Magic crystal

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 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.

This movie is total chaos, the type of film where characters disappear after they seem they are going to be important. Other characters suddenly start kicking butt when you think they are simply someone's mother and a comedy relief character! Strange plots going on, magical rocks, KGB agents and Cynthia Rothrock, yes please!

The story is just a bit too chaotic for this movie to get a higher score. It has some dude who does what the police cannot as he captures a guy I believe I saw in another movie like this. After this we see a kid get bullied, the dude, kid and his partner go to Greece and somehow end up getting a stone that talks to the kid. Watch out as fights break out randomly while characters come and go leading up to a showdown back in Greece!

The characters are likeable and that helps with the bizarre and at times incoherent plot. The fighting is quick and people look like they are being legitimately killed as they leap off balconies like it is no big deal! I think Cynthia is dubbed because when I watch her films here she sounds more squeaky and cute, here like in another film I saw from China, she sounds more posh.

So the film is not good in a traditional sense, but is in a crazy way. It is fast and fun, but the plot is so bad you have to deduct some points. However, this film is not boring in any way so I have to give it higher marks. So if you want to be a bit puzzled but see some really cool and fast fights, then give this one a shot!

Gotta say, this is one of the best Kung fu movies I've seen. I at first looked into it and like, ok comedy in it..going to be lame! But man was I wrong and did have a look at it!

Spoiler free summary, Hong Kong special cop goes to Greece with his family, comes back with the kgb after him. Why? Well, watch the movie and find out! It's mixed with some sci fi stuff and the story itself ain't that bad, to be a kung fu movie that is! It's a solid story with interesting characters and very good kung fu fights and stunts. Really well made done.

Richard Norton is awesome as the bad guy, Cynthia Rothrock are cool as well, and with Andy Lau they do great scenes together.

Some scenes made me burst out in laugher, that I didn't expect.

This movie has a great charm to it, it has that childish Innocent take on it like a Spielberg movie, but a lot of kung fu and Action.

It's a good flick, I am surprised! 9/10.

"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. (***)