Year: 1997
Director: Sammo Hung
Country: Hong Kong
Language: English
Rumble In The Bronx showed a wider audience, at last, what fans of his Hong Kong filmography had known for years. That no one does action better. The outtakes at the end, showing Jackie breaking his leg and bashing his head and hanging off the backs of boats for dear life, are a reminder of just how much effort and passion went into making the film. He put that much effort into all of his films, even when they were guaranteed to be lesser known due to budget & location. In Mr. Nice Guy he put his neck at harm and broke his nose.
A Chinese chef (Jackie Chan) accidentally gets involved with a news reporter who filmed a drug bust that went awry and is now being chased by gangs who are trying to get the video tape.
As seen in the credits, Jackie Chan chose to legitimately become a chef for the film in order to give him a sense for the character and a realistic appearance of a tv chef. This makes me wonder if Chan understands the concept of "acting", especially since the dialogue and non-action dramatic moments are pretty poor. Although, that is to be expected in his movies. If you want to see an Oscar winning performance watch Jack Nicholson's filmography.
Jackie Chan's vehicle is filled to the brim with plenty of over-the-top action , thrills , explosions , ingenious stunts, tongue-in-cheek and an amusing score. Jackie Chan is top-notch as a one man army defending himself against waves of baddies. Though Mr.Nice Guy has an extremely thin plot, one's eyes are glued to the physical choreography at all times. While not being as fast as he was in the 80's, Chan's comic timing has greatly improved and thus makes the film quite funny.
Should you watch Mr.Nice Guy? Yes, but not before Rumble in the Bronx and Drunken Master. Though a lesser Chan venture, it still inspires awe and makes us ask "how does he do it?" Certainly very few men over 40 can legitimately do these (quite literally) back breaking stunts.
No comments:
Post a Comment