, but is reduced to a bumbling sidekick in this. This is no criticism, as it works very well.
One particular moment which would send Hong Kong audiences into raptures is at the beginning when Tam and Chan are seen as part of a band called 'Losers', wearing ridiculous 70's style wigs. This was a play on the band 'Wynners', one of the most popular groups in Asian music history, of which Tam (and the four standing behind him in this scene) were a part of.
You can tell there's not so much emphasis on technical merit as on ENTERTAINMENT through the fact that most of the other characters are played by westerners, particularly Europeans, and though during filming they spoke in their native languages, they were given Cantonese voiceovers. It's a touch annoying when what you hear doesn't match up to what you see the lips doing.
The shoot locations of Germany and Yugoslavia are great to watch, and the rolling countryside provides a nice atmosphere. And being a fan of Tam's music, I can say unashamedly that the use of his hit single 'Friends', written for this movie, was particularly apt, while the dramatic pop song 'Goddess of the Gale, Lorelei' for the final credits was equally suitable.
All in all, a satisfying action comedy for some mindless fun, but it is frustrating that all that time spent discussing the 'armour of god' is wasted at the end. 7 out of 10.
Let's face it, this is a typical Jackie Chan action-comedy vehicle, where the emphasis is on the immediate scene, so the plot will always take a back-seat to a good stunt. And good stunts there are many, including the opening sequence (in which Chan was infamously hurt during its filming), a breathtaking multi-car chase in the middle, and a death-defying leap onto a passing balloon at the end. And in terms of martial arts, this is no less than what you can expect from a typical Chan flick.
But the comedy aspects are often forgotten in a Chan film, and this is one movie in which the comedic elements do stand out as being worthy of mention. Much of it is provided by Chan's good friend, fellow Hong Kong megastar Alan Tam, who's better known as a singer and dramatic actor, but is reduced to a bumbling sidekick in this. This is no criticism, as it works very well.
One particular moment which would send Hong Kong audiences into raptures is at the beginning when Tam and Chan are seen as part of a band called 'Losers', wearing ridiculous 70's style wigs. This was a play on the band 'Wynners', one of the most popular groups in Asian music history, of which Tam (and the four standing behind him in this scene) were a part of.
You can tell there's not so much emphasis on technical merit as on ENTERTAINMENT through the fact that most of the other characters are played by westerners, particularly Europeans, and though during filming they spoke in their native languages, they were given Cantonese voiceovers. It's a touch annoying when what you hear doesn't match up to what you see the lips doing.
The shoot locations of Germany and Yugoslavia are great to watch, and the rolling countryside provides a nice atmosphere. And being a fan of Tam's music, I can say unashamedly that the use of his hit single 'Friends', written for this movie, was particularly apt, while the dramatic pop song 'Goddess of the Gale, Lorelei' for the final credits was equally suitable.
All in all, a satisfying action comedy for some mindless fun, but it is frustrating that all that time spent discussing the 'armour of god' is wasted at the end. 7 out of 10.
- Enoch-3
- Oct 8, 1998