Magic crystal

I sat down to watch the 1986 movie "Mo Fei Cui" (aka "The Magic Crystal") here in 2022 for the first time. I had never heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it.

The movie's synopsis didn't really make a good point of selling the contents of the movie, but I still opted to watch it, since it was a movie that I hadn't already seen. However, I wasn't harboring any particular expectations to writer and director Jing Wong.

The storyline started out quite nicely enough and actually seemed like a fair enough movie, but then suddenly there was a sentient crystal introduced, and the movie took on a more family-friendly demeanor. I wasn't expecting that turn of events, and it would have been nice to know that the movie was a family adventure with elements of action and comedy as well. But truth be told, then there was actually a little bit of everything for everyone in the audience by all the genres mixed in here.

I have to be honest and say that it was Andy Lau that was the main attraction here for me, because I have never been a fan of Cynthia Rothrock. The movie does have a good handful of Hong Kong actors and actresses on the cast list, mostly minorly known performers, but a few familiar faces here and there if you are an avid fan of the Hong Kong cinema. I wasn't really familiar with Richard Norton, but he definitely put on a good performance in "Mo Fei Cui".

Something that bothered me, when I sat down to watch "Mo Fei Cui", was the fact that all dialogue was dubbed into Cantonese, even the English speaking character's dialogue. That just doesn't sit right with me, especially so since dubbing is just a stupid thing.

There is a good amount of action throughout the course of the movie, and that definitely helped carry the movie, especially at the times where the storyline took on a bit too far out there comedy approach or go all family-friendly. And Andy Lau sure did surprise me with his action performance in "Mo Fei Cui".

My rating of "Mo Fei Cui" lands on a five out of ten stars. The movie suffered from having a storyline that went from being a proper action adventure to a family-friendly action adventure.

Reviewed by Filmmining 101:

Wong Jing is not a director known for his subtle approach to filmmaking. Usually his numerous outputs bear pedestrian humor, thinly sketched plots and very "old school" female characterization. However, the action Hong Kong cinema of the 80s and early 90s was not known for catering to people's sensitivities and feelings.

A product of a now bygone era, "The Magic Crystal" seeks to be a weird mixture of "E. T" (1982), Jackie Chan street style fighting and a kinda-spy like globe trotting adventure. Featuring kitsch aesthetics that would not look out of place in a poor "Indiana Jones" clone, "The Magic Crystal" won't win anyone with its clumsy storyline and banal execution. As an example of the action 80s Mecca though, it shines consistently by delivering multiple set pieces throughout its (rather) long running time.

Under gorgeous Greek scenery (where they filmed without permission so the background extras are literally confused citizens and tourists alike), there is something exotic watching Andy Lau kicking ass next to the Parthenon (!). A foot chase going from Acropolis to Zappeion might not make sense geographically from those of us who are from Greece but it is a refreshing environment change from the typical Romanian, Londonian or Parisian sequences from other movies.

Boasting excellent stuntwork and several places that are used for trading blows, henchmen fly left and right with spectacular results: a face off inside a house is unexpectedly superb, a one on one fight in front of Zappeion makes for a very compelling skirmish while Richard Norton has the most screen time as a Western baddie here as opposed to his other Hong Kong entries (e.g., "The Millionaire's Express" (1986), "City Hunter" (1993), "Mr Nice Guy" (1997)) demonstrating his martial art prowess in an era that martial art flicks were not very popular outside of the Asian market.

The cast is great sharing the typical chemistry between goofiness and seriousness tip toeing between almost incomprehensible proceedings and mattering high school level exposition to move the plot. Andy Lau has tones of natural charisma (and two years later will deliver a spectacular performance in Wong Kar-wai's "As Tears Go By" (1988)) and Wong Jing as his buffoonery inducing brother-in-law gets some solid laughs. Norton and Cynthia Rothrock are clearly more martial artists than fully fledged actors and it shows but then again for a film that proudly displays a B-movie affection, their iffy acting does not come across as cringy or unintentionally hilarious.

"The Magic Crystal" does not require any additional analysis as it hardly has anything original or truly groundbreaking neither it is a multi-layered motion picture that you would think long after it end credits roll. Simultaneously, you cannot criticize with a straight face its various faults as the filmmakers are aware of their existence and choose to ignore them for the sake of entertainment. At the end, this is a solid martial art flick that stays true to its action roots due to its plethora of fight segments which will please the hardcore fans and might even allow newcomers to enjoy the pedestrian humour throughout.

"Magic Crystal" takes an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to movie-making: there is action, comedy, spy stuff (the villains are KGB), exotic adventure ala Indiana Jones (it was partly shot in Greece, and there are underground lairs full of traps), and science fiction (a little boy befriends an alien creature - does that remind you of anything?). The mixture of all these different genres isn't 100% smooth, but at times it is exhilarating, particularly during the fight scenes, which are furious and ferocious. Cynthia Rothrock (possible highlight: her Eagle Claw kung fu), Richard Norton (ph: the way he handles his double sharp weapons at the end ), Andy Lau (ph: using an umbrella as a weapon!), and the actress who plays his sister (ph: her astonishing body-bending abilities) are all superb in action, and there are some big laughs as well (a man wakes up to find his hands and feet having exchanged places!). IMO, any martial arts/80's Hong Kong film fan should seek this one out. (***)

Magic Crystal is one of those family/action films that you can enjoy on a boring afternoon, not saying this film is bad or anything.

The story of the magic crystal is rather odd, but once you get into it, you'll start to understand (I hope). The cast in the movie is pretty good being played by a host of Asian movie stars.

Cynthia Rothrock is an interpol agent looking for the magic crystal, and Andy Lau is also some kind of special agent as well.His nephew finds the crystal in his bag, only to befriend it since it can talk to him using telepathy. The crystal has the power to project images and even brainwash you from a certain distance. Richard Norton is a greedy Russian looking to use the crystal for his own little pleasure.

Whom ever choreographed the fight scenes in this movie made Cynthia and Richard look awesome. From Richards' Tiger Fist all the way to Cynthias' Preying Mantis and Eagles'Claw the fighting was great.

Let's not forget Andy Lau, although his fight wasn't as intense as the others, he made due with what he was using, also making up for it in latter films.

In the end the Magic Crystal is a decent film to watch, my only gripes are the cheesy music that played over and over. Meaning it was the intro's theme, the fighting theme, and the ending theme. That was the only damn music playing!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Richards' poorly dubbed Russian accent was terrible. Cynthia made a joke about it in the film stating "Your English is almost as bad as your Chinese".

Anyway give it a peek, I found it to be entertaining.

Here we go again on an action adventure with breath-taking speed. An alien artifact is discovered in Greece, taken to Hong Kong, and everybody tries to get hands on it, while a little boy discovers the crystal contains an alien talking to him. Sometimes it happily provides super powers, sometimes it doesn't even talk, must be one of those WEIRD aliens, although... after it was locked into that crystal for 2000 years, it needs no excuse. Andy Lau, Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton as Russian agent Karloff (as my dubbed version calls him) deliver some spectacular fights. Even if everything is a bit incoherent and can't decide if it wants to be a kid's movie or a violent action flick, it's speedy and enjoyable, apparently even with a reasonable budget for good quality since a lot of footage was shot on location in Greece. My favorite line is Richard Norton telling the little boy: "If you co-operate, you get some ice cream. If not, you go to Siberia." Going back to school after holidays never sounded so good.